translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET study note

text: King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great). His mediocre career is summarized in Josephus, Ant. 18-19. This event took place in a.d. 42 or 43.


text: The expression executed with a sword probably refers to a beheading. James was the first known apostolic martyr (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1-3). On James, not the Lord’s brother, see Luke 5:10; 6:14 . This death ended a short period of peace noted in Acts 9:31 after the persecution mentioned in 8:1-3 .


text: This is a parenthetical note by the author.


text: Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.


text: The iron gate shows how important security was here. This door was more secure than one made of wood (which would be usual).


text: Here the hand of Herod is a metaphor for Herod’s power or control.


text: King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).


text: Luke characterizes the opposition here as the Jewish people , including their leadership (see 12:3 ).


text: “You’ve lost your mind!” Such a response to the miraculous is not unusual in Luke-Acts. See Luke 24:11 ; Acts 26:25 . The term μαίνομαι ( mainomai ) can have the idea of being “raving mad” or “totally irrational” (BDAG 610 s.v.). It is a strong expression.


text: The assumption made by those inside, “ It is his angel ,” seems to allude to the idea of an attending angel (cf. Gen 48:16 LXX; Matt 18:10 ; Test. Jacob 1:10).


text: That they were greatly astonished is a common response in Luke-Acts to God’s work ( Luke 8:56 ; Acts 2:7, 12; 8:13; 9:21; 10:45 ).


text: He…went to another place. This is Peter’s last appearance in Acts with the exception of the Jerusalem council in .


text: Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1 . map For location see Map2-C1 ; Map4-B3 ; Map5-F2 ; Map7-A1 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia. map For location see Map1-A2 ; Map2-G2 ; Map4-A1 ; JP3-F3 ; JP4-F3 .


text: Sidon was an ancient Phoenician royal city on the coast between Berytus (Beirut) and Tyre (BDAG 923 s.v. Σιδών ). map For location see Map1-A1 ; JP3-F3 ; JP4-F3 .


text: The voice of a god. Contrast the response of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:13-15 .


text: On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3 ; 1 Sam 25:28 ; 2 Sam 12:15 ; 2 Kgs 19:35 ; 2 Chr 13:20 ; 2 Macc 9:5.


text: He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).


text: A metonymy for the number of adherents to God’s word.


text: That is, from Jerusalem to Antioch (see Acts 11:29-30 ). map For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .