Act 12:2-3 | NETfull | STEP | He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword.

Acts 12:2-3

2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. ^{▼▼ The expression executed with a sword probably refers to a beheading. James was the first known apostolic martyr (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1–3). On James, not the Lord’s brother, see Luke 5:10; 6:14. This death ended a short period of peace noted in Acts 9:31 after the persecution mentioned in 8:1–3.} 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, ^{▼▼ This could be a reference to the Jewish people (so CEV) or to the Jewish leaders (so NLT). The statement in v. 4 that Herod intended to bring Peter “out to the people” (i.e., for a public trial) may suggest the former is somewhat more likely.} he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) ^{▼▼ This is a parenthetical note by the author.}