_KING HEROD PERSECUTETH THE CHRISTIANS, KILLETH JAMES, AND IMPRISONETH
PETER, WHOM AN ANGEL DELIVERETH UPON THE PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH. HEROD
IN HIS PRIDE, TAKING TO HIMSELF THE HONOUR DUE TO GOD, IS STRICKEN BY
AN ANGEL, AND DIETH MISERABLY. AFTER HIS DEATH THE WORD OF GOD
PROSPERETH._
_Anno Domin... [ Continue Reading ]
HEROD THE KING— The Syriac version reads, _Herod the king, surnamed
Agrippa:_ Josephus styles him _Agrippa;_ which probably was his Roman,
as _Herod_ was his Syrian name. He was the grandson of Herod the
Great, by his son Aristobulus; nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded
John the Baptist; brother t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE KILLED JAMES— Thus was our Lord's prediction, relating to
them, fulfilled, Matthew 20:23. I know not how far we areto depend
upon the tradition which we find cited by Eusebius, from a book of
Clemens Alexandrinus, now lost, in which he reported, "That the person
who had accused James, observi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND, BECAUSE HE SAW IT PLEASED THE PEOPLE— This prince, as Josephus
tells us, was a great zealot for the Mosaic law; dwelt much at
Jerusalem, and was as fond of all opportunities to oblige the Jews, as
his grandfather Herod had been of pleasing strangers—a character
very agreeable to what St. Luke h... [ Continue Reading ]
TO FOUR QUATERNIONS OF SOLDIERS— That is, to _sixteen,_ consisting
of four in each party, who were to watch him by turns, four at a time;
two of them being chained to him, and two of them watching before the
door of the prison: one end of one chain was fastened to St. Peter's
right hand, and the oth... [ Continue Reading ]
WITHOUT CEASING— The original word 'Εκτενης signifies not
only _continuance,_ but likewise _earnestness, importunity,_ and
_vehemence._... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD— _An angel of the Lord._ Instead of _smote
Peter on the side,_ Dr. Heylin reads, _touched Peter on the side._... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WIST NOT— _And knew not._... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY WERE PAST THE FIRST AND THE SECOND WARD,— _The first and
second watch,_ where the guards were placed to secure the prison.
Heylin renders it very agreeably to the Greek, _the first and second
guard._ It was usual among the Easterns to plate over their gates with
thick iron. Pitts tells us,... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW I KNOW OF A SURETY, &C.— The apostle may be understood here as
alluding to a similar deliverance, chap. Acts 5:19. Thetime in which
he was delivered was very critical,—it being the night preceding the
day appointed for his execution; and if the apostle had not been thus
miraculously freed, he wo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD CONSIDERED THE THING,— And making haste,
(σπευδων) Hammond. _And deliberating with himself, or
recollecting where he was;_ Heylin and Doddridge. The _Mark_ here
mentioned is thought by Grotius to have been a different person from
_St. Mark_ the evangelist. He was the _Son of Mary,_ a... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE DOOR OF THE GATE,— The word πυλων, here, properly
signifies what we generally call _the gateway_ of a large house; and
it is probable that this was no small house, as many were assembled
there. _Rhoda_ signifies in English _rose;_ and Grotius has observed,
that the Jews frequently gave to the... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS HIS ANGEL.— Many commentators understand this as if they had
said, _"It is his messenger,_ or one sent from him;" and it is certain
that the word Αγγελος has frequently this sense in the
scripture; but as the maid averred that she knew his voice, and was
assured that it was Peter himself, it s... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO JAMES,— As _James the brother of John_ was dead, Acts 12:2 the
person here referred to, must have been St. _James the Less,_ the son
of Alpheus, who was probably the only apostle then at Jerusalem,
except St. Peter. He was in great esteem among the apostles, and wrote
the _epistle_ which bears... [ Continue Reading ]
AND COMMANDED THAT THEY SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH.— _And commanded them
to be led away to execution._ It is well known that the word
απαχθηναι has this signification; thus the wicked suffered in
the room of the righteous. Herod, probably, punished the keepers with
such severity, lest the apprehension o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE WENT DOWN FROM JUDEA, &C.— See on ch. Acts 8:40. Herod the
Great, after he had built Caesarea Palestine, had instituted games to
the honour of Caesar, which were to be celebrated every fifth year.
Not long after the apprehending of St. Peter, the usual time recurred
for the celebration of the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UPON A SET DAY HEROD, &C.— Upon occasion of the games and
approaching festival hinted at in the last verse, there was a great
resort of the governors and principal men of the neighbouring
provinces, and of persons of figure from all the surrounding
countries. On the second day of that solemnity,... [ Continue Reading ]
GREW AND MULTIPLIED.— The expressions here used relate properly to
vegetables, and may be intended to signify, that the growth of the
gospel, that is, its prevalency in the minds and lives of some, was,
as it were, the means of sowing that divine seed in the hearts of many
more. See Mark 4:26; Mark... [ Continue Reading ]
AND—WHEN THEY HAD FULFILLED THEIR MINISTRY,— When they had
delivered up the alms which they brought from Antioch to the elders at
Jerusalem, ch. Acts 11:29 and finished all their ministerial business
there.—Thus ends the second period of the history of the first
planting of Christianity, in which th... [ Continue Reading ]