Acts 12:2
in Acts 12He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
KJV
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
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This verse in Acts 12
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThat Peter is struck, that Stephen is overwhelmed by stones, that James is slain as is a victim at the altar, that Paul is beheaded has been written in their own blood.
This site's exposition
stretched forth his hands to vex
on Acts 12:1-3
Herod here is Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, a client king popular with the Jewish establishment for his outward observance of the law, and Luke dates the persecution about that time, tying it to the pressure already building against the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, the first apostolic martyrdom the book records and a stark fulfillment of the Lord's own word to the sons of Zebedee that they would drink his cup. Seeing that it pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded further and took Peter also, during the days of unleavened bread, timing the arrest to the Passover season when Jerusalem was full and popular approval mattered most to a king who ruled by it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Like a wild beast, he attacked all indiscriminately and without consideration. This is what Christ said: "My cup indeed ye shall drink, and with the baptism wherewith I am baptized, shall ye be baptized." And he killed James the brother of John. For there was also another James, the brother of the Lord: therefore to distinguish him, he says, "The brother of John." Do you mark that the sum of affairs rested in these three, especially Peter and James?
"At that time," of course meaning the time immediately following: for this is the custom of Scripture. And he well says that Herod "the king" (did this): this was not he of Christ's time. Lo, a different sort of trial - and mark what I said in the beginning, how things are blended, how rest and trouble alternate in the whole texture of the history - not now the Jews, nor the Sanhedrim, but the king. Greater the power, the warfare more severe, the more it was done to obtain favor with the Jews. And he slew James the brother of John with the sword: taking him at random and without selection. But, should any raise a question, why God permitted this, we shall say, that it was for the sake of these Jews themselves: thereby, first, convincing them, that even when slain the Apostles prevail, just as it was in the case of Stephen: secondly, giving them opportunity, after satiating their rage, to recover from their madness; thirdly, showing them that it was by His permission this was done.
So that no one may say that 'for this reason they boldly and without fear rush into death, since God is snatching them away,' therefore He also allows the leaders to be killed, persuading those who kill them that even these things do not separate …
James, under pressure to cut off Christ, his true head, was [physically] decapitated, yet the [true] head of every person is Christ according to the apostle and at the same time the head of the entire church.
The Medieval Church1 voice
He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. Clement of Alexandria reports a certain story about this James, which is worth remembering. And he (Clement says) who had brought him to the judge for martyrdom (namely James), was also moved and confessed himself …
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Of the twelve disciples of the Lord, James was the first to suffer. Lest anyone say that the apostles go to meet death so fearlessly and without trembling because God snatches them from its hands, God also permitted that even the foremost among them—Stephen and …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. This was James, the son of Zebedee, whom our Lord told, that he should be baptized with the baptism he was baptized with, Mat 20:22 meaning the baptism of martyrdom; and he was the first martyr among the apostles: the death he was put to was one of the four capital punishments among the Jews, and was reckoned by them the most disgraceful of them all, and was inflicted upon deceivers of the people; and such an one James was thought to be (e). (e) Misn. Sanhedrin, c.
He was one of those sons of Zebedee whom Christ told that they should drink of the cup that he was to drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that he was to be baptized with, Matt. xx. And now those words of Christ were made good in him; but it was in order to his sitting at Christ's right hand; for if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
He killed James the brother of John with the sword - This was James the greater, son of Zebedee, and must be distinguished from James the less, son of Alpheus. This latter was put to death by Ananias the high priest, during the reign of Nero. This James with his brother John were those who requested to sit on the right and left hand of our Lord, see Mat 20:23; and our Lord’s prediction was now fulfilled in one of them, who by his martyrdom drank of our Lord’s cup, and was baptized with his baptism.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
He at this time ruled over all his father's dominions. PALEY has remarked the accuracy of the historian here. For thirty years before this there was no king at Jerusalem exercising supreme authority over Judea, nor was there ever afterwards, save during the three last years of Herod's life, within which the transactions occurred.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And he killed ... - He caused to be put to death with a sword, either by beheading, or piercing him through. The Roman procurators were entrusted with authority over life, though in the time of Pilate the Jews had not this authority. James, the brother of John - This was the son of Zebedee, Mat 4:21. He is commonly called James the Greater, in contradistinction from James, the son of Alpheus, who is called James the Less, Mat 10:3. In this manner were the predictions of our Saviour respecting him fulfilled, Mat 20:23, “Ye shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.”
The words behind it
7 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἀνεῖλεν | aneilen | He executed | G337 → | 24 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| Ἰάκωβον | iakobon | James | G2385 → | 42 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀδελφὸν | adelphon | brother | G80 → | 343 times |
| Ἰωάννου | ioannou | of John | G2491 → | 134 times |
| μαχαίρῃ. | machaire | with the sword. | G3162 → |
ἀνεῖλενHe executed
aneilenG337 →24 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
ἸάκωβονJames
iakobonG2385 →42 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἀδελφὸνbrother
adelphonG80 →343 times
Ἰωάννουof John
ioannouG2491 →134 times
μαχαίρῃ.with the sword.
machaireG3162 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Mark 10:35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and declared, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.”
it leads to
- Matthew 20:20–28
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.
- Matthew 20:20–28
Through
Matthew 20:23“You will indeed drink My cup,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”
it leads to
- Mark 10:40
But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
- Revelation 1:9
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
- Matthew 25:34
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
- 2 Timothy 2:11–12
This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
- Mark 10:40
Through
Mark 10:38“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?”
it leads to
- Luke 12:50
But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
- Luke 12:50
Through
Hebrews 11:37They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 24:21
But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 26:23
They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.
- 2 Chronicles 24:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Acts
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Gregory of Nyssa, HOMILY 2 ON ST. STEPHEN; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 26; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Tertullian, Scorpiace and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.