Acts 12:17
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Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
But he, beckoning . . . with his hand to hold their peace--a lively touch this. In the hubbub of joyful and wondering interrogatories there might mingle reflections, thrown out by one against another, for holding out so long against the testimony of Rhoda; while the emotion of the apostle's own spirit would be too deep and solemn to take part in such demonstrations or utter a word till, with his hand, he had signified his wish for perfect silence. Go show these things unto James and to the brethren--Whether James the son of Alpheus, one of the Twelve, usually known as "James the Less," and "James the Lord's brother" (Gal 1:19), were the same person; and if not, whether the James here referred to was the former or the latter, critics are singularly divided, and the whole question is one of the most difficult. To us, it appears that there are strong reasons for thinking that they were not the same person, and that the one here meant, and throughout the Acts, is the apostle James. (But on this more hereafter). James is singled out, because he had probably begun to take the oversight of the Church in Jerusalem, which we afterwards find him exercising (Acts 15:1-29). And he departed, and went into another place--according to his Lord's express command (Mat 10:23). When told, on a former miraculous liberation from prison, to go and speak unto the people (Act 5:20), he did it; but in this case to present himself in public would have been to tempt God by rushing upon certain destruction.
Open source ↗In this chapter we have the story, I. Of the martyrdom of James the apostle, and the imprisonment of Peter by Herod Agrippa, who now reigned as king in Judea (Act 12:1-4). II. The miraculous deliverance of Peter out of prison by the ministry of an angel, in answer to the prayers of the church for him (Act 12:6-19). III. The cutting off of Herod in the height of his pride by the stroke of an angel, the minister of God's justice (Act 12:20-23); and this was done while Barnabas and Saul were at Jerusalem, upon the errand that the church of Antioch sent them on, to carry their charity; and therefore in the close we have an account of their return to Antioch (Act 12:24, Act 12:25).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:
The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people.
Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who fear God, listen to me!
When they had finished speaking, James declared, “Brothers, listen to me!
The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present.
But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.
At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.
As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples.