6 The 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.
Then the commanding officer came near, arrested him, commanded him to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he was and what he had done.
For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.
I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the memory of them to cease from among men;
Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste you, and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.
In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, For you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety.
You will keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on you]; because he trusts in you. Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.
Now, behold, I loose you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seem good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well to you; but if it seem ill to you to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go.
"We found the prison shut and locked, and the guards standing before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside!"
For this cause therefore I asked to see you and to speak with you. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain."
In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 12
Commentary on Acts 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
In this chapter we have the story,
Act 12:1-4
Ever since the conversion of Paul, we have heard no more of the agency of the priests in persecuting the saints at Jerusalem; perhaps that wonderful change wrought upon him, and the disappointment it gave to their design upon the Christians at Damascus, had somewhat mollified them, and brought them under the check of Gamaliel's advice-to let those men alone, and see what would be the issue; but here the storm arises from another point. The civil power, not now, as usual (for aught that appears) stirred up by the ecclesiastics, acts by itself in the persecution. But Herod, though originally of an Edomite family, yet seems to have been a proselyte to the Jewish religion; for Josephus says he was zealous for the Mosaic rites, a bigot for the ceremonies. He was not only (as Herod Antipas was) tetrarch of Galilee, but had also the government of Judea committed to him by Claudius the emperor, and resided most at Jerusalem, where he was at this time. Three things we are here told he did-
Act 12:5-19
We have here an account of Peter's deliverance out of prison, by which the design of Herod against him was defeated, and his life preserved for further service, and a stop given to this bloody torrent. Now,
Act 12:20-25
In these verses we have,