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Peter leaves Jerusalem:
v. 17. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go show these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.
v. 18. Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers what was become of Peter.
v. 19. And when Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and there abode.
Peter was now again completely master of himself and of the situation. He realized that any outburst of joy might not only attract attention in the neighborhood, but would also result in the loss of valuable time. So he raised his hand in a gesture commanding silence, and quickly narrated to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison by a supernatural deliverance through His angel. Then he asked them to tell, notify, James and the other brethren of the turn of events. This James was most likely not James the son of Alphaeus, but James the brother of the Lord, who was associated with Peter in Jerusalem at the time of Paul's first visit and was very prominent among the elders of the congregation, Gal_1:19; Gal_2:9. But Peter, acting upon God's plain suggestion, went away and journeyed to another place. His presence was no longer required in Jerusalem, but the Lord had need of him and his services elsewhere. When the morning dawned, there was great commotion and excitement among the soldiers. They had been given a prisoner to guard, very likely with instructions that they must vouch for his presence the next morning with their lives, and now the prisoner was gone; they had no idea what had become of Peter. Naturally the report had to be made to the officer in charge of the prison, who, in turn, brought it to the attention of Herod. And it may well be that the tyrant, indignant at being foiled in the very last moment, came to the prison in person to make a thorough investigation. But it availed him nothing; he did not find Peter. And so, after the peevish manner of unreasonable tyrants, he examined the guards once more and then ordered them to be put to death, very likely for gross negligence of duty or for connivance in liberating a dangerous prisoner. Just the same, Jerusalem did not seem to Herod a safe place to stay after this. Whether his conscience bothered him, or whether he dreaded the reproachful and probably triumphant glances of the Jewish leaders, does not appear. He left Judea proper and spent some time in Caesarea. The conscience of a tyrant, willfully guilty of unjustifiable crimes, will not permit him much rest. In the midst of luxury he feels ill at ease and is driven from one place to another.