Acts 12:13

Peter knocked. When the angel opened the prison doors, the supernatural intervened to meet an extraordinary need. But only a few minutes after the miracle of his deliverance, Peter had to knock at the door of a house to have his need of admission met in the usual way.

Gate. Gr. pulon, see on Matt. 26:71.

A damsel. Gr. paidiske, “a young girl,” “a servant girl.”

To hearken. A sense of danger is here implied — danger because of the persecution that Agrippa’s zeal for Judaism was bringing to the disciples. Saul had formerly entered into every house and carried off men and women to prison (ch. 8:3), and there was prospect of a like danger now. Therefore Rhoda would not open the door until she knew who might be seeking admission.

Rhoda. A common Greek name meaning “rose.” Rhoda is not mentioned apart from this experience, but few servants are so well known. Like the thief on the cross, the Mary who washed Jesus’ feet, and the unnamed widow who put the two mites into the offering box of the Temple, Rhoda has been known to every Bible reader for 19 centuries.