Acts 12:19

Acts 12:19. 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 of a miraculous deliverance should have prevailed, and so Christianityhave gained, as it probably did, additional strength. What had so notoriously happened to all the twelve apostles, in a circumstance muchresembling this, ch. Act 5:19 would no doubt add great weight to such a representation; and it seems that this seasonable interposition of Divine Providence, joined with the death of Herodsoon after, put a speedy end to this persecution.