Acts 12

Herod Agrippa I (ruled AD 37-44) was a grandson of Herod the Great. His friend since childhood, Roman emperor Caligula, appointed him ruler over the Jewish homeland. Herod reported directly to the emperor, as a subordinate.

Peter led the original disciples of Jesus. Many Christians recognized him as one of the most influential leaders of the emerging Christian movement.

Passover took place the same time of year Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. Then, as today, Jews from all over the world traveled to Jerusalem each spring—around Eastertime—to celebrate Passover, one of their most important holidays. Passover commemorates God freeing their ancestors from slavery in Egypt, during the time of Moses. Jews call the holiday Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) because of the miracle that finally convinced a hardheaded king of Egypt to release them. God brought death to the oldest child in each family, but he passed over Jewish homes without harming them (Exodus 12).

Herod may have wanted to make a spectacle out of Peter by executing him at the end of the weeklong Passover observance.

These four soldiers apparently represented one of the four squads of soldiers guarding Peter. Roman guards worked on a schedule of four shifts during the night: 6-9 p.m., 9 p.m.-midnight; midnight-3 a.m.; 3 a.m.-6 a.m. Perhaps the four squads each took a turn guarding Peter at night.

The city is Jerusalem, crowded during the Passover holiday.

Herod and the Jews weren’t planning a square dance. Many Bible experts agree that Herod and the Jews likely expected a sequel to the execution of James.

This isn’t John the apostle, who was one of Jesus’s 12 original disciples. It was another John, apparently nicknamed Mark. Or maybe his mom liked the name “John” and his dad liked “Mark.” Who knows? Bible writers sometimes called him “John,” sometimes “Mark,” and sometimes “John, also called Mark.” He was a cousin of Barnabas and an associate of Paul, who sometimes traveled with Paul on mission trips (Colossians 4:10).

Some Jews said each person not only has a guardian angel, but that guardian angels look like the people they guard. This idea isn’t in the Bible, but it’s in other revered Jewish writings and rabbi-written commentaries from ancient times.

This is the first time James, whom many consider the brother of Jesus, shows up in the Bible as a leader of the Christian movement. He apparently pastored the mother church in Jerusalem. He also chaired a Jerusalem Council meeting to settle problems in the church (see Acts 15). Paul called this James, along with apostles Peter and John, “top leaders in the church” (Galatians 2:9).

Judea was the region, perhaps comparable to a county, that included Jerusalem. Samaria was a region north, in what is now the central part of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Caesarea was a Roman-style city that Herod the Great built about 50 miles (80 km) north of Azotus (Ashdod). Rome’s capital of the entire region, Caesarea sat on the coast, a little south of the Mount Carmel ridge of hills.

Tyre and Sidon are Mediterranean seaside cities in what is now the Arab nation of Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border.

Herod’s grandfather, Herod the Great, also suffered from maggots before he died. First-century Jewish historian Josephus said Herod the Great had “gangrene of the genitals.” Doctors today speculate that Herod the Great’s gangrene may have come from gonorrhea and continued scratching of it, or perhaps from an abdominal infection that spread to the groin. The disease that struck his grandson, Herod Agrippa, also remains a mystery.

First-century Jewish historian Josephus tells a similar story about Herod: In Caesarea the crowd declared him a god, he didn’t deny it, he got sick and died with severe stomach pains.