Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 12:22

And the people gave a shout, [saying, It is] the voice of a god, and not of a man.

And the people gave a shout – A loud applause.

It is the voice of a god … – It is not probable that the Jews joined in this acclamation, but that it was made by the idolatrous Gentiles. Josephus gives a similar account of their feelings and conduct. He says, And presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another (though not for his good), that he was a god; and they added, Be thou merciful unto us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a king, yet shall we henceforth own thee as a superior to mortal nature. It is true that Josephus says that this was done when they saw his splendid apparel, and that he gives no account of his addressing the people, while Luke describes it as the effect of his speech. But the discrepancy is of no consequence. Luke is as credible an historian as Josephus, and his account is more consistent than that of the Jewish historian. It is far more probable that this applause and adoration would be excited by a speech than simply by beholding his apparel.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

These impious flatterers destroy whom they exalt; for God will pull down his rivals.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

22, 23. the people gave a shout,&c.JOSEPHUS’account of his death is remarkably similar to this [Antiquities,19.8.2]. Several cases of such deaths occur in history. Thus was thiswretched man nearer his end than he of whom he had thought to make apublic spectacle.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the people gave a shout,…. At the end of the oration; these were flatterers, as Josephus says in the place before referred to, who cried out one from another, saluting him as God; saying, be merciful to us, hitherto we have revered thee as a man, henceforward we confess thee somewhat more excellent than mortal nature: and so it follows here,

saying it is the voice of a God, and not of a man; the Vulgate Latin version reads, “the voices of God and not men”; and the Ethiopic version, “the city shouted in, or with the voice of God”, with the voice of man; as if this referred to the acclamation of the people, and not the speech of the king; very wrongly.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Shouted (). Imperfect active, kept on shouting, calling out to him. Old verb, but only four times in the N.T. and all by Luke. The heathen crowd () repeated their flattering adulation to gain Herod’s favour.

The voice of a god ( ). In the pagan sense of emperor worship, not as the Supreme Being. But it was pleasing to Herod Agrippa’s vanity.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

The people [] . The assembled people.

A God. As most of the assembly were heathen, the word does not refer to the Supreme Being, but is to be taken in the pagan sense – a God.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And the people gave a shout,” (ho de dermos epephonei) “Then the mob cried out loudly,” with a shout of flattering approval. It was a matter of joy they had over an announced political decision that would be good for their bodies and bellies, not their souls, Luk 12:21; 1Ti 6:18-19.

2) “Saying, it is the voice of a god,” (theou phone) “It is (the) voice of a god,” a supernatural message, one from a god. They worshipped the dignity of the king’s person and manner of condescension to them and he accepted it without protest. They magnified Herod to be equal with or above God, Dan 11:3.

3) “And not of a man,” (kai ouk anthropou) “And not (merely that of) a human being;” they flattered him and he covetously, selfishly accepted this praise of men, to the point of divine wrath against him, loving the “praise of men more than the praise of God,” Joh 12:43. They and Herod were both “blinded (that day) by the god of this world,” the god of mammon, 2Co 4:4; Mat 6:24; Luk 16:13.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

22. The people Josephus, knowing nothing about the ambassadors or the harangue, has no other cause to furnish for the applause than the splendour of Herod’s appearance, which Luke implies, and supplies more, namely, the king’s oratory. As to the applause, Josephus furnishes some details. He says the applause began with Herod’s flatterers, who, acclaiming to him as a god, said, “Be propitious to us, and, although thus far we have revered thee as a man, in the future we will esteem thee greater than mortal.” Of course the attendant crowd of people joined in, and gave a shout, and pronounced his oratory the voice of a god.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments