Four squads of soldiers-four soldiers made up each squad-guarded Peter in six-hour shifts so he would not escape as he had done previously (Acts 5:19-24). Evidently two of the soldiers on each shift chained themselves to Peter and the other two guarded his cell door (Acts 12:6; Acts 12:10). "Passover" was the popular term for the continuous eight-day combined Passover and Unleavened Bread festival. read more
His captors probably imprisoned Peter in the Roman fortress of Antonia. It stood against the north wall of the temple enclosure and on the western end of this wall. [Note: See the diagram of Herod’s Temple Area near my comments on 3:12-15 above.] Prisons are no match for prayers, however, as everyone was to learn. The Christians prayed fervently about Peter’s fate believing that God could effect his release again. [Note: See Hiebert, pp. 30-32, for some helpful and motivating comments on their... read more
Imprisonment of Peter. Death of Herod1-19. Persecution of the Church at Jerusalem by Herod. Martyrdom of James the son of Zebedee. Peter’s imprisonment and miraculous release. The Church was persecuted (1) by the Sadducees and chief priests, Acts 4:1; Acts 5:17; (2) afterwards by the Pharisees, Acts 6:11. and now (3) by the king of the Jews. Not till later was persecution to come from the Romans.1. About that time] viz. when relief was sent to the Church of Jerusalem (Acts 11:29-30). The death... read more
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 sent, after his father had fallen a victim (B.C. 6) to his grandfather’s suspicions, to Rome, partly, perhaps, as a hostage, partly to be out of the way of Palestine intrigues. There he had grown up on... read more
(2) 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 Roman modes of punishment, and striking terror by them in proportion as they were hateful to the Jews. The death of James reminds us of his Lord’s prediction that he, too, should drink of His cup,... read more
(3) 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 sensitiveness to popular praise or blame. It was at the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Law was read, and he heard the words of Deuteronomy 17:15 : “Thou shalt not set a stranger over thee,” and he burst into... read more
(4) 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 stationed as sentinels at the door of the dungeon. (Comp. St. Paul’s chains in Acts 28:20; Ephesians 6:20.)Intending after Easter.—Better, after the Passover, as elsewhere. In this solitary instance... read more
(5) 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 the house of Mary, the mother of Mark. read more
The Martyrdom of St. James (For St. James the Apostle's Day) Acts 12:2 I. The close of St. James' career reminds us that the Bible, as a rule, does not dwell so much upon the persons of those who worked with the Lord as upon the work which they were instrumental in bringing out. The author of the Acts of the Apostles reminds us that, in the former treatise which he wrote, he set forth all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up; and surely this second book might be... read more
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 12:3
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a seven-day celebration that began on the day after Passover each spring. This was one of the three yearly feasts in Jerusalem that the Mosaic Law required all Jewish males to attend. As on the day of Pentecost (ch. 2), the city would have been swarming with patriotic Jews when Herod made his grandstand political move of arresting Peter. These Jews knew Peter as the leading apostle among the Christians and as a Jew who fraternized with Gentiles (ch. 10). This... read more