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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
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 16:27The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
- Ps 37:32–33The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.
- John 12:10–11But the chief priests conspired to put Lazarus to death also,
- Esth 6:12Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.
- Acts 21:8On the next day, we, who were Paul’s companions, departed, and came to Caesarea. We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
- Acts 12:4When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
- 1 Sam 23:14David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God didn’t deliver him into his hand.
- Matt 2:13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
- Dan 2:11–13It is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
- 1 Kgs 20:43The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.
- Acts 12:6The same night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door kept the prison.
- Acts 8:40But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
- Acts 27:42The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.
- Matt 28:11–15Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all the things that had happened.
- Jer 36:26The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them.
- Matt 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
- Acts 25:13Now when some days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea, and greeted Festus.
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Original language
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