XII. (1) HEROD THE KING. — The previous life of this prince had been full of strange vicissitudes. The son of Aristobulus and Bernice, grandson of Herod the Great, brother of the Herodias who appears in the Gospel history, named after the statesman who was the chief minister of Augustus, he had been... [ Continue Reading ]
HE KILLED JAMES THE BROTHER OF JOHN WITH THE SWORD. — Had the Apostle been tried by the Sanhedrin on a charge of blasphemy and heresy, the sentence would have been death by stoning. Decapitation showed, as in the case of John the Baptist, that the sentence was pronounced by a civil ruler, adopting R... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE HE SAW IT PLEASED THE JEWS. — This was throughout the ruling policy of the Herodian house. The persecution did not spring from any fanatic zeal against the new faith, but simply from motives of political expediency. A somewhat touching incident is recorded, illustrating the king’s sensitiven... [ Continue Reading ]
DELIVERED HIM TO FOUR QUATERNIONS OF SOLDIERS. — Agrippa apparently followed the lessons of Roman practice which he had learnt by his own experience. The four quaternions relieved each other at set times, and the prisoner was chained to two of the soldiers of each company, while the others were stat... [ Continue Reading ]
PRAYER WAS MADE WITHOUT CEASING. — The adjective is rendered by “fervent” in 1 Peter 4:8, and implies, as in the marginal reading, intensity as well as continuity. The words imply that the members of the Church continued, in spite of the persecution, to meet as usual, probably, as in Acts 12:12, in... [ Continue Reading ]
PETER WAS SLEEPING BETWEEN TWO SOLDIERS. — The picture of the calm repose of the Apostle as of one to whom God had given the sleep of His beloved (Psalms 127:2), undisturbed by the fear of coming suffering and death, will be felt by most readers to be one of singular interest.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME UPON HIM. — The phrase is identical with that of Luke 2:9. The absence of the article in the Greek leaves it open to render it either as “t_he_ angel” or “_an_ angel.” The “light” in this instance corresponds to the “glory of the Lord” in that. IN THE PRISON. — Literally,... [ Continue Reading ]
GIRD THYSELF, AND BIND ON THY SANDALS. — In lying down to sleep the Apostle had naturally laid aside his “cloak,” loosened the girdle that bound his tunic, and put off his sandals. As regards the latter we note his continued observance of the rule of Mark 6:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WIST NOT THAT IT WAS TRUE... — The kind of introspective analysis of the Apostle’s consciousness suggests the thought that he was himself, possibly through some intermediate channel, St. Luke’s informant. As in the activity of somnambulism, the will directed the actions of the body, and yet was... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY WERE PAST THE FIRST AND THE SECOND WARD. — It would seem from this that Peter had been placed in the innermost dungeon, and had to pass the two court-yards. Lightfoot supposes the prison to have been between the inner and outer walls of the city, the direction of Peter’s movements being fr... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN PETER WAS COME TO HIMSELF. — Here again we find the tone of a personal reminiscence. He finds himself at night, free, in the open street. It was no dream. As before (Acts 5:19), his Master had sent His angel to deliver him.... [ Continue Reading ]
MARY THE MOTHER OF JOHN, WHOSE SURNAME WAS MARK. — On the probable identity of this Mark with the evangelist of that name, see _Introduction to St. Mark’s Gospel._ Here we may note (1) that as being mentioned by St. Peter as his “son” (1 Peter 5:13) he was probably converted by him; (2) that he was... [ Continue Reading ]
A DAMSEL CAME TO HEARKEN, NAMED RHODA. — The mention of the name of the slave indicates St. Luke’s care in ascertaining details, as far as his opportunities allowed. The office of opening the door to strangers was commonly assigned, as in the case even of the high priest’s palace (Matthew 26:69; Mat... [ Continue Reading ]
SHE OPENED NOT THE GATE FOR GLADNESS. — The slave, it would seem, had shared the anxiety and borne her part in the prayers of the Church; and the eager desire to tell the good news that their prayers had been answered overpowers her presence of mind. There is something characteristic of the writer i... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS HIS ANGEL. — The language expresses the common belief of the Jews, that every true Israelite had a guardian angel specially assigned to him, who, when he appeared in human form, assumed the likeness of the man whom he protected. It is obvious that the record of the casual utterance of such a b... [ Continue Reading ]
GO SHEW THESE THINGS UNTO JAMES, AND TO THE BRETHREN. — The James, or Jacob, thus spoken of may have been either James the son of Alphæus or James the brother of the Lord. Many writers have maintained the identity of the person described under these two names; but reasons have been given in the Note... [ Continue Reading ]
COMMANDED THAT THEY SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH. — Literally, _that they should be led away_ — _i.e.,_ to execution. The phrase was half-technical, half-euphemistic. Capital punishment was, according to Roman usage, the almost inevitable penalty for allowing a prisoner to escape. So at Philippi, the gaol... [ Continue Reading ]
HEROD WAS HIGHLY DISPLEASED WITH THEM OF TYRE AND SIDON. — Literally, as in the margin, _was in a hostile state of mind;_ was, in modern phrase, “contemplating hostilities.” The two Phœnician cities were not subject to Agrippa, but were under the control of Rome with a nominal independence. DESIRED... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UPON A SET DAY... — Josephus (_Ant._ xix. 8, § 2) gives an account of the incident that follows substantially agreeing with that here recorded. The scene was the theatre at Cæsarea, which had been built by Herod the Great. Agrippa was celebrating games in honour of the Emperor Claudius, who had... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD SMOTE HIM. — The intervention of the angel is obviously regarded by St. Luke as the only adequate explanation at once of the death of the persecutor and of the escape of his victim, and in the former he recognised not only what has been called the irony of history, or an instan... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE WORD OF GOD GREW AND MULTIPLIED. — The words describe a continuous expansion. The death of the chief persecutor left free scope for the activity of the preachers of the gospel, of which they were not slow to avail themselves.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY HAD FULFILLED THEIR MINISTRY. — The same noun is used as that translated “relief” in Acts 11:29. We may, perhaps, assign the vision related in Acts 22:17, to this visit; but see Note there. TOOK WITH THEM JOHN, WHOSE SURNAME WAS MARK. — The choice is, of course, partly explained by his re... [ Continue Reading ]