Acts 12:21

21 And on a set day, clothed in royal apparel and sitting on the elevated seat [of honour], Herod made a public oration to them.

Acts 12:21 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 12:21

And upon a set day
Either on some feast day of divine appointment, as a feast day was by the Jews called (dewm) , "a stated day"; or on some day appointed by Herod, for the receiving of the ambassadors of Tyre and Sidon, and of hearing their petitions; or as Josephus F18 says, it was on the second day of the sports and plays, instituted by him in honour of Caesar:

Herod, arrayed in royal apparel;
the same Jewish historian in the same place says, that this his apparel was all of silver, and of a wonderful contexture; and that going in this very early in the morning into the theatre, the silver shone so with the rays of the rising sun, that it struck the spectators with terror and admiration:

sat upon his throne;
and very likely with the other ensigns of royalty, as a crown on his head, and a sceptre in his hand:

and made an oration unto them;
either unto the ambassadors from Tyre and Sidon, or rather unto the common people, the multitude that were gathered together in the theatre, where the above historian says he was.


FOOTNOTES:

F18 Antiqu. l. 19, c. 8. sect 2.

Acts 12:21 In-Context

19 And Herod having sought him and not found him, having examined the guards, commanded [them] to be executed. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea and stayed [there].
20 And he was in bitter hostility with [the] Tyrians and Sidonians; but they came to him with one accord, and, having gained Blastus the king's chamberlain, sought peace, because their country was nourished by the king's.
21 And on a set day, clothed in royal apparel and sitting on the elevated seat [of honour], Herod made a public oration to them.
22 And the people cried out, A god's voice and not a man's.
23 And immediately an angel of [the] Lord smote him, because he did not give the glory to God, and he expired, eaten of worms.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.