Act 12:6-17 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 6 Sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains - Two soldiers guarded his person; his right hand being bound to the left hand of one, and his left hand bound to the right hand of the other. This was the Roman method of guarding their prisoners, and appears to be what is intimated in the text.

Acts 12:6-17

Verse 6

Sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains - Two soldiers guarded his person; his right hand being bound to the left hand of one, and his left hand bound to the right hand of the other. This was the Roman method of guarding their prisoners, and appears to be what is intimated in the text. Verse 7

Smote Peter on the side - He struck him in such a way as was just sufficient to awake him from his sleep.

His chains fell off from his hands - The chains mentioned above, by which he was bound to the two soldiers. Verse 8

Gird thyself - It seems Peter had put off the principal part of his clothes, that he might sleep with more comfort. His resuming all that he had thrown off was a proof that every thing had been done leisurely. There was no evidence of any hurry; nor of any design to elude justice, or even to avoid meeting his accusers in any legal way. It appears that the two soldiers were overwhelmed by a deep sleep, which fell upon them from God. Verse 9

He - wist not - He knew not; from the Anglo-Saxon, to know. He supposed himself to be in a dream. Verse 10

The first and - second ward - It is supposed that ancient Jerusalem was surrounded by three walls: if so, then passing through the gates of these three walls successively is possibly what is meant by the expression in the text. The prison in which he was confined might have been that which was at the outer wall.

Iron gate - This was in the innermost wall of the three, and was strongly plated over with iron, for the greater security. In the east, the gates are often thus secured to the present day. Pitts says so of the gates of Algiers; and Pocock, of some near Antioch. Perhaps this is all that is meant by the iron gate. One of the quaternions of soldiers was placed at each gate.

Which opened - of his own accord - Influenced by the unseen power of the angel.

The angel departed from him - Having brought him into a place in which he no longer needed his assistance. What is proper to God he always does: what is proper to man he requires him to perform. Verse 11

When Peter was come to himself - Every thing he saw astonished him; he could scarcely credit his eyes; he was in a sort of ecstasy; and it was only when the angel left him that he was fully convinced that all was real.

Now I know - that the Lord hath sent his angel - The poor German divine is worthy of pity, who endeavored to persuade himself and his countrymen that all this talk about the angel was mere illusion; that Peter was delivered in a way which he could not comprehend, and therefore was led to attribute to a particular providence of God what probably was done by the prefect of the prison, who favored him! But it is the study of this writer to banish from the word of God all supernatural influence; and to reduce even the miracles of Christ to simple operations of nature, or to the workings of imagination and the prejudices of a weak and credulous people. Such men should at once cast off the mask which so thinly covers their infidelity, and honestly avow themselves to be, what they are, the enemies of revelation in general, and of the Christian religion in particular. Peter could say, Now I know of a certainty that the Lord hath sent his angel, and delivered me, etc. No such thing, says Mr. E., Peter was deceived; it was not the Lord, it was the prefect or some other person. Now we know that Peter spoke by the Holy Ghost; but we have no much testimony of Mr. E. nor of any of his associates.

And all the expectation of the - Jews - It seems they had built much on the prospect of having him sacrificed, as they already had James. Verse 12

And when he had considered - When he had weighed every thing, and was fully satisfied of the Divine interposition, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, the author of the Gospel, where it appears many were gathered together making prayer and supplication, and probably for Peter's release. Verse 13

As Peter knocked - The door was probably shut for fear of the Jews; and, as most of the houses in the east have an area before the door, it might have been at this outer gate that Peter stood knocking.

A damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda - She came to inquire who was there. Rhoda signifies a rose; and it appears to have been customary with the Jews, as Grotius and others remark, to give the names of flowers and trees to their daughters: thus Susannah signifies a lily, Hadassah, a myrtle, Tamar, a palm tree, etc., etc. Verse 15

It is his angel - It was a common opinion among the Jews that every man has a guardian angel, and in the popish Church it is an article of faith. The Jews also believed that angels often assumed the likeness of particular persons. They have many stories of the appearance of Elijah in the likeness of different rabbins. As αγγελος signifies in general a messenger, whether Divine or human, some have thought that the angel or messenger here means a servant or person which the disciples supposed was sent from Peter to announce something of importance to the brethren: it was also an opinion among the Jews, even in the time of the apostles, as appears from Philo, that the departed souls of good men officiated as ministering angels; and it is possible that the disciples at Mary's house might suppose that Peter had been murdered in the prison; and that his spirit was now come to announce this event, or give some particular warning to the Church. Verse 17

Declared - how the Lord had brought him out of the prison - He still persisted in the belief that his deliverance was purely supernatural. It seems that some modern critics could have informed him of his mistake. See Act 12:11.

Show these things unto James, and to the brethren - That is, in one word, show them to the Church, at the head of which James undoubtedly was; as we may clearly understand by the part he took in the famous council held at Jerusalem, relative to certain differences between the believing Jews and Gentiles. See Act 15:13-21. There is still no supremacy for Peter. He who was bishop or overseer of the Church at Jerusalem was certainly at the head of the whole Church of God at this time; but James was then bishop or inspector of the Church at Jerusalem, and, consequently, was the only visible head then upon earth.

He departed - into another place - Some popish writers say that he went to Rome, and founded a Christian Church there. Those who can believe any thing may believe this. Where he went we know not; but it is probable that he withdrew for the present into a place of privacy, till the heat of the inquiry was over relative to his escape from the prison; for he saw that Herod was intent on his death.