After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.
Parallel translations
- WEB When Herod had sought for him, and didn’t find him, he examined the guards, and commanded that they should be put to death. He went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
- KJV And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.
- NKJV But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
- NASB When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.
- NLT Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Failing to find Peter, Herod examines the guards, orders their execution, and withdraws to Caesarea. The tyrant lashes out but cannot reverse God's work.
Overview
Herod's harsh sentence on the guards reflects Roman custom and his own cruelty. Unable to recapture his prisoner, he leaves Jerusalem for Caesarea, the seat of Roman government in the region. The narrative moves Herod toward the judgment that will fall on him, showing that those who oppose God's people stand under God's hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Acts 16:27When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped.
- Ps 37:32–33Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- John 12:10–11So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,
- Esth 6:12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
- Acts 21:8Leaving the next day, we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven.
- Acts 12:4He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
- 1 Sam 23:14And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
- Matt 2:13When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”
- Dan 2:11–13What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
- 1 Kgs 20:43Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went home to Samaria.
- Acts 12:6On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison.
- Acts 8:40But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
- Acts 27:42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim to freedom.
- Matt 28:11–15While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.
- Jer 36:26Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
- Matt 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
- Acts 25:13After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.
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Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
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Original language
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