Acts 12:1

About that time. The event here narrated must have occurred not long before the death of Herod Agrippa I (see vs. 20-23). Since he died in A.D. 44, the events of the early part of this chapter can be dated perhaps the year previously or in the early months of A.D. 44.

Herod the king. Herod Agrippa I was the son of Aristobulus and Berenice, grandson of Herod the Great and the Hasmonaean princess Mariamne, and brother of the Herodias who appears in the story of John the Baptist (see Vol. V, p. 40). He was named after the statesman who was the chief minister of Augustus. After his father had fallen a victim in 7 B.C. to the suspicion of his grandfather, Herod the Great (see Vol. V, p. 42), he was sent to Rome, partly as a hostage and partly to keep him out of involvement in intrigues. There he became an intimate of Caligula and Claudius, both of whom later became emperors. When Herod Antipas married Herod Agrippa’s sister Herodias, Agrippa was made the market overseer of Tiberias, but he soon quarreled with Antipas and went to Rome. Here he fell under the displeasure of Tiberius, because he expressed a rash wish that his friend Caligula might become emperor. He was imprisoned by Tiberius and remained in confinement until the death of that emperor. When Caligula succeeded Tiberius on the throne, he loaded his friend Agrippa with honors, gave him the tetrarchies, first of Philip and then of Lysanias (Luke 3:1), and bestowed upon him the title of king. When Antipas was deposed (see Vol. V, p. 65), Agrippa fell heir to his territories also. For a sketch of his reign see Vol. V, pp. 69, 234.

Stretched forth his hands. Rather, “laid hands on.”

To vex. That is, “to injure,” or “to afflict.” Since Agrippa was anxious to be looked upon as a devoted Jew, he could easily be aroused by the Jews to attack the Christians. Therefore he began a persecution of the church, “spoiling the houses and goods of the believers” (AA 143).