Acts 12:1-12
Acts 12:1-12. HEROD’S PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH. PETER’S MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE FROM PRISON... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 12:1-12. HEROD’S PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH. PETER’S MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE FROM PRISON... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤ' ἘΚΕΙ͂ΝΟΝ ΔῈ ΤῸΝ ΚΑΙΡΌΝ, _now about that time_. The events narrated in this chapter must have occurred very shortly before Herod’s death. The date will therefore be about A.D. 43. ἩΡΏΔΗΣ Ὁ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΎΣ. This was Herod Agrippa I. He was the son of Aristobulus, and grandson of Herod the Great. See Ta... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΆΚΩΒΟΝ ΤῸΝ�, _James, the brother of John_. This was one of the two sons of Zebedee, who had been among the three specially favoured disciples of Jesus. It is therefore likely that he would take a leading part in the labours of the Church. Thus Agrippa’s attention would be drawn to him as a proper p... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΔῺΝ ΔῈ ὍΤΙ�, _and because he saw it pleased the Jews_, which with him was so great an object. Josephus, in contrasting Agrippa with the Herod who ruled before him, says the latter was ‘more friendly to the Greeks than to the Jews,’ but in this respect Agrippa ‘was not at all like him.’ ΠΡΟΣΈΘΕΤΟ ΣΥ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΘΕΤΟ ΕἸΣ ΦΥΛΑΚΉΝ, _he put him in prison_, to be kept a prisoner till the termination of the feast, when he might be brought to trial. ΠΑΡΑΔΟῪΣ ΤΈΣΣΑΡΣΙΝ ΤΕΤΡΑΔΊΟΙΣ Κ.Τ.Λ., _having delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him_. A quaternion was a set of four men, which was the number... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΤΗΡΕΙ͂ΤΟ ἘΝ ΤΗ͂Ι ΦΥΛΑΚΗ͂Ι, _was kept_ [guarded] _in the prison_. Another indication of the intended longer duration of the imprisonment, and that he was not arrested on the day of the Paschal sacrifice with the purpose of being brought forth on the morning of the 15th of Nisan, as some have maintai... [ Continue Reading ]
ὍΤΕ ΔῈ ἬΜΕΛΛΕΝ ΠΡΟΑΓΑΓΕΙ͂Ν ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ Ὁ ἩΡΏΔΗΣ, _and when Herod was about to bring him forth_. This is an additional note of the lapse of some space between the arrest and the intended punishment of the Apostle. ΦΎΛΑΚΈΣ ΤΕ ΠΡῸ ΤΗ͂Σ ΘΎΡΑΣ, _and guards before the door_, i.e. those two soldiers of the qua... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἸΔΟῪ ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ ΚΥΡΊΟΥ ἘΠΈΣΤΗ, _and behold an angel of the Lord came upon him_. The phrase is word for word the same as in Luke 2:9, and the words which follow there καὶ δόξα κυρίου περιέλαμψεν αὐτοὺς have much resemblance to the further description here. ΚΑῚ … ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΟἸΚΉΜΑΤΙ, _and a light shine... [ Continue Reading ]
ΖΩ͂ΣΑΙ, _gird thyself_. To gird up the loose Oriental robe was a necessity before undertaking any expeditious movement. So to Gehazi, (LXX.) 2 Kings 4:29, Elisha says Ζῶσαι τὴν ὀσφύν σου, and uses the same phrase (2 Kings 9:1) to that one of the sons of the prophets whom he is about to send to Ramot... [ Continue Reading ]
αὐτῷ omitted with אABD. _Vulg_. represents it.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΕΛΘΌΝΤΕΣ ΔῈ ΠΡΏΤΗΝ ΦΥΛΑΚῊΝ ΚΑῚ ΔΕΥΤΈΡΑΝ, _and when they were past the first and second ward_, i.e. the warders, who were stationed one nearer to the inner door of the prison and another at some further distance away. ἮΛΘΑΝ ἘΠῚ ΤῊΝ ΠΎΛΗΝ Κ.Τ.Λ., _they came unto the iron gate that leadeth into the... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ Ὁ ΠΈΤΡΟΣ ἘΝ ἙΑΥΤΩ͂Ι ΓΕΝΌΜΕΝΟΣ, _and when Peter was come to himself_. This and the other subjective features of the narrative shew that the account must have been derived from St Peter himself. No one else could describe the astonishment and the after realization that all was truly enacted and no... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΥΝΙΔΏΝ ΤΕ, _and when he comprehended the matter_, i.e. had taken in all the circumstances and decided what was best to be done. The same word is used (Acts 14:6) of the disciples getting news of an intended attack, and making up their minds to flee before it took place. ΜΑΡΊΑΣ ΤΗ͂Σ ΜΗΤΡῸΣ ἸΩΆΝΝΟΥ Κ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂ for τοῦ Πέτρου with אABDLP. _Vulg_. ‘eo.’ 13. ΤῊΝ ΘΎΡΑΝ ΤΟΥ͂ ΠΥΛΩ͂ΝΟΣ, _the door of the gate_. θύρα is the wicket which was opened for any one’s admission, while πυλών is the porch into which admission was obtained through the θύρα. ἡ θύρα τοῦ πυλῶνος occurs in the LXX. Ezekiel 40:11; also... [ Continue Reading ]
SURPRISE OF THE BRETHREN AND ANGER OF HEROD... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἘΠΙΓΝΟΥ͂ΣΑ ΤῊΝ ΦΩΝῊΝ ΤΟΥ͂ ΠΈΤΡΟΥ, _and when she knew Peter’s voice_. We know that there was something easily recognized in it, and he was known by his speech on a former occasion (Matthew 26:73). ἈΠῸ ΤΗ͂Σ ΧΑΡΑ͂Σ ΟΥ̓Κ ἬΝΟΙΞΕΝ ΤῸΝ ΠΥΛΩ͂ΝΑ, _she opened not the gate for gladness_. Cf. with this act... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἡ ΔῈ ΔΙΪΣΧΥΡΊΖΕΤΟ, _but she confidently affirmed_. In the time of the A.V. constantly had the meaning of _confidently_, which it has now lost. διϊσχυρίζομαι is in N.T. only here and in St Luke 22:59. It occurs in _Acta Petri et Pauli Apocryph_. §§ 34 and 39, οἱ δὲ τῷ Σίμωνι κολληθέντες τὸν Πέτρον δι... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΩ͂Σ, _how_. See on Acts 9:27 note. Ὁ ΚΎΡΙΟΣ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ ἘΞΉΓΑΓΕΝ ἘΚ ΤΗ͂Σ ΦΥΛΑΚΗ͂Σ, _the Lord had brought him out of the prison_. Cf. his exclamation in Acts 12:11. ἈΠΑΓΓΕΊΛΑΤΕ, _carry word_. The A.V. has endeavoured to give the full sense by ‘Go, shew,’ but this seems as though it represented two verb... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΆΡΑΧΟΣ ΟΥ̓Κ ὈΛΊΓΟΣ ἘΝ ΤΟΙ͂Σ ΣΤΡΑΤΙΏΤΑΙΣ, _no small stir among the soldiers_. For the guards who had been chained to the prisoner would discover as soon as they awoke that he had escaped from between them, and they would know that their life would probably answer for the life of Peter.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜῊ ΕὙΡΏΝ. It is difficult to imagine any more literal statement than these words, and there can be no distinction in such a sentence between μὴ and οὐ. ἘΚΈΛΕΥΣΕΝ�, _commanded that they should be put to death_. This is the A.V., and gives the sense better than the literal rendering ‘commanded that t... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ Ἡρώδης omitted with אABD. Unrepresented in _Vulg_. 20. ἮΝ ΔῈ ΘΥΜΟΜΑΧΩ͂Ν, _now he was highly displeased_. The word is of very rare occurrence, being found once in Polybius and once in Diodorus Siculus, and nowhere else. It implies a very deep seated feeling of anger. ΤΥΡΊΟΙΣ ΚΑῚ ΣΙΔΩΝΊΟΙΣ, _with... [ Continue Reading ]
DEATH OF HEROD AGRIPPA I. GROWTH OF THE CHURCH... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΑΚΤΗ͂Ι ΔῈ ἩΜΈΡΑΙ, _and upon a set day_. The day was one appointed (as Josephus tells us) for holding a festival on which to make vows for the safety of the Roman emperor. Ὁ ἩΡΏΔΗΣ ἘΝΔΥΣΆΜΕΝΟΣ ἘΣΘΗ͂ΤΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΉΝ, _Herod having arrayed himself in royal apparel_. See the extract from Josephus given be... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΑΧΡΗ͂ΜΑ ΔῈ ἘΠΆΤΑΞΕΝ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ ἌΓΓΕΛΟΣ ΚΥΡΊΟΥ Κ.Τ.Λ., _and immediately an angel of the Lord smote him_ … _and he was eaten of worms_. Cf. the fate of Antiochus Epiphanes (2Ma 9:9), and Herod the Great’s death (Josephus, _Ant_. XVII. 6. 5). The passage in which Josephus describes these events is so im... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΔῈ ΛΌΓΟΣ ΤΟΥ͂ ΘΕΟΥ͂ ΗΥ̓́ΞΑΝΕΝ ΚΑῚ ἘΠΛΗΘΎΝΕΤΟ, _but the word of God grew and multiplied_, Cf. Acts 6:7 and Acts 19:20. ‘The seed is the word,’ said Christ, and so the Christian historian tells us that the word was as seed,—when it was cast forth diligently it waxed and brought forth fruit.... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ omitted after ΣΥΜΠΑΡΑΛΑΒΌΝΤΕΣ with אAB. Unrepresented in _Vulg_. 25. ὙΠΈΣΤΡΕΨΑΝ ἘΞ ἹΕΡΟΥΣΑΛΉΜ, _returned from Jerusalem_, i.e. to their labours among the Gentile converts in Antioch. ΠΛΗΡΏΣΑΝΤΕΣ ΤῊΝ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΊΑΝ, _when they had fulfilled their ministration_, ἡ διακονία here means the giving into... [ Continue Reading ]