SEV Biblia, Chapter 12:23
Y luego el ngel del Seor le hiri, por cuanto no dio la gloria a Dios; y expir comido de gusanos.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 12:23
Verse 23. The angel of the Lord smote him] His death was most evidently a judgment from God. Because he gave not God the glory] He did not rebuke his flatterers, but permitted them to give him that honour that was due to God alone. See on ver. 21.
And was eaten of worms] Whether this was the morbus pedicularis, or whether a violent inflammation of his bowels, terminating in putrefaction, did not actually produce worms, which, for several days, swarmed in his infected entrails, we cannot tell. It is most likely that this latter was the case; and this is at once more agreeable to the letter of the text, and to the circumstances of the case as related by Josephus.
And gave up the ghost.] That is, he died of the disorder by which he was then seized, after having lingered, in excruciating torments, for five days, as Josephus has stated. Antiochus Epiphanes and Herod the Great died of the same kind of disease. See the observations at the end of chap. i. 26 relative to the death of Judas.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 23. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him , etc.] With a disease after mentioned; this angel, according to Josephus, appeared in the form of an owl; for he says, that a little after (the shout of the people) the king looked up, and saw an owl sitting upon a rope over his head; whom he immediately understood to be an angel, or messenger of evil things to him, as it had been before of good things; for it seems by the same historian f594 , that when he was bound by the order of Caligula, he saw an owl sitting on that tree, on which he leaned; when a certain German predicted, that things would in a short time be changed with him, and he should be advanced to great honour; but remember, says he, whenever you see that bird again, you will die within five days. Eusebius f595 , out of Josephus, makes no mention of the owl, but relates it thus; that a little after (the oration and the salutation of the people) the king looked up, and saw an angel sitting over his head, whom he immediately understood to be the cause of evil things to him, as he had formerly been of good: the reason of the angels smiting him was, because he gave not glory to God ; or as the Jewish historian says, because he reproved not the flatterers, nor rejected their impious flattery, but tacitly took that to himself, which belonged to God: and he was eaten of worms : Bezas most ancient copy adds, while he was alive; Josephus only makes mention of pains in his belly, but these were occasioned by the gnawing of the worms: this was accounted by the Jews a very accursed death; they say f596 , that the spies which brought an ill report on the good land, died this death: their account is this, that their tongues swelled and fell upon their navels, and worms came out of their tongues and went into their navels, and out of their navels they went into their tongues, and Herod the great, the grandfather of this, according to Josephus f597 ; and Maximianus Galerius, according to Eusebius f598 , and many of this death died many tyrants, oppressors, and persecutors! as Antiochus, So that the worms rose up out of the body of this wicked man, and whiles he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his smell was noisome to all his army. (2 Maccabees 9:9) others: and gave up the ghost : not directly, but five days after, as Josephus relates, in the fifty fourth year of his age, and when he had reigned seven years; but before he died, and as soon as he was smitten, he turned to his friends and said, I your God am obliged to depart this life, and now fate reproves the lying words you have just now spoke of me; and I who was called immortal by you, am led away to die, with more, as related by Josephus: by such a token as this, a man was discovered to be a murderer with the Jews; for so they say f599 , that out of the beheaded heifer went a vast number of worms, and went to the place where the murderer was, and ascended upon him, and then the sanhedrim laid hold on him and condemned him.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 20-25 - Many heathen princes claimed and received Divine honours, but it wa far more horrible impiety in Herod, who knew the word and worship of the living God, to accept such idolatrous honours without rebuking the blasphemy. And such men as Herod, when puffed with pride and vanity are ripening fast for signal vengeance. God is very jealous for his ow honour, and will be glorified upon those whom he is not glorified by See what vile bodies we carry about with us; they have in them the seeds of their own dissolution, by which they will soon be destroyed whenever God does but speak the word. We may learn wisdom from the people of Tyre and Sidon, for we have offended the Lord with our sins We depend on him for life, and breath, and all things; it surely the behoves us to humble ourselves before him, that through the appointe Mediator, who is ever ready to befriend us, we may be reconciled to him, lest wrath come upon us to the utmost __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
παραχρημα 3916 ADV δε 1161 CONJ επαταξεν 3960 5656 V-AAI-3S αυτον 846 P-ASM αγγελος 32 N-NSM κυριου 2962 N-GSM ανθ 473 PREP ων 3739 R-GPN ουκ 3756 PRT-N εδωκεν 1325 5656 V-AAI-3S την 3588 T-ASF δοξαν 1391 N-ASF τω 3588 T-DSM θεω 2316 N-DSM και 2532 CONJ γενομενος 1096 5637 V-2ADP-NSM σκωληκοβρωτος 4662 A-NSM εξεψυξεν 1634 5656 V-AAI-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
23. An angel of the Lord smote him. An interesting parallel is furnished by the story of Alp Arslan, a Turkish prince of the eleventh century. "The Turkish prince bequeathed a dying admonition to the pride of kings. 'In my youth,' said Alp Arslan, 'I was advised by a sage to humble myself before God; to distrust my own strength; and never to despise the most contemptible foe. I have neglected these lessons, and my neglect has been deservedly punished. Yesterday, as from an eminence, I beheld the numbers, the discipline, and the spirit of my armies; the earth seemed to tremble under my feet, and I said in my heart, surely thou art the king of the world, the greatest and most invincible of warriors. These armies are no longer mine; and, in the confidence of my personal strength, I now fall by the hand of an assassin'" (Gibbon, "Decline and Fall").Eaten of worms (skwlhkobrwtov). Only here in New Testament. Of Pheretima, queen of Cyrene, distinguished for her cruelties, Herodotus says: "Nor did Pheretima herself end her days happily. For on her return to Egypt from Libya, directly after taking vengeance on the people of Barca, she was overtaken by a most horrid death. Her body swarmed with worms, which ate her flesh while she was still alive" (4, 205). The term, as applied to disease in the human body, does not occur in any of the medical writers extant. Theophrastus, however, uses it of a disease in plants. The word skwlhx is used by medical writers of intestinal worms. Compare the account of the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, the great persecutor of the Jews. "So that the worms rose up out of the body of this wicked man, and whiles he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his smell was noisome to all his army" (2 Macc. ix. 9). Sylla, the Roman dictator, is also said to have suffered from a similar disease. Gave up the ghost. See on ch v. 5.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
12:23 {Smote him} (epataxen auton). Effective aorist active indicative of patassw, old verb, used already in verse #7 of gentle smiting of the angel of the Lord, here of a severe stroke of affliction. Like Nebuchadnezzar (#Da 4:30) pride went before a fall. He was struck down in the very zenith of his glory. {Because} (anq' hwn). anti with the genitive of the relative pronoun, "in return for which things." He accepted the impious flattery (Hackett) instead of giving God the glory. He was a nominal Jew. {He was eaten of worms} (genomenos skwlekobrwtos). Ingressive aorist middle participle, "becoming worm-eaten." The compound verbal adjective (skwlex, worm, brwtos, eaten, from bibrwskw) is a late word (II Macc. 9:9) of the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, used also of a tree (Theophrastus), here only in the N.T. The word skwlex was used of intestinal worms and Herodotus (IV. 205) describes Pheretima, Queen of Cyrene, as having swarms of worms which ate her flesh while still alive. Josephus (_Ant_. XIX. 8, 2) says that Herod Agrippa lingered for five days and says that the rotting of his flesh produced worms, an item in harmony with the narrative in Luke. Josephus gives further details, one a superstitious sight of an owl sitting on one of the ropes of the awning of the theatre while the people flattered him, an omen of his death to him. Luke puts it simply that God smote him. {Gave up the ghost} (exeyuxen). Effective aorist active of ekyucw, to breathe out, late verb, medical term in Hippocrates, in the N.T. only in #Ac 5:5,10; 12:23. Herod was carried out of the theatre a dying man and lingered only five days.
