Chapter 12
[Acts 12:1] -- Moreover, at that time, the great king Herod sent. Not at the time of the famine, which historical accounts refer to as happening in the fourth year of Claudius, since Herod died in the third year of the same Claudius, but undoubtedly at the time when the offerings were being carried to Jerusalem. Nor should we think that Herod, who was a tetrarch and later became a king, is designated in this chapter. For Josephus reports that Caius, upon taking the throne, immediately handed the leadership of the Jews to this Herod, son of Aristobulus, whom he nevertheless calls Agrippa, along with the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias. And in the fourth, which is the last year of his rule, he similarly bestowed it upon the same Herod. But he condemned that Herod, who had either been the instigator of John's death or had been involved in the passion of the Lord, to perpetual exile after suffering many diseases. Furthermore, this Herod or Agrippa, in the third year of Claudius and the seventh year of his reign, having been struck by an angel, left the kingdom to Agrippa, his son. Aristobulus, however, whom he mentioned, is the one who, along with his brother Alexander, had been killed by the treacherous father, that is, the elder Herod, under whom the Lord was born.
[Acts 12:2] -- He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. Clement of Alexandria reports a certain story about this James, which is worth remembering. And he (Clement says) who had brought him to the judge for martyrdom (namely James), was also moved and confessed himself to be a Christian. They were both led together to punishment. And as they were being led on the road, he asked James to grant him forgiveness. But James, after hesitating a little, said, "Peace be with you." And he kissed him. And thus they were both beheaded together.
[Acts 12:4] -- Delivering him to four squads of soldiers. Just as a centurion has a hundred soldiers under him, so does a squad of soldiers have soldiers under him.
[Acts 12:7] -- And striking the side of Peter, he raised him up. The striking of the side is a commemoration of the passion of Christ, from whose wound our salvation flowed. And to us, too, who are held by the chains of pressures, the apostle Peter himself gives such solace, saying: "Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention" (1 Peter 4).
[Acts 12:8] -- Gird yourself and put on your sandals. And we read that prophets and apostles used belts, which Peter had loosened for a moment due to the rigidity of the prison, so that, with his tunic lowered around his feet, he could somewhat temper the cold of the night, providing an example to the weak that, when we are tempted by either bodily discomfort or human injury, it is permissible to relax the rigor of our purpose a little. And because it was said, “Let your loins be girded and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” spiritually he is ordered to resume the emblems of virtues and of preaching the word.
[Acts 12:10] -- They came to the iron gate that leads to the city. Narrow indeed and made of iron was the gate that leads to the heavenly Jerusalem, but it has now been made passable to us by the footsteps of the apostles, who conquered the iron door with their own blood. About this, Arator: “Why is it surprising if iron doors yield to Peter? Whom God appoints as the guardian of the heavenly hall and makes the head of his Church, he commands to overcome Hell.”
[Acts 12:11] -- And Peter, coming to himself. That is, having returned from the height of contemplation to what he was previously in common understanding.
[Acts 12:13] -- The girl came out to hear. And the Lord, having come forth from the constraints of the tomb, was first announced to the disciples by a woman, so that where sin abounded, grace might more abound.
[Acts 12:15] -- But they were saying, “It is his angel.” That each of us has an angel is found both in the book of the Shepherd and in many places of the Holy Scriptures. For the Lord also speaks of the little ones: “Their angels always see the face of my Father” (Matt. XVIII). And Jacob speaks of himself: “The angel who redeemed me from all evil.” And here the disciples believed that the angel of the apostle Peter had come.
[Acts 12:19] -- Descending from Judea into Caesarea. Although it seems according to the situation of the places to refer to Caesarea Philippi, which like Tyre and Sidon is a city of Phoenicia, Josephus nevertheless teaches that this was done in Caesarea of Palestine, which was once called Tower of Strato, and is situated on the shore of the Great Sea, at the border of Phoenicia and Palestine.
[Acts 12:20] -- They were asking for peace because their regions were being fed by him. They needed the friendship of the neighboring king because their region was very narrow and was pressed by the boundaries of Galilee and Damascus. Whence, neither did their metropolis of Tyre have so much wealth from its own land that it might be the emporium of the whole world, as much as it had from the subjugation of ships. It is also very rich in purple dye and shellfish.
[Acts 12:23] -- Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him. Consistently also according to Josephus: “While he did not shudder at the wickedness of illicit adulation, shortly after, looking, he sees an angel standing over his head; and immediately he felt him as the minister of his destruction, whom he had previously known as the provider of good things.” And shortly after: “Indeed, tortured by continuous pains in his bowels for five days, he violently broke off his life.”