Blastus

Blas´tus, a man who was cubicularius to king Herod Agrippa, or who had the charge of his bedchamber (Act 12:20). Such persons had usually great influence with their masters, and hence the importance attached to Blastus’ favoring the peace with Tyre and Sidon.

A chamberlain of Herod Agrippa, bribed to favor the men of Tyre and Sidon, Mal 12:20 .\par

Blas’tus. (sprout). The chamberlain, of Herod Agrippa I. Act 12:20.

Herod Agrippa I’s chamberlain; mediator between him and the people of Tyre and Sidon, who made him their friend (Act 12:20).

(Βλάστος), a man who was " chamberlain" (cubicularius, ὁ έπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος, i.e. chief eunuch) to King Herod Agrippa, or who had the charge of his bed-chamber (Act 12:20). A.D. 44. Such persons had usually great influence with their masters, and hence the importance attached to Blastus’s favoring the peace with Tyre and Sidon.

[Blas’tus]

Chamberlain of Herod Agrippa I: Act 12:20.

BLASTUS.—A chamberlain of Agrippa I., through whose intervention the people of Tyre and Sidon secured a hearing at Cæsarea (Act 12:20).

blas´tus (Βλάστος, Blástos, “shoot”): The chamberlain of Herod Agrippa I, whose services as an intermediary between them and the king were gained by the people of Tyre and Sidon. These cities were dependent on Palestine for corn and other provisions, and when Herod, on the occasion of some commercial dispute, forbade the export of foodstuffs to Tyre and Sidon, they were at his mercy and were compelled to ask for peace. “Having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend,” probably by means of a bribe, the Phoenician embassy was given an opportunity of setting their case before Herod (Act 12:20).

Blastus, a chamberlain of Herod Agrippa I., is mentioned in Act_12:20 in connexion with an embassy which the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon sent to Herod at Caesarea in order to obtain terms of peace. The ambassadors obtained an audience of the prince through the influence of Blastus, who no doubt had been liberally bribed for his services. The incident of the embassy is not mentioned by Josephus nor is the name of Blastus, and this omission has been regarded by some (e.g. Krenkel) as throwing doubt on St. Luke’s narrative, while others regard the incident as a proof of St. Luke’s independence, or as an intentional supplement to the account of the Jewish historian.

W. F. Boyd.