Acts 12:1-4

James is Killed and Peter Imprisoned

12:1 About that time King Herod ¹  laid hands on ²  some from the church to harm them. ³  12:2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. ⁴  12:3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, ⁵  he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) ⁶  12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads ⁷  of soldiers to guard him. Herod ⁸  planned ⁹  to bring him out for public trial ¹⁰  after the Passover.

[12:1]  ¹ sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great). His mediocre career is summarized in Josephus, Ant. 18-19. This event took place in a.d. 42 or 43.

[12:1]  ² tn Or “King Herod had some from the church arrested.”

[12:1]  ³ tn Or “to cause them injury.”

[12:2]  ⁴ sn The expression executed with a sword probably refers to a beheading. James was the first known apostolic martyr (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1-3). On James, not the Lord’s brother, see Luke 5:10; 6:14. This death ended a short period of peace noted in Acts 9:31 after the persecution mentioned in 8:1-3.

[12:3]  ⁵ tn This could be a reference to the Jewish people (so CEV) or to the Jewish leaders (so NLT). The statement in v. 4 that Herod intended to bring Peter “out to the people” (i.e., for a public trial) may suggest the former is somewhat more likely.

[12:3]  ⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:4]  ⁷ sn Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.

[12:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “guard him, planning to bring him out.” The Greek construction continues with a participle (βουλόμενος, boulomeno") and an infinitive (ἀναγαγεῖν, anagagein), but this creates an awkward and lengthy sentence in English. Thus a reference to Herod was introduced as subject and the participle translated as a finite verb (“Herod planned”).

[12:4]  ⁹ tn Or “intended”; Grk “wanted.”

[12:4]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to bring him out to the people,” but in this context a public trial (with certain condemnation as the result) is doubtless what Herod planned. L&N 15.176 translates this phrase “planning to bring him up for a public trial after the Passover.”