Acts 12:19

19 After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Acts 12:19 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 12:19

And when Herod had sought for him and found him not
Neither in the prison, nor in any part of the city:

he examined the keepers;
of the prison, and those that were upon the watch, whether they had not been accessary to his escape:

and commanded that they should be put to death:
or brought forth, not before a judge to be tried and judged, because they had been examined by Herod already; but either that they should be carried and laid in bonds, or be led forth to suffer punishment; and so our version directs, and which is confirmed by the Syriac; and the Greeks say F14, that (apagwgh) is a kind of punishment:

and he went down from Judea to Caesarea;
not Peter, but Herod:

and there abode;
of this journey of Agrippa's to Caesarea, Josephus makes mention F15; this place was distant from Jerusalem six hundred furlongs, or seventy five miles F16.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 Harpocratian. Lex. p. 32.
F15 Antiqu. l. 19. c. 2. sect. 2.
F16 De Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 5.

Acts 12:19 In-Context

17 Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Report these things to James and the brothers," he said. Then he departed and went to a different place.
18 At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.
19 After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
20 He had been very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. Together they presented themselves before him, and having won over Blastus, who was in charge of the king's bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king's country.
21 So on an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a public address to them.
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