Acts 12:22

22 But the people began to call out loudly, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"

Acts 12:22 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 12:22

And the people gave a shout
At the end of the oration; these were flatterers, as Josephus says in the place before referred to, who cried out one from another, saluting him as God; saying, be merciful to us, hitherto we have revered thee as a man, henceforward we confess thee somewhat more excellent than mortal nature: and so it follows here,

saying it is the voice of a God, and not of a man;
the Vulgate Latin version reads, "the voices of God and not men"; and the Ethiopic version, "the city shouted in, or with the voice of God", with the voice of man; as if this referred to the acclamation of the people, and not the speech of the king; very wrongly.

Acts 12:22 In-Context

20 Now he was very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. So they came to him with one purpose, and [after] persuading Blastus, {the king's chamberlain}, they asked for peace, because their country was supported with food from the king's country.

21 So on an appointed day Herod, [after] putting on royal clothing and sitting down on the judgment seat, began to deliver a public address to them.

22 But the people began to call out loudly, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"

23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down {because} he did not give the glory to God. And he was eaten by worms [and] died.

24 But the word of God kept on increasing and multiplying.

Footnotes

• [a]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to call out loudly")