Acts 12.2

type: passage created: 2026-05-06 updated: 2026-05-06 book: Acts chapter: 12 verses: "2" translation_default: ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT tags: [scripture] citation_count: 1 enriched: false

Quoted in

Acts 12.2

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the church."

"2. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword."

"3. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. And those were the days of unleavened bread. 4. And when he had taken him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people." (Acts 12:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Now about that time, King Herod stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly."

"2. He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword."

"3. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread. 4. When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover." (Acts 12:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. ^{stretched: or, began}"

"2. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword."

"3. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 4. 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. ^{Easter: Gr. Passover} ^{quaternions: a file of four soldiers}" (Acts 12:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And about that time, Herod the king put forth his hands, to do evil to certain of those of the assembly,"

"2. and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword,"

"3. and having seen that it is pleasing to the Jews, he added to lay hold of Peter also, and they were the days of the unleavened food, 4. whom also having seized, he did put in prison, having delivered [him] to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him, intending after the passover to bring him forth to the people." (Acts 12:1-4, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Luke the physician (traditionally) / narrator + multiple speeches (Peter, Stephen, Paul)
Audience: Theophilus + Gentile Christian audience (companion to Luke)
Location: Jerusalem → Judea → Samaria → Asia Minor → Greece → Rome
Time period: events c. AD 30-62; composed c. AD 62-80

Theological reading

Key words

No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.