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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_12:6-17
6On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. 7And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off his hands. 8And the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." 9And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting." 12And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. 15They said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, "It is his angel." 16 But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. 17But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, "Report these things to James and the brethren." Then he left and went to another place.
Act_12:6 "On the very night" Luke's writings are characterized by time indicators (cf. Act_12:3-8; Act_12:10; Act_12:18). But be careful of interpreting this as western, sequential, chronological history. Luke has a theological evangelistic purpose.
▣ "between two soldiers" This verse shows the impossibility of Peter's escape. It is almost as if they expected an attempt to release him (cf. Act_5:19).
Act_12:7 "an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared" It is unusual that the supernatural interventions of the angel of the Lord (cf. Act_5:19; Act_7:30; Act_7:35; Act_7:38; Act_7:53; Act_8:26; Act_10:3; Act_10:7; Act_10:22) and the Holy Spirit (cf. Act_8:29; Act_8:39; Act_10:19) are interchanged throughout the book of Acts. Apparently the Spirit speaks intuitively, but the angel is an outward physical manifestation. It is interesting to see the combination of the natural and the supernatural in this account (similar to the plagues of the Exodus).
▣ "Get up quickly" This is an aorist active imperative which denotes urgency. Why is the angel in a hurry? Is he not in control of events?
Act_12:8 "Gird yourself and put on your sandals" These are both aorist middle imperatives.
▣ "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me" This is an aorist middle imperative followed by a present active imperative. The angel was really in a hurry to perform this task! This was one nervous angel!
Act_12:9 Peter was uncertain whether this was a vision, dream, or reality (cf. Act_12:11-12; Act_10:17; Act_10:19; Act_11:5).
Act_12:11 "When Peter came to himself" Luke uses a similar phrase in describing the Prodigal Son (cf. Luk_15:17). Suddenly the reality of the experience and its implications dawned on him (cf. Act_12:12).
Act_12:12 "the house of Mary" Mary was a very common name. There are several Marys mentioned in the Gospels.
1. the mother of Jesus (cf. Luk_1:27)
2. Mary of Magdala, a disciple from Galilee (cf. Luk_8:2; Luk_24:10)
3. mother of James and John (cf. Luk_24:10)
4. sister of Martha and Lazarus (cf. Luk_10:39; Luk_10:42)
5. wife of Cleophas (cf. Joh_19:25)
6. mother of John Mark (here)
▣ "the mother of John" This refers to John Mark's mother. The early church met in this family's house in Jerusalem (cf. Act_12:12). It was also the site of the Lord's three post resurrection appearances and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.
John Mark accompanied Paul and his cousin Barnabas (cf. Col_4:10) on the first missionary journey (cf. Act_12:25 to Act_13:13). For some reason he deserted the team and returned home (cf. Act_15:38). Barnabas wanted to include him on the second missionary journey, but Paul refused (cf. Act_15:36-41). This resulted in Paul and Barnabas separating. Barnabas took John Mark to Cyprus (cf. Act_15:39). Later, while Paul was in prison, he mentions John Mark in a positive way (cf. Col_4:10) and still later in Paul's second imprisonment at Rome, just before his death, he mentions John Mark again (cf. 2Ti_4:11).
Apparently John Mark became part of Peter's missionary team (cf. 1Pe_5:13). Eusebius' Eccl. His. 3.39.12 gives us an interesting account of John Mark's relation to Peter.
"In his own book Papias gives us accounts of the Lord's sayings obtained from Aristion or learnt direct from the presbyter John. Having brought these to the attention of scholars, I must now follow up the statements already quoted from him with a piece of information which he sets out regarding Mark, the writer of the gospel:
This, too, the presbyter used to say. 'Mark, who had been Peter's interpreter, wrote down carefully, but not in order, all that he remembered of the Lord's sayings and doings. For he had not heard the Lord or been one of His followers, but later, as I said, one of Peter's. Peter used to adapt his teaching to the occasion, without making a systematic arrangement of the Lord's sayings, so that Mark was quite justified in writing down some things just as he remembered them. For he had one purpose only—to leave out nothing that he had heard, and to make no misstatement about it'" (p. 152).
In this quote Papias refers to "John the elder." Irenaeus says "and these things are borne witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp." This implies Papias heard it from John the Apostle.
▣ "many were gathered together and were praying" The grammatical forms of these words reveal that the church had gathered and intended to remain in prayer (perfect passive participle followed by a present middle [deponent] participle).
Act_12:13 "door of the gate" This was a small door on the street. There was a larger door upstairs.
▣ "Rhoda" Her name means "rose." It is uncertain whether she worked for the homeowners or was a member of the prayer meeting.
Act_12:15 "You are out of your mind" The church was praying for God to act, but they were extremely surprised (cf. Act_12:16) when He did.
▣ "They kept saying" There are two imperfect active indicatives in this context, which implies that Rhoda's affirmation and that of those in the prayer meeting in the upper room's response happened more than once.
▣ "It is his angel" Angels play a prominent role in Luke's writings. Apparently the Jews believed that one's guardian angel could take their physical shape (for a good discussion of Jewish sources and beliefs about guardian angels, see Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2, p. 963). There is no scriptural basis for this belief. This development of angeology may have come from the concept of fravashi in Zoroastrianism. Much of rabbinical angelology can be traced to this Persian influence. There is some scriptural evidence for guardian angels for new believers (cf. Mat_18:10). Angels are servants of the redeemed (cf. Heb_1:14).
Act_12:17 "motioning to them with his hand to be silent" This is obviously an eyewitness detail (cf. Act_13:16). Luke records this gesture several times (cf. Act_13:16; Act_19:33; Act_21:40).
▣ "Report these things to James and the brethren" This shows that James, the half-brother of Jesus, was already the leader of the Jerusalem church (cf. Act_15:13-21).
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▣ "went to another place" No one knows where Peter went, but apparently he did not go to Rome as some supposed because he is present at the Jerusalem Council recorded in Acts 15.
Even though God supernaturally delivered Peter, this did not imply that he could be reckless or expect this miraculous intervention every time. Remember James had been killed! Peter also sends word to the church to expect more physical persecution because of his deliverance.