Acts 12:20
New Catholic Bible
20 Death of Herod Agrippa I.[a] For a long time, Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, who now came to him in a body. After gaining the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace because their country depended on the king’s territory for their food supplies.
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- Acts 12:20 This time again, in the manner of the Old Testament, the intervention of the hand of God is emphasized. The account poses the problem of war: it is a scourge in which the economy is tied to the will for power. Here the war against Tyre and Sidon is put off thanks to a compromise. But the political pride of a leader who takes himself for God is dissipated by a mortal sickness, which popular tradition interprets as a punishment.
The episode accords with the chronology of the time. It inserts Acts into universal history. Herod died, after a great feast, eaten by worms, in A.D. 44.
Acts 12:20
Expanded Bible
20 Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon [C major cities on the Phoenician coast north of Israel], but the people of those cities all ·came in a group [or agreed together to come] to him. After convincing Blastus, the ·king’s personal servant [chamberlain; L one in charge of his bedroom], to ·be on their side [or support their position], they asked Herod for peace, because their country got its food from his country.
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