Passage

Acts 12.7-11

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"5. Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him. 6. And when Herod was about to bring him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and guards before the door kept the prison."

"7. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shined in the cell: and he smote Peter on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And he did so. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9. And he went out, and followed; and he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision. 10. And when they were past the first and the second guard, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth into the city; which opened to them of its own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and straightway the angel departed from him. 11. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a truth, that the Lord hath sent forth his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews."

"12. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together and were praying. 13. And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a maid came to answer, named Rhoda." (Acts 12:5-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"5. Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him. 6. The same night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door kept the prison."

"7. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off from his hands. 8. The angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” He did so. He said to him, “Put on your cloak, and follow me.” 9. And he went out and followed him. He didn’t know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he saw a vision. 10. When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went out, and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11. When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from everything the Jewish people were expecting.”"

"12. Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13. When Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer." (Acts 12:5-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"5. Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. ^{prayer: or, instant and earnest prayer was made} 6. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison."

"7. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. 10. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. 11. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews."

"12. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. 13. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. ^{to hearken: or, to ask who was there}" (Acts 12:5-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"5. Peter, therefore, indeed, was kept in the prison, and fervent prayer was being made by the assembly unto God for him, 6. and when Herod was about to bring him forth, the same night was Peter sleeping between two soldiers, having been bound with two chains, guards also before the door were keeping the prison,"

"7. and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood by, and a light shone in the buildings, and having smitten Peter on the side, he raised him up, saying, 'Rise in haste,' and his chains fell from off [his] hands. 8. The messenger also said to him, 'Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals;' and he did so; and he saith to him, 'Put thy garment round and be following me;' 9. and having gone forth, he was following him, and he knew not that it is true that which is done through the messenger, and was thinking he saw a vision, 10. and having passed through a first ward, and a second, they came unto the iron gate that is leading to the city, which of its own accord did open to them, and having gone forth, they went on through one street, and immediately the messenger departed from him. 11. And Peter having come to himself, said, 'Now I have known of a truth that the Lord did sent forth His messenger, and did deliver me out of the hand of Herod, and all the expectation of the people of the Jews;'"

"12. also, having considered, he came unto the house of Mary, the mother of John, who is surnamed Mark, where there were many thronged together and praying. 13. And Peter having knocked at the door of the porch, there came a damsel to hearken, by name Rhoda," (Acts 12:5-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Angels

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.