EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Acts 12:4
4After the soldiers caught Peter, they put him in prison. While he was in prison, four different groups of soldiers guarded him. There were four soldiers in each group. Herod wanted to judge Peter in front of everybody. After the Passover festival had finished, he would bring Peter out of the prison to do this.
Acts 12:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
- New International Version (NIV)After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
Context of Acts 12:4
2He sent his soldiers to cut off James's head. James was John's brother. 3King Herod saw that the Jews were happy because he had killed James. So he sent his soldiers to take hold of Peter too. This happened during the Festival of Flat Bread. After the soldiers caught Peter, they put him in prison. While he was in prison, four different groups of soldiers guarded him. There were four soldiers in each group. Herod wanted to judge Peter in front of everybody. After the Passover festival had finished, he would bring Peter out of the prison to do this. 5So Herod kept Peter in prison. But during that time, the group of believers prayed that God would help Peter. 6It was the night before King Herod wanted to bring Peter out of the prison and judge him. The soldiers had tied Peter to themselves with chains. So Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. Some other soldiers were guarding the doors of the prison.
Read all of Acts 12Acts 12:4 word by word
ὃν καὶ πιάσας ἔθετο εἰς φυλακὴν παραδοὺς τέσσαρσιν τετραδίοις στρατιωτῶν φυλάσσειν αὐτόν, βουλόμενος μετὰ τὸ πάσχα ἀναγαγεῖν αὐτὸν τῷ λαῷ.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Andκαίkai · andG2532
- whenὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- he had apprehended himπιάζωpiazō · to arrest/catchG4084
- he putτίθημιtithēmi · to placeG5087
- inεἰςeis · towardG1519
- prisonφυλακήphulakē · prison/watch: prisonG5438
- and deliveredπαραδίδωμιparadidōmi · to deliverG3860
- to fourτέσσαρεςtessares tessara · fourG5064
- quaternionsτετράδιονtetradion · squad of fourG5069
- of soldiersστρατιώτηςstratiōtēs · soldierG4757
- to keepφυλάσσωphulassō · to keep/guard: guardG5442
- himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- intendingβούλομαιboulomai · to planG1014
- afterμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
- Easterπάσχαpascha · Passover lambG3957
- to bringἀνάγωanagō · to leadG321
- to the peopleλαόςlaos · a peopleG2992
Cross-references for Acts 12:4
- Acts 4:3So they took hold of Peter and John. They put them in prison, because by then it was evening time. They put them in the prison until the next day.
- Acts 5:18These important men took hold of the apostles and they put them in the city's prison.
- Acts 8:3But Saul brought great trouble to the believers. He wanted to destroy their whole group. So he went to all their houses. He took hold of the believers and he put them into prison. He did that to both men and women.
- Matthew 24:9Then people will take hold of you and they will give you pain. They will even kill some of you. People in every country will hate you because you are my disciples.
- Luke 21:12But before all those things happen, people will take hold of you. They will do bad things to you and give you pain. They will take you to the leaders in their meeting places and they will keep you in prisons. They will make you stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples.
- Luke 22:33But Simon replied, ‘Master, I am ready to go to prison with you. I am even ready to die with you!’
- John 13:36Simon Peter asked him, ‘Lord, where will you go?’ Jesus replied, ‘You cannot follow now where I will go. But some time after this, you will follow.’
- John 21:18I tell you this: When you were young, you put on your own clothes. Then you went to any place that you wanted to visit. But when you are old, it will be different. You will hold out your arms and someone else will tie your clothes for you. Then they will take you to a place where you do not want to go.’
- Acts 16:23The soldiers hit Paul and Silas many times. Then they took hold of them and they pushed them into the prison. The officers said to the prison guard, ‘Lock the prison door carefully so that these men cannot get free.’
- Matthew 27:64So you should tell some soldiers to watch the place where Joseph put Jesus' body. They should watch there for the next three days. Then his disciples cannot come to take his body away. If they did that, then they could say to the people, “God has caused Jesus to become alive again.” This will be worse than the lies that Jesus told when he was alive.’
- Acts 4:28But you are powerful. These men did only what you said would happen. You had already decided on these events.
- Esther 3:6But he did not want to destroy only Mordecai. Now he knew that Mordecai was a Jew, he decided to destroy all the Jews who lived in Xerxes' whole kingdom.
- Proverbs 19:21You may have lots of ideas about what you want to do. But it is the Lord's plans that are important.
- Proverbs 27:1Do not boast about what you will do tomorrow. You do not know what might happen.
- Lamentations 3:37The Lord causes things to happen. Nobody can cause things to happen without him.
- Matthew 26:5They said to each other, ‘We do not want to take hold of him during the Passover festival. If we do that, the people will be angry and they may fight against us.’
Commentaries on Acts 12:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Four quaternions of soldiers - That is, sixteen, or four companies of four men each, who had the care of the prison, each company taking in turn one of the four watches of the night. Intending after Easter to bring him forth - , After the passover. Perhaps there never was a more unhappy, not to say absurd, translation than that in our text. But, before I come to explain the word, it is necessary to observe that our term called Easter is not exactly the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And when he had apprehended him - When he had taken or arrested him. He put him in prison - During the solemnities of this religious festival, it would have been deemed improper to have engaged in the trial of a supposed criminal. The minds of the people were expected to be devoted solely to the services of religion; and hence, Herod chose to retain him in custody until the Passover had ended. To four quaternions of soldiers - A “quaternion” was a company…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Herod had Peter guarded by four squads of soldiers, making it impossible for the apostle to escape (compare 12:6). God was in control, even though the circumstances seemed impossible for humans to overcome (compare 4:27–31; Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; 18:27).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers--that is, to four parties of four each, corresponding to the four Roman watches; two watching in prison and two at the gates, and each party being on duty for the space of one watch. intending after Easter--rather, "after the Passover"; that is, after the whole festival was over. (The word in our King James Version is an ecclesiastical term of later date, and ought not to have been employed here). to bring…Read the comment
Topics related to Acts 12:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Acts 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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