Acts 12:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Now it is no longer the Jews or the Sanhedrin, but the king who stretches out his hands to "do them harm." Here is the highest authority and a heavier warfare, all the more because it was done to please the Jews.

Like a wild beast, he attacked all without cause and without distinction. Here what Christ said is fulfilled: "The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized" (Mk 10:39).

There is an ancient tradition in the Church from the second century that the Lord Himself commanded the apostles not to leave Jerusalem before twelve years had passed. According to Eusebius, this tradition was found in Apollonius's work against the Montanists and in other books.

At this time the Church of Jerusalem, after eight years of peace since Stephen's death, was again disturbed, though not for long.

King Herod Agrippa, to whom Emperor Claudius had entrusted the government of Judea itself, wished to show his zeal for strict observance of the Law.

His conduct was not always consistent with this zeal. He adapted himself also to the Roman way of life in order to attract the favor of the Gentiles.

Yet, so as not to set the Jews against himself, he rose up against the preachers of the new doctrine. He ordered the Apostle James, elder son of Zebedee and brother of the Apostle John, to be put to death.

During the feast of Pascha in A.D. 44, he also threw Peter into prison, intending after the feast to deal with him just as he had dealt with James.

But Peter was freed from prison by a special act of God's help. At the Church's prayer for him, an angel loosed his bonds, led him out of the locked prison, and brought him into the city.

Thus the chief Apostle was saved from death, since his life was still needed for the Church.

Soon afterward Herod himself died, struck by an angel in punishment for his actions against the Church of Christ. His death restored peace to the Christians of Jerusalem.

Paul and Barnabas came to Jerusalem during these disturbances. Therefore, they were probably there only a very short time, were unable to do anything significant, and soon returned to Antioch.

The words καί έκείνον τόν καιρόν in Acts 12:1, however, do not define the time precisely.

Until then, those who warred against her were representatives of religious and ecclesiastical interests in Judaism: the Sanhedrin, with its chief priests at its head.

Now the Jewish ecclesiastical government enters into alliance against Christ and His Church with the civil government. In it, it finds support for its oppression of Christ's followers.

Herod did not stretch out his hands against some who belonged to the Church from zeal for the Jewish law, but to do them harm. That is, he imprisoned them, subjected them to bodily torments, and killed them.

For example, he killed with the sword, that is, beheaded, one of the pillars of the Church, James the son of Zebedee.

In this case he wished to do what pleased the Jews in Jerusalem, knowing that they nourished irreconcilable hatred toward Christians.

Seeing that this pleased the Jews, after killing James he seized the Apostle Peter also, intending to kill him. Peter was an even stronger preacher of the faith of Christ and an even more influential pastor of the Church.

But since these were the days of Unleavened Bread, during which one could not subject anyone to trial and capital punishment, Herod imprisoned the Apostle Peter until their end.

Among the Jews, the feast of Pascha was called the feast of Unleavened Bread (see Lk 2:1). This is probably why Herod was then in Jerusalem and not in Caesarea, which seems to have been his residence (verse 19).

He commanded four squads of soldiers to guard Peter. Because the Romans divided the night into four watches, four shifts of soldiers were assigned to guard Peter in prison, each shift consisting of four men.

After Pascha, Herod intended to bring him to a public trial.

Soon afterward he also received the tetrarchy of his other uncle, Herod Antipas. Finally, Emperor Claudius, Caligula's successor, soon after ascending the throne, added Judea and Samaria to his dominions.

Thus Herod Agrippa I, like his grandfather, ruled all Palestine. During the time of his reign there was no separate Roman procuratorship over Palestine.

As for the character of Herod Agrippa I, he was a cunning, frivolous, and wasteful ruler.

"He stretched out his hands against some," more precisely, he laid hands on some of those belonging to the Church, to do them harm. That is, using violence (Acts 5:18), he ordered certain Christians to be arrested.

This took place in Jerusalem (cf. verse 19), not in Caesarea, the usual residence of the Jewish rulers of that time. Perhaps he had come there for the feasts of Pascha and Unleavened Bread (verses 2 and 3).

Perhaps, since Judea had been placed under his rule, he often lived there for long periods instead of in Caesarea.

Most of all by bribes, he obtained from Emperor Claudius the rule of the other three parts of Palestine. Out of regard for him, even the procurator was removed.

Therefore this Herod, though he lived chiefly in Caesarea, the regional city of Roman rule, often appeared in the former capital of the Jewish kingdom as king of the whole Jewish land.

He did this especially at feasts, as though to maintain order when many people gathered.

The author of Acts does not say by what or in what manner the anger of the frivolous young king was aroused. And is it necessary to seek reasons for the cruelty and murders of one raised in Roman ways under Emperor Caligula?

In the hands of the powerful, cruelty, mockery of men, and even killing them were considered amusements. After wickedly amusing themselves with sufferers, they went to eat food prepared from fish fed on the corpses of earlier victims of cruel sport.

For this reason Saint John Chrysostom holds that Herod's mockery of some Christians, and even the killing of the Apostle James, brother of John the Theologian, was "without cause" and done "without distinction."

James was one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus Christ Himself.

"If anyone asks," says Chrysostom, "why God permitted this, we shall say: for their own sake. First, to convince them that believers conquer even when they are killed, as with Stephen.

Second, to allow the persecutors to satisfy their rage and then restrain themselves from frenzy. Third, to show that this happened by His permission."

There is a tradition that together with James his accuser was also martyred, having been converted to Christ on the spot (see the Lives of the Saints, April 30).

"The author of Acts does not explain in detail the motives that led to the martyrdom of the Apostle James. Yet his brief remark is very characteristic.

Herod killed James with the sword, and then seized the Apostle Peter, wishing thereby to please the Jews. This reveals the essence of Herod's policy toward Christians.

It precisely and fully indicates the cause of the martyrdom of the Apostle James and the arrest of the Apostle Peter.

The whole policy of Herod Agrippa was founded on his complete respect for the Law and for Pharisaism. It may be called 'Pharisaic-national' in the strict sense.

This same policy explains his hostility toward Christians. Thus, in these few words of Saint Luke, which give the motive for Herod's killing of Saint James and imprisoning of Peter, much is in fact said.

This is the distinctive feature of the sacred writer, and at the same time his great artistry."