Acts 12:22

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

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
people	δῆμος dēmos	G1218	the public (as bound together socially) · noun — nominative singular masculine
shout	ἐπεφώνει· epephōnei	G2019	to call at something · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
voice	φωνὴ phōnē	G5456	a tone (articulate · noun — nominative singular feminine
god	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
man	ἀνθρώπου. anthrōpou	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Acts 14:10-13 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Jude 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admi…
Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is ab…
Psalms 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
Daniel 6:7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 12:20–end

In these verses we have, I. The death of Herod. God reckoned with him, not only for his putting James to death, but for his design and endeavour to put Peter to death; for sinners will be called to an account, not only for the wickedness of their deeds, but for the wickedness of their endeavours (Psa 28:4), for the mischief they have done and the mischief they would have done. It was but a little while that Herod lived after this. Some sinners God makes quick work with. Observe, 1. How the measure of his iniquity was filled up: it was pride that did it; it is this that commonly goes more immediately before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Nebuchadnezzar had been a very bloody…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 12:22

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 this wretched man nearer his end than he of whom he had thought to make a public spectacle.

Adam Clarke on Acts 12:21

Upon a set day, etc. - A day on which games, etc., were exhibited in honor of the Roman emperor. What this refers to, we learn from Josephus. "Herod, having reigned three years over All Judea, (he had reigned over the tetrarchy of his brother Philip four years before this), went down to Caesarea, and there exhibited shows and games in honor of Claudius, and made vows for his health. On the second day of these shows, he put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture most truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment, being illuminated by the first reflection of the sun's rays, shone out after a surprising manner, and was…

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John Gill on Acts 12:22

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.

The Church Fathers

And yet, it may be said, if those shouted, what is that to him? Because he accepted the acclamation, because he accounted himself to be worthy of the adoration. Through him those most receive a lesson, who so thoughtlessly flattered him. Observe again, while both parties deserve punishment, this man is punished. For this is not the time of judgment, but He punishes him that had most to answer for, leaving the others to profit by this man's fate. Observe both what flatterers those were, and what a high spirit was shown by the Apostles: the man whom the whole nation so courted, the same they held in contempt.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 27

But if this man, because it was said to him, "It is the voice of God and not of a man" although he said nothing himself, suffered such things: much more should Christ, had He not Himself been God, have suffered for saying always as He did, "These words of mine are not Mine" and, "Angels minister to Me," and such like. But that man ended His life by a shameful and miserable death, and thenceforth no more is seen of him. And observe him also, easily talked over even by Blastus, like a poor creature, soon incensed and again pacified, and on all occasions a slave of the populace, with nothing free and independent about him.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 27

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Drusilla — Third and youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (Acts 12:1-4, 20-23). Felix, the Roman procurator of Judea, induced her to leave her husband, Azizus, the king of Emesa, and become his wife. She was…
Herod Agrippa I. — Son of Aristobulus and Bernice, and grandson of Herod the Great. He was made tetrarch of the provinces formerly held by Lysanias II., and ultimately possessed the entire kingdom of his grandfather,…
Caesarea · .Herod — .Herod
Flattery · .By Tyrians — .By Tyrians
Happiness · .Herod — .Herod
Happiness Of The Wicked, The · Is derived from: Popular applause — Is derived from: Popular applause
Herod · 3. — 3.
Pride · Exemplified: Herod — Exemplified: Herod
Self-Exaltation · .Herod Agrippa I, when — .Herod Agrippa I, when
Sidon · .Inhabitants of, offend Herod Agrippa I — .Inhabitants of, offend Herod Agrippa I
Tyre · .The hostility of Herod Agrippa I toward — .The hostility of Herod Agrippa I toward

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Acts 12:22

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 12:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 12:22

Adam Clarke on Acts 12:21

John Gill on Acts 12:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 12:22

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 12:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 12:22

Adam Clarke on Acts 12:21

John Gill on Acts 12:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 12:19–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 12:18-23