Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 12:1

"Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the church." — Acts 12:1 (ASV)

Herod the king. The previous life of this prince had been full of strange vicissitudes. He was the son of Aristobulus and Bernice, grandson of Herod the Great, and brother of the Herodias who appears in the Gospel history. Named after the statesman who was the chief minister of Augustus, he had been sent to Rome after his father fell victim (B.C. 6) to his grandfather’s suspicions—partly, perhaps, as a hostage, and partly to be out of the way of Palestine intrigues.

There he had grown up on terms of intimacy with the prince later known as Caligula. When Herod Antipas married Agrippa's sister, Agrippa was made the ruler of Tiberias. However, he soon quarrelled with the Tetrarch and went to Rome. Falling under the displeasure of Tiberius for having rashly given utterance to a wish for Caligula's succession, he was imprisoned by him and remained in confinement until that emperor's death.

When Caligula came to the throne, he loaded his friend with honours, gave him the tetrarchies first of Philip and then that of Lysanias (Luke 3:1), and conferred on him the title of King. Antipas, prompted by Herodias, came to Rome to claim a similar honour for himself but fell under the emperor’s displeasure and was banished to Lugdunum in Gaul, to which his wife accompanied him. His tetrarchy was also conferred on Agrippa. Coins are extant, minted at Caesarea, and bear inscriptions in which he is styled the Great King, with the epithets sometimes of Philo-Caesar, sometimes of Philo-Claudios.

At the time when Caligula’s insanity took the form of a resolve to place his statue in the Temple at Jerusalem, Agrippa rendered an essential service to his people. He used all his influence to deter the emperor from carrying out his purpose and, backed by Petronius, the Governor of Syria, was at last successful. On the death of Caligula, Claudius, whose claims to the empire Agrippa had supported, confirmed him in his kingdom.

When he came to Judæa, he presented himself to the people as a devout worshipper. He gained their favour by attaching himself to the companies of Nazarites when they came to the Temple to offer sacrifices on the completion of their vows (as we find St. Paul doing in Acts 21:26; Josephus, Antiquities 19.7.3).

It seems that he found a strong popular excitement against the believers in Christ, probably caused by the new step recently taken in admitting Gentiles, and fomented by the Sadducean priesthood. It seemed politic to him to gain the favour of both priests and people by making himself the instrument of their jealousy.