Acts 12:19

19 When Herod sent for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to Caesarea.

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 Peter put his hands up and calmed them down. He described how the Master had gotten him out of jail, then said, "Tell James and the brothers what's happened." He left them and went off to another place.
18 At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. "Where is Peter? What's happened to Peter?"
19 When Herod sent for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to Caesarea.
20 But things went from bad to worse for Herod. Now people from Tyre and Sidon put him on the warpath. But they got Blastus, King Herod's right-hand man, to put in a good word for them and got a delegation together to iron things out. Because they were dependent on Judea for food supplies, they couldn't afford to let this go on too long.
21 On the day set for their meeting, Herod, robed in pomposity, took his place on the throne and regaled them with a lot of hot air.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.