Gevurot 12:2

2 He killed Ya’akov the ach Yochanan with a cherev (sword).

Gevurot 12:2 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 12:2

And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
] This was James, the son of Zebedee, whom our Lord told, that he should be baptized with the baptism he was baptized with, ( Matthew 20:22 ) meaning the baptism of martyrdom; and he was the first martyr among the apostles: the death he was put to was one of the four capital punishments among the Jews, and was reckoned by them the most disgraceful of them all, and was inflicted upon deceivers of the people; and such an one James was thought to be ^F5.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 1, 3. & 11. 4.

Gevurot 12:2 In-Context

1 2 Now during that time Herod the king laid his hands on Moshiach’s Kehillah to harm some of them.

2 He killed Ya’akov the ach Yochanan with a cherev (sword).

3 Having seen that this was pleasing to the Judeans, Herod proceeded to arrest Kefa also. This happened during the yamim of Chag HaMatzot. [SHEMOT 12:15; 23:25]

4 When he had Kefa seized, he put him in the beis hasohar, having handed him over to four squads of chaiyalim to guard him, intending after Pesach to bring him before the people.

5 Therefore, Kefa was being kept in the beis hasohar. But tefillah to Hashem was earnestly being made by Moshiach’s Kehillah for him.