Acts 12:22
And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
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EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)
12:20-25 Many heathen princes claimed and received Divine honours, but it was 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 own 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 then behoves us to humble ourselves before him, that through the appointed Mediator, who is ever ready to befriend us, we may be reconciled to him, lest wrath come upon us to the utmost.And the people gave a shout - A loud applause.

It is the voice of a god ... - It is not probable that the Jews joined in this acclamation, but that it was made by the idolatrous Gentiles. Josephus gives a similar account of their feelings and conduct. He says, "And presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another (though not for his good), that he was a god; and they added, 'Be thou merciful unto us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a king, yet shall we henceforth own thee as a superior to mortal nature.'" It is true that Josephus says that this was done when they saw his splendid apparel, and that he gives no account of his addressing the people, while Luke describes it as the effect of his speech. But the discrepancy is of no consequence. Luke is as credible an historian as Josephus, and his account is more consistent than that of the Jewish historian. It is far more probable that this applause and adoration would be excited by a speech than simply by beholding his apparel.

22, 23. the people gave a shout, &c.—Josephus' account of his death is remarkably similar to this [Antiquities, 19.8.2]. Several cases of such deaths occur in history. Thus was this wretched man nearer his end than he of whom he had thought to make a public spectacle. These impious flatterers destroy whom they exalt; for God will pull down his rivals.

And the people gave a shout,.... At the end of the oration; these were flatterers, as Josephus says in the place before referred to, who cried out one from another, saluting him as God; saying, be merciful to us, hitherto we have revered thee as a man, henceforward we confess thee somewhat more excellent than mortal nature: and so it follows here,

saying it is the voice of a God, and not of a man; the Vulgate Latin version reads, "the voices of God and not men"; and the Ethiopic version, "the city shouted in, or with the voice of God", with the voice of man; as if this referred to the acclamation of the people, and not the speech of the king; very wrongly.

{10} And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

(10) The flattery of people makes fools glad.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Acts 12:22. Εὐθὺς δὲ οἱ κόλακες τὰς οὐδὲ ἐκείνῳ πρὸς ἀγαθοῦ ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν φωνὰς ἀνεβόων, θεὸν προσαγορεύοντες, εὐμενής τε εἴης, ἐπιλέγοντες, εἰ καὶ μέχρι νῦν ὡς ἄνθρωπον ἐφοβήθημεν, ἀλλὰ τοὐντεῦθεν κρείττονά σε θνητῆς φύσεως ὁμολογοῦμεν! Joseph. l.c., who, however, represents this shout of flattery (which certainly proceeded from the mouth, not of Jews, but of Gentiles) as occasioned by the silver garment of the king shining in the morning sun, and not by a speech on his part. “Vulgus tamen vacuum curis et sine falsi verique discrimine solitas adulationes edoctum, clamore et vocibus adstrepebat,” Tacit. Hist. ii. 90. ὁ δῆμος, the common people, is found in the N. T. only in the Book of Acts; see Acts 17:5, Acts 19:30; Acts 19:33. Comp. on Acts 19:30.

Acts 12:22. δῆμος: only in Acts 17:5; Acts 19:30; Acts 19:33, but in the same signification in classical Greek.—ἐπεφώνει: later Greek in this sense (cf. the flatterers in the description of Josephus, u. s., ἀνεβόων, that Herod was θεός, and so in the words εὐμενὴς εἴης). In N.T. only in Luke, cf. Luke 23:21, Acts 21:34; Acts 22:24; cf. 2Ma 1:23, 3Ma 7:13, 1Es 9:47. The imperfect quite corresponds to the description of Josephus: ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν φωνῆς ἀνεβ. θ. φωνή; for instances of similar flattery see Wetstein, and cf. Josephus, u. s.

Acts 12:22. Θεοῦ φωνὴ, καὶ οὐχ ἀνθρώπου, the voice of a god, not of a man) That divine praises were sometimes given to speakers, especially princes, by the acclamations of their hearers, is demonstrated by Ferrarius, l. 3, de acclam. ch. 13 and 14. But their customary character increases, instead of diminishing the impiety of such formulas.

Verse 22. - Shouted for gave a shout, A.V.; the voice for it is the voice, A.V. Acts 12:22The people (δῆμος)

The assembled people.

A god

As most of the assembly were heathen, the word does not refer to the Supreme Being, but is to be taken in the pagan sense - a god.

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