A Textual Commentary On The Greek NT

Acts 12:23

Acts 12:23 geno,menoj skwlhko,brwtoj {A}

After tw|/ qew|/ codex Bezae, supported in part by cop^G67 and by Ephraem, ²³⁴ continues kai. kataba.j avpo. tou/ bh,matoj( geno,menoj skwlhko,brwtoj e;ti zw/n kai. ou[twj evxe,yuxen (“and he came down from the platform, [and] while he was still living he was eaten by worms and thus died”). The additional material (italicized in the translation) informs the reader that, though an angel of the Lord smote him immediately after his address, he did not expire at once, but was able to descend from his throne. ²³⁵ The addition of e;ti zw/n, as Bruce observes, “emphasizes the unpleasantness of his disease.” ²³⁶

²³⁴ See F. C. Conybeare in Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, XX (1921), pp. 41—42, and J. H. Ropes, The Text of Acts, p. 416.

²³⁵ According to Josephus, Herod’s death occurred five days after being stricken with a pain in his abdomen (Antiquities, XIX.viii:2).

²³⁶ F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles, 3rd ed. (1990). p. 289.

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A Textual Commentary On The Greek NT

Acts 12:23

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