Acts 12

Acts 12:1

Good News for Everyone An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Acts www.easyenglish.info Marion Adams This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 12 Peter in prison again, 12:1-5 v1 At that time, King Herod arrested some members of the *church. He made them suffer very badly. v2 He ordered soldiers to kill James, John’s brother, with a sword. v3 The *Jews were pleased about that. Herod saw that they were pleased. So, he arrested Peter also. (This happened during the *Festival of *Unleavened Bread.) v4 After Herod had arrested Peter, he put Peter in prison. Four groups of soldiers guarded Peter. And each group had four soldiers in it. Herod wanted to bring Peter out after the *Passover because he wanted Peter to have a public *trial then.

v5 So, Herod kept Peter in prison. But the Christians prayed to God about Peter. They did not stop praying.

Verse 1 Herod was the name that people called all the *Jewish rulers. It was the name of the rulers’ family. This Herod was Herod Agrippa the First (the first Herod that had the name Agrippa). He was Herod the Great’s grandson. Herod the Great was ruling when Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1). Herod Agrippa the First was a friend of the *Roman rulers, Caligula and Claudius. When Claudius became the *Emperor in *AD 41, he gave *Judea to Herod Agrippa. Before, a *Roman had ruled over it.

Herod Agrippa the First wanted to stay popular with the *Jews. Many *Jewish leaders now opposed the *church. So, Herod opposed the *church too. He used his authority to *persecute *believers. He arrested the leaders of the *church. He wanted to destroy the *church.

Verse 2 James was an important *disciple. He was John’s brother. In the *Gospels, the writers mention James and John many times

Soldiers killed James ‘with a sword’. This means that they cut off his head. This was the punishment for political crimes.

Verses 3-5 ‘The *Jews were pleased.’ ‘The *Jews’ here probably meant the *Jewish rulers, who were the *Pharisees and the *Sadducees. Herod wanted to be even more popular. He wanted to show that he was loyal to the *Jewish religion. So, he arrested Peter.

Herod wanted to arrange a public *trial for Peter. But Herod could not do this immediately. He had to wait until the *Passover had finished. The *Passover lasted 7 days. So, he had to keep Peter in prison in the meanwhile.

However, the *apostles had many friends. Also, many people were secret *believers. So, Herod made sure that Peter could not escape. Guards were with Peter all day and all night. They guarded him in turn, so that there were always four soldiers there. It seemed impossible for Peter to get away.

But nothing is impossible for God. While Peter was in prison, the *believers prayed for him. They did not pray only once. They continued to pray. Then a *miracle happened! Peter escapes! 12:6-10 v6 It was the night before Peter’s *trial. He was asleep between two soldiers. They had tied him up with two chains. There were some other soldiers, who were guarding the exit of the prison. v7 Suddenly, an *angel of the *Lord appeared. A light shone everywhere in Peter’s room in the prison. The *angel hit Peter on his side.

The *angel woke Peter up. ‘Be quick! Get up!’ said the *angel. The chains fell off Peter’s hands. v8 Then the *angel said, ‘Put on your clothes and shoes.’ Peter did this. Then the *angel said, ‘Put on your coat and follow me.’ v9 Peter followed the *angel out of the prison. But Peter thought that he was dreaming. He did not know that it was real. v10 They passed the first guards.

They passed the second guards. Then they came to the iron gate. To get out into the city, one had to go through this gate. It opened by itself! So, they went out. They went along the street.

Suddenly, the *angel disappeared.

Verses 6-10 Peter was sleeping. He felt calm, because he always trusted God. Probably, he thought that he would die the next day. He did not know that he would escape. But he was calm.

Suddenly, an *angel appeared in Peter’s room. The *Greek word for ‘*angel’ (aggelos) can just mean a person who brings a message. So, some students say that this *angel was human. They say that it was not an *angel from heaven. But Luke mentioned *angels from heaven many times in his *Gospel. He also mentioned them at the beginning of Acts. In total, he mentioned them about 15 times. And here, Luke writes that ‘a light shone everywhere in Peter’s room’ (verse 7). Luke meant that the *angel was not human. Peter’s escape was a *miracle. Even Peter thought that he was dreaming!

Peter and the *angel had to pass through three gates to get out. Perhaps the soldiers who were guarding the first two gates were asleep. Or maybe they thought that Peter was a servant. It was dark. They did not expect to see him. But the third gate (the iron one) was the main gate. Servants would not go out of the main gate at night. So, God made a wonderful thing happen. The iron gate just opened by itself. When they were outside, the *angel disappeared. A surprise! 12:11-19 v11 Then Peter realised what had happened. He said, ‘I am sure now that the *Lord sent his *angel to me. He sent the *angel to rescue me from Herod. He rescued me from everything that the *Jews decided to do to me.’

v12 When he understood this, he went to Mary’s home. Mary was John Mark’s mother. Many people had gathered there and they were praying. v13 Peter knocked on the gate. A servant girl called Rhoda came. v14 She recognised Peter’s voice. But she did not open the gate. She was so happy that she ran back inside. She told the people that Peter was standing outside.

v15 ‘You are crazy!’ they all told her. But she continued to say that it was true. So, they said, ‘It is his *angel, then.’

v16 But Peter continued to knock. So, they opened the gate. When they saw him, they were very surprised. v17 Peter gave a signal with his hand. He wanted them to be quiet. Then he described how the *Lord had brought him out of prison. ‘Tell James and all the other *believers what has happened’, he said. Then he left and he went to another place.

v18 The next morning, the guards did not know what had happened to Peter. So, they were very worried. v19 Herod ordered his soldiers to search for Peter. But they could not find him. So, Herod asked the guards questions. Then he ordered soldiers to kill the guards. After this, Herod left *Judea. He went to Caesarea and he stayed there for some time.

Verses 11-12 Peter knew now that he was not dreaming. What had happened was real. He was free. But he knew that he must hide quickly. So, he went to a house where *Christians met.

The *church in *Jerusalem was too big to meet in one building. So, groups of its members met in big houses. Some members met in the house of John Mark’s mother. This is the first time that Luke mentions John Mark. John Mark wrote the second *Gospel. He travelled with Paul. We shall read more about him later in ‘Acts’. Luke does not mention his father. Perhaps John Mark’s mother was a widow. She was rich. We know that because she owned a big house. It had a gate (verse 13). This gate was the entrance to a yard. Also, she had a servant. Possibly, she had more than one servant.

Verses 13-16 The servant, Rhoda, was so happy that she forgot to open the door! The *believers inside were praying for Peter. But they did not believe that he was there, outside! Perhaps they did not think that God would answer their prayers so quickly. They thought that Rhoda was crazy. Or they thought that Peter’s *angel was outside.

People believed that each person had an *angel, who looked after him or her. But they refused to believe that it was really Peter himself.

Peter probably felt very impatient. He needed to get off the street, so that nobody could see him there. So, he continued to knock until they answered.

Verse 17 Peter wanted them to be quiet, because he was still in danger. When Herod’s guards searched for him, they would come to this house first. This was because his *Christian friends met there. He told his friends what had happened. He told them to tell James (Jesus’ brother) and the other *believers. This James became a leader of the *church in *Jerusalem (Acts 15:13; 21:18).

‘He went to another place’ (verse 17). Peter had to go far away from *Jerusalem. We do not know where he went. Probably, he went to a country where Herod was not the ruler. Later, he returned to *Jerusalem (Acts 15:7).

Verses 18-19 Herod probably thought that the guards had helped Peter to escape. Now there would not be a public *trial. Herod was very angry. So, he punished the guards by death. Then Herod left *Jerusalem. Herod Agrippa the First dies, 12:20-25 v20 Herod was very angry with the people who lived in Tyre and Sidon. So, a group of them went to see Blastus. Blastus was one of Herod’s most important officials. The group of people persuaded Blastus to help them. Then they went to Herod. They asked Herod for peace between him and their cities. This was because their country got much food from Herod’s country.

v21 They arranged to meet on a certain day. Herod put on his royal clothes and he sat on his *throne. He made a speech to the people.

v22 ‘This is not a man’s voice. It is the voice of a god!’ shouted the people.

v23 Immediately, an *angel of the *Lord knocked Herod down. Herod had taken the honour that belonged to God. That was why the *angel knocked him down. *Worms ate Herod and he died.

v24 God’s message continued to grow and it continued to spread. v25 Barnabas and Saul finished the work that they had to do. After this, they returned from *Jerusalem. They took John Mark with them.

Verse 20 When Herod left *Jerusalem, he went to Caesarea. Caesarea was on the coast. Tyre and Sidon were ports by the Mediterranean Sea. They were close to Caesarea, which was also a port. Perhaps the traders in Tyre and Sidon took trade away from Caesarea. Perhaps that is why Herod was angry with Tyre’s people and Sidon’s people.

However, we do not know exactly why Herod argued with them. But the people from Tyre and Sidon wanted to make peace with Herod. Wheat grew in *Galilee and those people needed this wheat for food. Herod was ruling over *Galilee. So, they persuaded Blastus, Herod’s official, to help them.

Verses 21-23 Herod and the people from Tyre and Sidon wanted to be friends again. They wanted to do this in public. Perhaps Herod was trying to be popular again. So, they chose a day when they would meet. It was probably a special day, like the *Emperor’s birthday.

The *Jewish writer Josephus also wrote an account of this occasion. He described the clothes that Herod wore. Someone had made them from silver cloth. They shone in the sun. For that reason, the people shouted that Herod was a god. Josephus wrote that Herod did not stop them. Josephus also described Herod’s death.

Suddenly, Herod had a bad pain in his bowels. (The bowels are part of the body. Food passes through the bowels and then it goes out of the body.)

Herod was very ill for 5 days before he died. In Acts, Luke tells us what was making Herod so ill. ‘*Worms ate Herod and he died.’ *Worms can damage the bowels and in this way they can cause death. Luke shows that Herod’s death was God’s punishment of Herod.

Verse 25 Barnabas and Saul had gone to *Jerusalem with money. (Look at Acts 11:30.) This money would be a help to the *Jewish *Christians during the *famine. John Mark was Barnabas’s cousin (Colossians 4:10). John Mark returned to Antioch with Barnabas and Saul.

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This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

April 2005

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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3Echurch</b%3E ~ a group of Christians that meet together. (A church is not just the building that they meet in.) It can also mean all the Christians in the world.