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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Acts 12:18 - 12:19
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_12:18-19
18Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. 19When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.
Act_12:18 "there was no small disturbance" It is interesting that Luke states things in the negative, often by understatement (cf. Act_12:18; Act_15:2; Act_19:11; Act_19:23-24; Act_20:12; Act_26:19; Act_26:26; Act_27:30; Act_28:2, see footnote #8, p. 134, of G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible). This literary feature is unknown in Hebrew literature, but is used often in Greek literature. Luke was a highly educated Greek!
Act_12:19 "he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution" This is the implication of the text (cf. NKJV, NRSV, TEV), but it is not stated explicitly (cf. NJB). Some translations use italics to identify words that are not in the Greek text. If a guard lost his prisoner, he had to bear the prisoner's punishment (cf. Act_16:27; Act_27:42, Code of Justinian 9.4.4).