Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 12:7
And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon [him,] and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from [his] hands.
7. And behold, the [an] angel of the Lord came upon him ] The verb is the same which is used (Luk 2:9) of the angel appearing to the shepherds. The idea conveyed is that the heavenly visitor appeared over those to whom he was sent. The passage just quoted continues “and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,” words which are strikingly parallel with this description of St Peter’s release, “and a light shined in the prison.”
in the prison ] The word is not the same as in the last verse. To make the distinction clear read here “cell” or “chamber.” The light was due to the presence of the angel who came with the glory of the Lord.
and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up ] Rather, roused him up. The verb indicates that he awoke him from his sleep, but not that he helped him to arise.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And, behold, the angel of the Lord – See the notes on Act 5:19.
Came upon him – Greek: was present with him; stood near him epeste.
And a light shined in the prison – Many have supposed that this was lightning. But light, and splendor, and shining apparel are commonly represented as the accompaniments of the heavenly beings when they visit the earth, Luk 2:9; Luk 24:4; compare Mar 9:3. It is highly probable that this light was discerned only by Peter; and it would be to him an undoubted proof of the divine interposition in his behalf.
And he smote Peter on the side – This was, doubtless, a gentle blow or stroke to arouse him from sleep.
And his chains … – This could have been only by divine power. No natural means were used, or could have been used without arousing the guard. It is a sublime expression of the ease with which God can deliver from danger, and rescue his friends. Compare Act 16:26.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 12:7-10
And behold the angel of the Lord came upon him.
The tender offices of angels towards the saints of God
It enhances the moral dignity of the Christian that he should have such exalted beings in constant attendance upon him. It seems to bring God nearer to us, to bridge over the measureless void between the finite and the infinite, to feel that in sickness or in sorrow, or in mental darkness, they are present with us who have just come from Gods presence. The hand supports us which a moment before had been tuning to lofty melody the harps of God. They bring themselves to our doors, that we may have a bright and hallowing presence in our houses and among our children; they are witnesses in the place of our holy assemblies; they stand as weeping friends stand by the bedside of the departing righteous, while in the end of time they shall arrest the ministers of desolation in their worldwide havoc, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads. So near, so loving, so constant are the tender offices of angels towards the saints of God. No worship do we offer them; they will have none. They ask only to be loved by us as guardian friends, to be honoured by our consistent walk, to be thought of as humble servants of the Lord Jesus, sent forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Angel visits in the night
1. When we climb to some mountain height, and look forth upon the broad landscape in the blaze of the bright moon, it seems as if our earth were the universe, and the sun were a single globe of fire hung in the heavens to give it light. When we stand upon the deck of the ship in mid ocean it seems impossible that there can be anything else but the sun and the sea. When we look up to the silent sky at night, it seems as if the bright array of stars were only campfires kindled on the plains of heaven to guide some wanderer through the solitudes of earth. When we go down into the depths of the cavern it seems as if we were alone in the universe, and when we mingle with the multitude it seems as if man and earth were everything. All these natural and uninstructed impressions conspire to narrow the range of our thought, and shut us up to the occupations of man alone. It is, therefore, a salutary disclosure that we are not the only actors in the busy scenes of daily life. There is no solitude where we may not have the unseen companionship of beings that think and feel and work more mightily and constantly than ourselves.
2. And these invisible partners of our toil, and sharers of our spiritual life, have sometimes stepped forth from behind the curtain to show us that we may have witnesses of our conduct when we think ourselves most alone. And these celestial visitants have shown themselves better acquainted with human history, and better able to do our work, than we ourselves. They have defeated great armies, overthrown populous cities, sent forth and arrested the pestilence. They have rested under the shadow of oaks at noon, as if weary, eaten bread, as if hungry, received hospitality, as if coming in from a journey, guided and protected travellers, rolled away the stone from the tomb, kindled the fire of the altar, clothed themselves in garments that shone like the lightning, and appeared in so common a garb as to be taken for wayfaring men needing lodgings for the night. It gives us a higher and truer estimate of our own place in the great commonwealth of intelligent beings, to find that we are objects of intense interest to the inhabitants of other worlds. It enlarges the range of our thought, and lifts our desires and aspirations above all earthly and perishable things, to know that our present habitation is only one little province of a universe of worlds; and that this mighty empire is bound together by ties of intelligence, cooperation, and sympathy, to its utmost extent.
3. The deliverance of Peter shows that these mighty visitants have little regard for the pomp and splendours of earthly state. Suppose a prophet had said the day before that on that night a mighty being from the central province in Gods great empire would visit Jerusalem, and only one man in all that city would be honoured by receiving that celestial messenger–could any have guessed that that man would be found in prison? There were many other persons besides Peter, many other places besides a prison for an angel to visit. But the angel did not show himself in the palace of the king. He did not enter the temple. He did not address himself to the pilgrims at the feast. The one man, whom that mighty servant of God had come to see, was shut up in stone walls, asleep on a stone floor, bound with iron chains, etc. If the very chain with which Peter was bound were now kept in Jerusalem, every intelligent traveller would wish to see it. And not necessarily from any superstitious regard, but from the feeling that Christian faith and suffering consecrate everything they touch. If the cell were preserved any intelligent traveller would think it something to remember and to tell of, that he had entered that cell. So much consecration do rude homes and vile dungeons derive from the faith and toil and suffering of the servants of God. Let love to Christ become the law and the life of everything we do, and then the place where we toil, and the home where we rest, will become as attractive to angels as the dungeons where the martyrs suffered.
4. Peter slept so soundly that only the sound of the angel voice, and the touch of the angel hand could awake him. A man with a good conscience can sleep on a very hard bed, and in the midst of very great danger. The anxieties and perils of life and the dread of death would not weary and wear us out so much if we went to our daily duties with such high and happy faith in God as martyrs have shown in the prison and the flames. If we fully believed that God has given his angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways, we could fulfil our day of duty without fear, and we could gratefully accept such sleep as God gives to his beloved when the night comes. I know the doctors say that sound sleep comes of a good digestion. And while I do not deny that, I know another–that a good digestion depends greatly upon a good conscience. To be in the best health of both body and mind, we must be at peace with God. And it makes very little difference how humble or exalted the chamber in which we lie down to rest, if we have done our duty well, and trust wholly in Him who giveth His beloved sleep. The sleep that renews the life, and restores the soul, and gives a foretaste of heavenly rest, is the sleep which God gives to them that love Him. The time is not far distant when the sleep of death will steal upon us all. What strange and bewildering joy it will be to be waked from that last sleep by the touch of an angels hand! What surprise it will be to the soul to find itself able to obey that command, Rise up quickly, and to follow the angel guide to the paradise of God!
5. The care with which Peter was kept was a confession that even Herod was afraid of him. And we have much reason to be obliged to the king for making the guard so strong; just as the sealing of the stone and the setting of the watch over the sepulchre of Jesus, only helped and confirmed the demonstration of His resurrection; just as we may well thank the proud and passionate Voltaire for saying he was tired of hearing that twelve men established Christianity throughout the world, and he would yet live to hear it said that one man had banished Christianity from the face of the earth. We may count ourselves debtors to the remorseless criticism which has exhausted the resources of learning and industry in the endeavour to shake our confidence in the sacred records, for all its efforts have only served to lay bare the everlasting foundations on which our faith rests. We may be thankful for the bigotry which determined to crush out the spirit of Christian liberty.
6. Peter was accustomed to see miracles; and yet I do not wonder that he was bewildered and thought he had seen a vision that night. If we try to imagine the circumstances, we shall the better understand his feelings. At last he has time to think. The bewildered man begins to come to himself. He recognises the place. And so Gods angel shall come in the appointed time to deliver the disciple of Jesus from the prison of the flesh. And oh, how much more glorious than the change which so bewildered the mind of the apostle! We try in vain to express in words the blessed bewilderment of the happy soul in the first moment of waking from the sleep of death to the life of heaven. It is here that we sleep and dream. The great reality of life is yet to come. Here the soul is bound, like Peter in the prison, with two chains–one the burden and sorrow of life, the other the fear of death. Faith in Christ alone delivers us from the double bondage. Faith in Christ alone can prepare us to be waked by the touch of the angel of death, and to see ourselves surrounded with a greater light than shone in the prison of the apostle when his angel deliverer said to him, Arise, follow me. (D. March, D. D.)
The ministry of angels
I. With James they were employed to convey his soul to glory.
II. With Peter they were instruments to deliver him from bonds.
III. With Herod they were agents of Gods vengeance.
The iron gate.
Difficulties giving way
This incident may be used to illustrate certain important truths.
I. That matter is the servant of spirit. Matter is found in diverse forms. But we can only win the use by conquest. Take iron as a sample. It is stored up in the earth. Its discovery an era. From that moment man rose in power. What countless uses are now made of iron! And as with iron, so with other materials: everything has its use. There have been great discoveries in the past, there may be greater in the future. But mark our responsibilities. We are the heirs of all the ages. If much given, much required (Luk 12:48). Such is the law; always, matter should be made subordinate to the good of man: the lower should serve the higher.
II. That difficulties give way before men that are moving in the path of duty. The ministry of angels still goes on. They are for us, and not against us; and often, in ways unknown to us, they may be employed for our good. Be this as it may, the release of Peter shows us how we too may obtain deliverance. First, we must put ourselves under the guidance of God, and at His call we must go forward bravely, without faltering (Psa 37:5). Difficulties are a test. They show what spirit we are of. Difficulties are a challenge; they appeal to our manhood; courage mounteth with occasion. Difficulties are an education. It is not ease, but effort that makes men. Our antagonist is our helper, said Burke.
III. That, walking under the guidance of God, our path shall ever be toward what is higher. Peter and the angel. So ever–Onward; from darkness to light; from restraint to liberty; from the presence of the evil to the companionship of the saints; from fear of death to glory, honour, and immortality in the city of God. How striking the contrast in the case of Herod! His pride had a terrible fall. An angel was sent to him; but in judgment. The oppressor is dealt with differently from the oppressed. Dr. Watts says: Death to a good man is but the passing through a dark entry, out of one little room in his Fathers house into another which is fair and large, lightsome and glorious, and divinely entertaining. Oh! may the rays and splendours of my heavenly apartment shoot far downward, and gild the dark entry with such a cheerful gloom as to banish any fear when I shall be called to pass through. (William Forsyth, A. M.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The angel of the Lord, whose office it is to minister for the heirs of salvation, Heb 1:14, and who willingly fulfil this will of the Lord.
Came upon him, as Luk 2:9, suddenly and unexpectedly.
A light shined in the prison; whether this light was from the bright body the angel assumed, or from some other cause, we are not told, and therefore it is not necessary for us to know; but it was a light only to Peter, but darkness to his keepers; as the pillar of fire enlightened only the Israelites; which made them both the more strange and miraculous.
The angel smote Peter (as one jogs, or gently strikes another) to awaken him; thus God was waking, though Peter slept; and by his providence watches over all his people for their preservation.
His chains fell off from his hands; chains could not hold any whom God will have free; every thing loses its force when God suspends or withdraws his concurrence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-11. the angel of the Lordrather,”an angel.”
came upon himso in Lu 2:9, expressiveof the unexpected nature of the visit.
smote Peter on the side . . .Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off . . . Gird thyself . . .And so he did . . . Cast thy garmenttunic, which he had thrownoff for the night.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him,…. Suddenly and at once, and stood by him; this was one of the ministering spirits sent forth by Christ, to minister to a servant of his:
and a light shined in the prison; the Syriac version renders it, “in the whole house”; and the word that is used does signify an habitation, or a dwelling house properly, but is used also by the Greek writers f for a prison: this was an uncommon light produced by the angel, partly as an emblem of the presence, majesty, and power of God, who was present, to work a great deliverance; and partly for the use of Peter, that when being awaked he might see to rise and walk by:
and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up; he touched him on that side which lay uppermost, or punched him on it, in order to awake him, and raise him out of his sleep:
saying arise up quickly; without delay, make haste:
and his chains fell off from his hands; from both his hands, and were left with the soldiers, between whom he slept; which must be ascribed to an almighty power, which caused them to drop off.
f Vid Harpocratian Lex. p. 212.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Stood by him (). Ingressive second aorist active indicative of , intransitive. This very form occurs in Lu 2:9 of the sudden appearance of the angel of the Lord to the shepherds. Page notes that this second aorist of occurs seven times in the Gospel of Luke, eight times in the Acts, and nowhere else in the N.T. Note also the same form (departed from, from , stood off from) of the disappearance of the angel in verse 10.
In the cell ( ). Literally, a dwelling place or habitation (from , to dwell, , house), but here not the prison as a whole as in Thucydides, but the room in the prison (cell) where Peter was chained to the two guards. Old word, but only here in the N.T.
He smote Peter on the side ( ). More exactly, “smote the side of Peter.” Strongly enough to wake Peter up who was sound asleep and yet not rouse the two guards. It was probably between 3 A.M. and 6 A.M., hours when changes in the guards were made.
Rise up (). Short form (Koine) of , second aorist active imperative of , intransitive. So also Ac 9:11 (Westcott and Hort text); Eph 5:14.
Fell off (). Second aorist active with ending like first aorist of , old verb. This miracle was necessary if Peter was to escape without rousing the two guards.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Came upon [] . Better, as Rev., stood by. See on ch. Act 4:1; and compare Luk 2:9.
Prison [] . Not the prison, but the cell where Peter was confined. So, rightly, Rev.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And behold the angel of the Lord came upon him,” (kai idou angelos kuriou epeste) “And behold an angel of (the) Lord came upon him,” came upon Peter suddenly or in an instant, where he slept between the two soldiers. This was a liberating, delivering angel of help and hope, such as later appeared to Paul in a crisis hour, Act 27:23-25.
2) “And a light shined in the prison:” (kai phos elampsen en eo oikimati) “And a light in the building chamber,” alight of hope and deliverance to light the way out, came into the cell where Peter slept peacefully, having cast all his cares upon the Lord, 1Pe 5:7. There is light and help and hope as good angels encamp around those who love God, Psa 34:7.
3) “And he smote Peter on the side,” (pataisas de ten pleuran tou Petrou) “Then striking the side of Peter,” to arouse him, to awake him, indicating the sound and quiet sleep the Lord gave him in the midst of trial, Psa 127:2; Psa 127:4.
4) “And raised him up, saying,” (egeiren auton legon) “He (the angel of the Lord) aroused him by lifting, saying,” repeatedly, instructing him, as an angel from Gabriel’s band, Heb 1:14.
5) “Arise up quickly,” (anasta en tachi) “Arise, stand up (get up) quickly,” at once, for the “kings business requires haste,” 1Sa 21:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. A light shined, It is to be thought that Peter alone saw this light, and that the soldiers did either sleep so soundly, or else were so amazed, that they neither felt nor perceived any thing, And there might be two causes why God would have the light to shine; either that Peter might have the use thereof, and that the darkness might be no hindrance to him, or that it might be to him a sign and token of the heavenly glory. For we read oftentimes that the angels appeared with glistering brightness, even when the sun did shine, Assuredly, Peter might have gathered by the strange light that God was present, and also he ought to have made his profit thereof. When as the angel smiteth Peter’s side, it appeareth hereby what a care God hath for his, who watcheth over them when they sleep, and raiseth them when they are drowsy. And surely there were nothing more miserable than we, if the continuance of our prayers alone did keep God in his watching over us; for such is the infirmity of our flesh that we faint and quail, and we stand most of all in need of his help when our minds, being drawn away, do not seek him. Sleep is a certain image of death, and doth choke and drown all the senses, what should become of us if God should then cease to have respect to us? But forasmuch as when the faithful go to sleep, they commit their safety to God, it cometh to pass by this means, that even their sleep doth call upon God.
Whereas he saith, that immediately after the angel had said the word the chains were loosed, we gather by this, that there is power enough in the commandment of God alone to remove all manner [of] lets, when all ways seem to be stopt on all sides, so that if he intend to appease the motions and tumults of war, although the whole world were appointed in armor, their spears and swords shall forthwith fall out of their hands; on the other side, if he be determined to punish us and our sins with war, in a moment, (in the twinkling of an eye,) their minds, which were before given to peace, shall wax hot, and they shall lay hand on their swords. Whereas Luke setteth down severally both the words of the angel, and also the course of the matter, it serveth for the more certainty of the history, that it may in every respect appear that Peter was delivered by God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) The angel of the Lord came upon him.The phrase is identical with that of Luk. 2:9. The absence of the article in the Greek leaves it open to render it either as the angel or an angel. The light in this instance corresponds to the glory of the Lord in that.
In the prison.Literally, in the dwelling, or chamber. The term appears to be used as an euphemism for prison.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. A light shined The angel brings to the prisoner no lantern, lamp, or candle; yet he brings a light, the beaming of his own person. Peter sees by it his prison, his chains, his cloak, his sandals, and his emancipator.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Act 12:7. The angel of the Lord An angel of the Lord. Instead of smote Peter on the side, Dr. Heylin reads, touched Peter on the side.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 12:7-11 . The narrative of this deliverance falls to be judged of in the same way as the similar event recorded in Act 5:19-20 . From the mixture of what is legendary with pure history, which, marks Luke’s report of the occurrence, the purely historical state of the miraculous fact in its individual details cannot be surely ascertained, and, in particular, whether the angelic appearance, which suddenly took place ( , see on Luk 2:9 ), is to be referred to the internal vision of the apostle, a view to which Act 12:9 may give a certain support. [272] But as the narrative lies before us, every attempt to constitute it a natural occurrence must be excluded. See Storr, Opusc. III. p. 183 ff. This holds good not only of the odd view of Hezel, that a flash of lightning had undone the chains, but also of the opinion of Eichhorn and Heinrichs, “that the jailor himself, or others with his knowledge, had effected the deliverance, without Peter himself being aware of the exact circumstances;” as also, in fine, of the hypothesis of Baur, that the king himself had let the apostle free, because he had become convinced in the interval (? Act 12:3 ) how little the execution of James had met with popular approval. According to Ewald, [273] Peter was delivered in such a surprising manner, that his first word after his arrival among his friends was, that he thought he was rescued by an angel of God; and our narrative is an amplified presentation of this thought.
Act 12:7 . ] whether emanating from the angel (Mat 28:3 ), or as a separate phenomenon, cannot be determined.
] generally denoting single apartments of the house (Valck. ad Ammon. iii. 4; Dorvill. ad Charit. p. 587), is, in the special sense: place of custody of prisoners , i.e. prison , a more delicate designation for the , frequent particularly among Attic writers. Dem. 789, 2. 890, 13. 1284, 2; Thuc. iv. 47. 2, 48. 1; Kypke, II. p. 57. Comp. Valck. ad Herod. , vii. 119.
And the chains fell from his hands , round which, namely, they were entwined.
Act 12:9 . He was so overpowered by the wonderful course of his deliverance and confused in his consciousness, that what had been done by the angel was not apprehended by him as something actual ( ), as a real fact, but that he fancied himself to have seen a vision (comp. Act 16:9 ).
Act 12:10 . ] Nothing can be determined from this as to the situation of the prison (Fessel holds that it was situated in the court of Herod’s castle; Walch and Kuinoel, that Peter was imprisoned in a tower of the inner wall of the city, and that the was the door of this tower). If the prison-house was in the city , which is to be assumed from . . ., its iron gate still in fact led from the house .
Examples of , used not only of persons, but of things, may be seen in Wetstein in loc , and on Mar 4:28 . Comp. Hom. Il. v. 749; Eur. Bacch . 447: . Apollon. Rhod. iv. 41: . Ovid. Met. iii. 699.
] not several.
Act 12:11 . ] when he had become (present) in himself, i.e. had come to himself (Luk 15:17 ; Xen. Anab. i. 5. 17; Soph. Phil. 938), “cum animo ex stupore ob rem inopinatam iterum collecto satis sibi conscius esset.” Kypke, comp. Wetstein and Dorville, ad Charit. p. 81; Herm. ad Vig. p. 749.
. . .] For he had now ceased to be the person, in whose execution the people were to see their whole expectation hostile to Christianity gratified.
[272] Lange, apostol. Zeitalt. II. p. 150, supposes that the help had befallen the apostle in the condition of “second consciousness, in an extraordinary healthy disengagement of the higher life” [ Geniusleben ], and that the angel was a “reflected image of the glorified Christ:” that the latter Himself, in an angelic form, came within the sphere of Peter’s vision; that Christ Himself thus undertook the responsibility; and that the action of the apostle transcended the condition of responsible consciousness. There is nothing of all this in the passage. And Christ in an angelic form is without analogy in the N. T.; is, indeed, at variance with the N. T. conception of the of the glorified Lord.
[273] Who (p. 202) regards our narrative as more historical than the similar narratives in chap. 5. and 16.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him , and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
Ver. 7. And a light shined in the prison ] Gr. , in the habitacle or conclave. So Solon first called the prison at Athens. So Petronius told Csesar he had rather be with Cato , in the prison house, than with him in the senate house.
And he smote Peter on the side, &c. ] Cuthbert Simon, a martyr in Queen Mary’s days, about midnight, being in prison (whether in a slumber or awake, I cannot tell, saith Mr Fox), heard one coming in, first opening the outward door, then the second, afterward the third, and so looking in to the said Cuthbert, having no candle or torch that he could see, but giving a brightness or light most comfortable to his heart, saying Ha unto him, and departed again. Who it was he could not tell, nor I dare define. This that he saw he declared often to many; at the sight whereof he received such joyful comfort, that he also expressed no little solace in telling and declaring the same.
His chains fell from off his hands ] Prisoners were bound with one or two chains to one or two soldiers, who (as keepers) were also bound with the same chains.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7 .] , the chamber . It is in St. Luke’s manner to relate simultaneously the angelic appearance and the shining of a light around: cf. Luk 2:9 ; Luk 24:4 ; ch. Act 10:30 . The light accompanied, or perhaps, as suggested here in syr-marg, shone from , the angel.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 12:7 . : often as here with the notion of coming suddenly, in classical Greek it is often used of dreams, as in Homer; or of the coming of heavenly visitors, very frequent in Luke, and with the same force as here, Friedrich, pp. 7 and 87, and almost always in second aorist, see also Plummer on Luk 2:9 . : only here in N.T., used in Wis 13:15 (and perhaps in Tob 2:4 ), but not in same sense. Dem. and Thuc. use it for a prison: R.V. “the cell,” lit [249] , the chamber. : to rouse him, an indication of the sound and quiet sleep which, the prisoner slept in spite of the fateful morrow (so Weiss); cf. Act 7:24 , and Act 7:33 ).
[249] literal, literally.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Acts
THE ANGEL’S TOUCH
Act 12:7
The same heavenly agent performs the same action on Peter and on Herod. To the one, his touch brings freedom and the dropping off of his chains; to the other it brings gnawing agonies and a horrible death. These twofold effects of one cause open out wide and solemn thoughts, on which it is well to look.
I. The one touch has a twofold effect.
The Gospel too comes charged with that double possibility, and is the intensest and most fateful example of the dual effect of all God’s messages and dealings. Just as the ark maimed Dagon and decimated the Philistine cities and slew Uzzah, but brought blessing and prosperity to the house of Obed-edom, just as the same pillar was light to Israel all the night long, but cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, so is Christ set ‘for the fall of’ some and ‘for the rising of’ others amidst the ‘many in Israel,’ and His Gospel is either ‘the savour of life unto life or of death unto death,’ but in both cases is in itself ‘unto God,’ one and the same ‘sweet savour in Christ.’
II. These twofold effects are parts of one plan and purpose.
God changes His ways, but not His heart. He changes His acts, but not His purposes. Opposite methods conduce to one end, as winter storms and June sunshine equally tend to the yellowed harvest.
III. The character of the effects depends on the men who are touched.
This, too, is a universal truth. It is we ourselves who settle what God’s words and acts will be to us. The trite proverb, ‘One man’s meat is another man’s poison,’ is true in the highest regions. It is eminently, blessedly or tragically true in our relation to the Gospel, wherein all God’s self-revelation reaches its climax, wherein ‘the arm of the Lord’ is put forth in its most blessed energy, wherein is laid on each of us the touch, tender and more charged with blessing than that of the angel who smote the calmly sleeping Apostle. That Gospel may either be to us the means of freeing us from our chains, and leading us out of our prison-house into sunshine and security, or be the fatal occasion of condemnation and death. Which it shall be depends on ourselves. Which shall I make it for myself?
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
behold. Greek. idou. App-133.
came upon = stood over.
light. Greek. phos. App-130.
prison. Greek. oikema, dwelling. Only here. The Revised Version reads “cell”. That was Peter’s dwelling-place. The angel of the Lord there.
Peter on the side = Peter’s side.
raised . . . up. Greek. egeiro. App-178.
Arise up. Greek. anistemi. App-178.
quickly = in (Greek. en) or with speed.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] , the chamber. It is in St. Lukes manner to relate simultaneously the angelic appearance and the shining of a light around: cf. Luk 2:9; Luk 24:4; ch. Act 10:30. The light accompanied, or perhaps, as suggested here in syr-marg, shone from, the angel.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 12:7. , a light) miraculous.-, in the dwelling) A general term for the special one, prison.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the angel: Act 12:23, Act 5:19, Act 10:30, Act 27:23, Act 27:24, 1Ki 19:5, 1Ki 19:7, Psa 34:7, Psa 37:32, Psa 37:33, Isa 37:30, Dan 6:22, Heb 1:14
and a: Act 9:3, 2Sa 22:29, Eze 43:2, Mic 7:9, Hab 3:4, Hab 3:11, Rev 18:1
Arise: Gen 19:15, Gen 19:16, Isa 60:1, Eph 5:14
And his: The two chains with which his hands were fastened to those of the two soldiers between whom he slept. This, it appears, was the Roman method of securing a prisoner, and seems to be what is intimated in Act 12:6. Act 12:6, Act 2:24, Act 16:26, Psa 105:18-20, Psa 107:14, Psa 116:16, Psa 142:6, Psa 142:7, Psa 146:7, Dan 3:24, Dan 3:25
Reciprocal: 2Ki 1:3 – angel Ecc 5:8 – higher than they Isa 51:14 – captive Jer 40:1 – bound Dan 3:28 – hath sent Dan 9:21 – touched Mat 18:10 – their Act 12:11 – that the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
MANS EXTREMITY, GODS OPPORTUNITY
And his chains fell of from his hands.
Act 12:7
How was prayer answered for St. Peter, and when? Not till the last moment. St. Peter was at the last extremity; a few hours more and all would have been over; he was to have been executed in the sight of all men the very next day. Gods help came late; it often does, but it never comes too late. Mans extremity is Gods opportunity. Christ comes in the fourth watchin the darkest hour, but it is darkest just before the dawn. So it was here, at the supreme moment Christ intervened (Psa 146:5; 2Pe 2:9). He has many resources. Mark the stages in His procedure here.
I. Light.A light shined in the prison (Act 12:7). Light to make the darkness visible; light to show the prison cell, to let you see the poor confined imprisoned life that has been yours. Light to illumine, and light to cheer! to give a hope of better things; to show you escape is possible; above all, to reveal the angel of the covenant standing at your side. A word can do it. God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
II. Leading.With the light comesleading. Listen: Arise up quickly, and his chains fell off from his hands (Act 12:7). Yes, the fetters were gone, but he was not free yet. He must pass the foes and escape the fortress. Follow ME. What a crisis it was! Upon obedience to that call his life, his liberty, his all depended. Half mechanically, like the man in the dream he thought he was, St. Peter responded. But you and I cannot respond mechanically. It must be an intelligent following, and it will need many a heart-searching to be obedient to the Heavenly Vision.
III. Liberty.But it must be done, or there can be no liberty for you and me. Yet as you follow be of good cheer, liberty is nigh. Barrier after barrier yields before the angels noiseless touchthe iron gate most formidable of all opens of its own accord, and, saved with a wonderful salvation, the prisoner is free.
Saints in prison or saints set free, in which category are we found? Imprisoned Peters are of little use to God. Asleep, in danger, in the dark, in chains, how can He make you a blessing to the world? If not for your own sake then for the sake of others, rest not content until like St. Peter you are out of prison.
Rev. E. W. Moore.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
PETERS DELIVERANCE
The early Church at this time seemed to be in a very bad way. Herod, son of the Herod who slew the Innocents, vexed the Church, and it might have been well-nigh blotted out if it had not been Divine. He took St. James, the brother of John, and slew him with the sword. He had got St. Peter in the darkest, deepest dungeon, and he was quite determined that he should not escape. Nothing seemed more certain than that St. Peter was to be murdered in the morning. But man proposes and God disposes.
I. Ready to die.What was St. Peter doing? Reposing in the arms of God. He was fast asleep between the two soldiers. Was not his mind disturbed? No, not in the least. It is one of those beautiful pictures that the Scriptures give us. He was loved of God, and so He giveth His beloved sleep. We cannot help remembering what happened on the lake the day when Christ was asleep. St. Peter woke Him up and said, Master, carest Thou not that we perish? What a change! He was afraid of death then; here his death was imminentbut all fear had gone. It is well for us just to pause and wonder whether our religion will stand us as well as that when our time comes.
II. Praying friends.Well now, we have seen what St. Peter was doing. What were St. Peters friends doing? Their very best. They were praying. They had met together, as the beautiful little bit of Scripture tells us, in a house to pray earnestly for St. Peter. If you look in the margin you see how instantly, how earnestly, they were pouring out prayer to God to save St. Peter. He was so much to them then. There are some circumstances that we cannot help. There are certain difficulties that we cannot forestall. There are certain people that we cannot save. What are we to do? Did not St. Peters case seem hopeless? St. Peter was safe in prison, and the Jews were waiting outside to see him put to death in the morning. So they all met together and prayed. If a mother comes to me and says, What can I do? I have no influence over my poor boy: he is going to the death. What should I say? Never cease to pray to God for him! If they prayed St. Peters chains off, you can pray like them. See the forces. Herod, the soldiers, the prison, the chains, the locks, the wardersthat is the force on the one side. And the force on the other? The poor little Church kneeling down in a room to pray! See the two forces, earths force on the one side, and heavens on the other.
III. Peters deliverance.Well then, of course you know the story well, the chains fell off, and St. Peter was delivered. The Angel of the Lord camejust as the Angel went into the lions den and shut the mouths of the lionsand awoke St. Peter at midnight, and as he got up the chains fell off his hands. St. Peter himself was amazed. He thought he saw a vision and was walking in his sleep. But the first ward was passed, and then the second ward was passed, and then the great gate of the prison opened with a clang of it own accord, and they passed out into the open air. Then St. Peter knew that it was not a dream. With the fresh air about him the fancies had gone, the free air of God had blown away the dream, and St. Peter knew of a surety that the Lord had sent His angel and delivered him out of the expectation of the Jews.
IV. Faith in prayer.We should all remember that though the prison doors may be shut against our hopes, the gates of heaven are always open to prayer; that when circumstances seem to bind you so that you cannot move hand or foot to help, you can pray, and by your prayers put the case into Gods hands; and if you say, Thy will be done, your prayer must be answered, because you are quite sure that Gods will will be done. It is a beautiful example of faith in prayer, and I should like you to say to yourselves as you go away: Well, when I cannot do anything for anybody else, when I find that the bolts and the bars of the prison and everything is against my helping, I can pray. If you believe in prayer there is no limit to it.
Rev. A. H. Stanton.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
7
Act 12:7. An angel of the Lord would be given supernatural power, by which he could perform this service to Peter unknown to the soldiers. (See Heb 1:13-14.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 12:7. And, behold, the angel of the Lord. This should be rendered, an angel of the Lord, one of that glorious host of Spirits of whom mention so often is made in this book of the Acts with reference to their office toward the faithful servants of God.
A light shined in the prison. In the deep darkness of that early spring morning, a strange light from a radiant form suddenly lit up the cell, with the sleeping figures of the two soldiers and their prisoner.
He smote Peter on the sidein order to rouse him from slumber. In the beautiful fancy of Keble, the wearied apostle, sleeping as he thought his last sleep, and dreaming of the glorious witness to his Lord he was to witness when the day dawned, would naturally mistake the angels touch and voice for the summons to execution:
His dream is changedthe tyrants voice
Calls to that last of glorious deeds;
But as he rises to rejoice,
Not Herod, but an angel leads.
Christian Year, St. Peters Day.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. That God hath sometimes made use of the ministry of angels to effect deliverance for his people.
Observe, 2. That several food offices which the angels now did for Peter, in order to his enlargement. Peter is asleep, and angel awakes him; he is laid, the angel raises him; he is amazed, the angel directs him; he is bound, the angel unties him; he knows not where he is, the angel goes before him, and guides him; he is to pass through many difficulties, the angel conducts him.
Lord! How innumerable are the good offices which at thy command the holy angels do for us, though they are not sensibly in this manner apprehended by us! What love and service do we owe to thee! What honour and respect should we pay to them for their care over us, and attendance upon us!
Observe, 3. Peter must arise, gird himself, bind on his sandals, cast his garment about him, follow the angel, and use his own endeavours in order to his own deliverance. God will have him use the means, even then when he was about to work a miracle for him.
What a tempting of God is it then to neglect the means, when we cannot expect miracles!
As to trust to means, is to neglect God, so to neglect the means, is to tempt God. We must always subserve the providence of God in the use of such means as his wisdom has appointed and directed us unto.
Observe lastly, That this deliverance was so amazing and surprizing, that Peter thought it a dream only, Act 12:9. “He wist not that it was true, but thought he saw a vision.”
Learn hence, that sometimes the deliverance of the godly from imminent and apparent dangers, are so very wonderful, and attended with such a crowd of improbabilities, that they have much ado to believe them, though they see them with their eyes. When God turned the captivity of Peter, he was like unto them that dream, Psa 126:1.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Act 12:7-10. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him Greek, , stood over him; and a light shined in the prison , in the house, the whole house in which he was confined; and he smote Greek, , having smote, Peter on the side He awoke him; saying, Arise up quickly. And, in that moment, his chains With which his right arm was bound to one of the soldiers, and his left to the other, fell off The soldiers, in the mean time, being by a miraculous power kept so fast asleep, that they were not at all alarmed by the noise of their fall. And the angel said, Gird thyself, &c. Probably Peter had put off his girdle, sandals, and upper garment before he lay down to sleep. And he went out Of the prison, as he was guided by the angel, meeting with no opposition in his way; and wist not That what appeared to him to be done was real, but supposed that he was in a dream, or saw a vision. When they were past the first and second ward At each of which, doubtless, was a guard of soldiers, who, however, were all asleep; they came unto the iron gate leading into the city Which, though a heavy gate, and very strongly fastened, yet was no hinderance in their way; but opened of its own accord Without Peter or the angel touching it. And they passed on through one street That Peter might know which way to go. And forthwith the angel Having done all that was requisite for his deliverance, and set him at full liberty; departed from him Peter being himself sufficient for what remained to be done.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7-11. Though Peter undoubtedly expected to die the next day, he seems to have slept as soundly as the soldiers to whom he was chained. All was dark and still within the prison until a late hour of the night, when the scene suddenly changed. (7) “And behold, an angel of the Lord, stood by, and a light shone in the prison; and striking Peter on the side, he raised him up, saying, Rise up quickly. His chains fell from his hands. (8) And the angel said to him, Gird yourself, and bind on your sandals. He did so. And he said to him, Cast your mantle about you and follow me. (9) And he followed him, going out, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. (10) But having passed through the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate which leads into the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and going out, they went forward one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. (11) Then Peter, coming to himself, said, Now I know in reality that the Lord has sent his angel, and delivered me from the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” It is not at all strange that Peter thought, at first, that he was dreaming; for the deliverance was entirely unexpected, and was effected in the most wonderful manner, and amid the bewilderment usual upon being suddenly aroused from deep sleep. When he found himself alone in the street, and had collected his senses, he knew that it was a reality, and felt like one waking from a singular dream.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
12:7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon [him], and a light shined in the {c} prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from [his] hands.
(c) Literally, “habitation”; (Ed.).
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Again an angel of the Lord (Gr. angelos kyriou) visited Peter in prison (Act 5:19; cf. Act 8:26; Act 12:23). A light also illuminated his cell (cf. Act 9:3). The angel instructed him to get up quickly, and when he did his chains fell from his hands. Peter’s guards slept through the whole event.
"Luke clearly regards Peter’s escape as a miracle, a divine intervention by a supernatural visitant (cf. Luk 2:9) . . ." [Note: Neil, p. 149.]
Thomas Watson, the Puritan preacher, reportedly said, "The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:452-53.]