The imprisonment of the apostle Peter

By prof. A. P. Lopukhin

Acts of the Apostles, chapter 12. 1 – 18. Herod persecutes the Church: the killing of James, the imprisonment of Peter and his miraculous release. 19 – 23. Death of Herod in Caesarea. 24 – 25. The return of Barnabas and Saul to Antioch.

Acts 12:1. At that time king Herod laid his hand on some of the church to do them evil,

“At that time,”–i.e. while Barnabas and Saul carried out the commission of the Antiochians (Acts 11:25, 30).

“King Herod”. This is Herod Agrippa I, son of Aristobulus and Veronica, grandson of Herod (called the Great), who sought to kill the Lord after His birth and killed the Bethlehem infants instead of Him (Matt. 2:1, 13), nephew of Herod Antipas of Galilee, the murderer of John the Baptist (Matt. 14ff.). Such was this family of murderers, who bloodied their hands with the most precious blood for Christians…

King Herod was born around 10 before Christ and grew up in Rome. After the accession of Emperor Caligula to the throne, he received the tetrarchy of his deceased uncle Philip (Matt. 2:22; Luke 3:1) and the tetrarchy of Lysanius (Luke 3:1) with the title of king. Soon he united under his authority the tetrarchy of his other uncle – Herod Antipas. Finally, the emperor Claudius, the successor of Caligula, added Judea to his dominions together with Samaria, so that he, like his grandfather, ruled all Palestine (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XVIII, 7, 2; XIX, 5, 1; 6, 1 ; the Jewish War II, 9, 6; 11, 5), in which there was no longer a separate Roman procurator over Palestine. Died in 44 sl. R. A.D., reigning no more than four years, after which Judea was again made a Roman province.

“He lifted up his hands… to do evil” – either by imprisonment, or by corporal punishment, or by other cruel measures, including murder, an example of which is given further on.

Acts 12:2. and killed Jacob the brother of John with the sword.

Jacob, the brother of John (Theologian) Zebedee became the second Christian martyr, on whom the Lord’s prediction was exactly fulfilled (Matt. 20:23). Complementing the short notice of the de-writer about his martyrdom, the church tradition tells that the one who accused the apostle was himself converted to Christ by the accused and was martyred together with him (Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History. II, 9). This is how Saint John Chrysostom exclaims: “no longer the Jews and not the Sanhedrin, but the king raises his hands to do evil. This is the highest authority, the most difficult bran, all the more so because it was in favor of the Jews”.

Acts 12:3. And when he saw that this pleased the Jews, he also seized Peter – then were the days of unleavened bread –

“Then were the days of unleavened bread” – the days of unleavened bread began on the day of the Passover and lasted for 7 days. If Herod usually resided in Caesarea, the residence of the Jewish rulers at the time, the mention of the days of unleavened bread makes it clear that Herod took advantage of his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover to persecute the Christians and imprison Peter to satisfy the Jews . The base calculation that guided him was to please as many people as possible with his actions: quite Herodian and worthy of those for whose sake the evil was done.

Acts 12:4. and, seizing him, cast him into prison, and delivered him to four quarters of soldiers to guard him, thinking after the Passover to bring him before the people.

“four quadruple soldiers,” i. four shifts of four people. Such increased security was placed only for particularly important criminals, and in the given case it did not fulfill its duties quite as expected, for “the more careful the guard, the more amazing was the revelation of God’s power…” ( blessed Theophylact of Ohrid).

“thinking after Passover.” On a festival as great as the Passover, no sentence of death or execution was allowed, and so Herod Agrippa wanted to condemn Peter after the festival was over.

“to bring him before the people” – for a solemn public trial, condemnation and capital punishment. A lover of spectacles, brought up by the bloody Roman spectacles, the king wanted to make a public spectacle out of the condemnation and execution of the first supreme apostle.

Acts 12:5. And so Peter was kept in prison; and at that time the church was constantly praying to God for him.

“And at that time the church was constantly praying to God for him.” From the remark it is clear that the miraculous deliverance of the apostle was granted mainly through the prayer of the Church for him. “They (i.e. the believers) were now in the most dangerous position. They were horrified both by the fact that he (Jacob) was killed and by the fact that he (Peter) was thrown into prison… But they did not get angry, did not raise a commotion, but turned to prayer, resorted to this invincible champion…” (Saint John Chrysostom).

Acts 12:6. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter slept between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards at the door guarded the dungeon.

“Through that night,” i. before the day when Herod wanted to try Peter “Peter was sleeping between two soldiers”, chained to them with two chains, as was the rule under a strong guard (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XVIII, 6, 7; Pliny, Er. X, 65 ).

Acts 12:7. And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood, and a light shone in the dungeon. The angel, pushing Peter in the side, woke him up and said: get up quickly! And the chains fell from his hands.

“A light shone in the dungeon” – φῶς ἔλαμψεν ἐν τῷ οἰκήματι. In the Slavic translation: “the world shines in xpamine” – perhaps not in the entire dungeon, but in that part of it where Peter slept.

“as he pushed Petra”. Peter’s sleep in those anxious minutes was so deep that only a movement could wake him. “You see,” says St. John Chrysostom, “Peter is asleep, he does not give in to despondency or fear.” That night, when they wanted to lead him to death, he slept, surrendering everything to God.”

Acts 12:8. Then the Angel said to him: gird up your tail and put on your shoes. So he did. Then he says to him: put on your clothes and follow me!

“Shut up and put on your shoes.” “Therefore he ordered him to gird himself and put on his shoes, to show him that he was not an apparition, so that Peter would wake up from his sleep and be convinced that it was true. Therefore at that moment the chains fell from his hands and he was told, “get up quickly.” These are words whose purpose is not to disturb, but to convince not to delay…” (Saint John Chrysostom).

Acts 12:9. Peter went out and followed him, and he did not know that what the Angel was doing was true, but thought he was seeing a vision.

Acts 12:10. When they had passed the first and second watch, they came to the iron enemy, who were leading into the city, and who opened themselves to them: they went out and crossed a street, and presently the Angel withdrew from him.

Acts 12:11 Then Peter, coming to himself, said: now I truly understood that the Lord sent His Angel and delivered me from the hands of Herod and from everything that the Jewish people expected.

Acts 12:12. And looking around, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, called Mark, where many were gathered and praying.

“John, called Mark”, who then accompanied Barnabas and Saul to Antioch (Acts 12:25). There are several different traditions about this John-Mark: according to some, he is the same person as the evangelist Mark and Mark, the nephew of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). Others distinguish it from St. Mark and the nephew of Barnabas. Third, distinguishing it from St. the apostle Mark, consider him a nephew of Barnabas. This disagreement, of course, cannot speak against the historical veracity of this account in the book of Acts.

Acts 12:13. When Peter knocked on the road enemy, a servant girl named Rhoda went to eavesdrop.

Acts 12:14. And, recognizing Peter’s voice, he did not open the door for joy, but ran and called that Peter was standing at the door.

Acts 12:15. And they told her: you are out of your mind! But she claimed it was. And they said: this is his Angel.

“You are out of your mind!” In Greek: μαίνῃ. In the Slavic translation: “are you mad?”, i.e. are you crazy So strange and incredible seemed the reported.

“This is his Angel.” As often happens when a person gets confused, faced with something improbable and inexplicable, he finds an explanation of what is happening that is no less difficult and wonderful, and just as little to explain the possibility of the incredible. The teaching about the guardian angel and the director of the salvation of every person could be based on and confirmed by the teaching of the Lord about the angels of infants. This teaching was also known to the apostle Paul (Hebrews 1:14).

Acts 12:16. At that time, Peter kept knocking. And when they opened it, they saw it and were amazed.

“when they opened” – no longer only the maidservant, but everyone gathered rushes to the newcomer and opens the door for him.

Acts 12:17. And he, making a sign with his hand to be silent, told them how the Lord had brought him out of the dungeon, and said: call Jacob and the brothers about this. And going out, he went to another place.

“call Jacob,” i. to the superior of the Jerusalem church, brother of the Lord “and to the brothers”, i.e. to the rest of the believers – to calm down.

“went to another place”, thereby showing prudent caution, which fully corresponded to the Lord’s instruction (Matt. 10:23). “He did not tempt God and did not put himself in danger, because they did this only when they were commanded…” (Saint John Chrysostom). There is an ancient tradition that Peter was in Rome during the first years of the reign of Claudius (Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, II, 14–15). If this is so, then the most convenient time for Peter to make such a journey was precisely that. In all probability the journey took place in AD 44, after the Jewish Passover, in the fourth year of Claudius’ reign. After that, the writer does not speak about Peter again until the apostolic council (Acts 15).

During this time (several years) he was quite able to make the supposed journey – both for greater safety and because of his zeal to preach Christ in the very center of the life of the world at that time.

Acts 12:18. As he doubted, there was no small confusion among the soldiers, what had become of Peter.

Acts 12:19. And Herod, looking for him and not finding him, investigated the guards and ordered them to be put to death. After that he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and there he lived.

“He went down to Caesarea.” It was the then usual residence of the Roman governors of Judea. The Passover was over and Herod could leave Jerusalem. Moreover, it was now inconvenient for him to remain in the city, because he was ashamed of that part of the people, headed by the Sanhedrin, to whom he had promised a gratuitous spectacle of the apostle’s execution.

Acts 12:20. Herod was angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians; and they talked together, came to him and, having persuaded the king’s bed-bearer Vlasta to their side, begged for peace, because their country was fed from the king’s territory.

By describing Herod’s death immediately after the story of Peter’s release, the scribe wants to present this death as God’s punishment for Herod because of the persecution against Christ’s church.

“Herod was enraged” – for what reason is unknown.

“the king’s bedspread Power” – τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ κοῦῶνος τοῦ βασιλέως. This is the chief servant of the king, the guardian of his life and treasures. Such officials very often became high dignitaries of the state, enjoying great influence over the king and state affairs (cf. Acts 8:27).

“begged for peace”. Friendly relations were especially necessary given the danger of starvation (St. John Chrysostom). The Phoenicians obtained most of their grain wheat from Palestine, as they themselves were primarily a trading rather than an agricultural people. Therefore, without war, Herod could do them too much harm, which forced them to beg him for peace.

Acts 12:21. On the appointed day, Herod put on a royal robe, sat on the throne, and spoke to them;

The reception of the envoys took place on a specially designated day of a solemn public audience.

“clothed himself in a royal garment” – according to Josephus’ account “woven of silver”.

Acts 12:22. and the people shouted: this is the voice of God, and not of man.

Acts 12:23. But suddenly an Angel of the Lord smote him, because he did not give glory to God; and he, eaten by worms, died.

The Jewish historian Josephus tells in sufficient detail about the circumstances of Agrippa’s death, with some details and differences (Jewish Antiquities, XIX, 8, 2; cf. Acts 18:6, 7) with a general similarity to the writer. According to Josephus, the king was present in Caesarea at the games in honor of Caesar; on one of these days, the reception of the king’s envoys could have taken place. His magnificent, silver-woven robes shone in the sun with dazzling brilliance; this gave reason also to the flatterers for the most immeasurable praises, in which they called him a god and entrusted themselves to his favor. The king, it seems, was heartened by such flattery, which immediately drew upon him the wrath of God: seeing an owl above him, he fell into a superstitious fear, and at the same time felt such a sharp pain in his stomach that he was immediately carried in his arms into the palace, where after five days of agony he died.

Agrippa’s fear of the owl is explained by the fact that in Rome a soothsayer predicted that he would die when he saw an owl above him for the second time. When this happened, Agrippa fell ill, remembering with horror the prediction. This explanation does not exclude the other, more serious, one of the writer, who says that the cause and beginning of the disease is the invisible defeat of Herod by an angel. The two narrators also do not contradict each other in indicating the duration of Herod’s torments – Josephus directly states five days, and Luke is less definite, saying: “eaten by worms, he died.”

The account of Herod’s death is important because of its chronological date (44), which allows us to determine the time of previous and subsequent events in the life of the church.

Acts 12:24. And the word of God grew and spread.

Acts 12:25. Barnabas and Saul, having fulfilled the commission, returned from Jerusalem (to Antioch), taking with them John, called Mark. Cf. Acts 11:28–30.

Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. prof. A. P. Lopukhin. – Ed. 4th. – Moscow: Dar, 2009, 1232 pp.

Illustration: A rare icon of oil-painted St. Peter on gilt background with intricate tooling and decorated with a border of stippled flowers. Oil and gilt on wood panel. 48.2 x 38.3 cm (19 x 15 1/8 in.). Guilded wooden frame, 19th century.