Acts 12:20
And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king’s country. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king’s country.
The Herod of this verse is Herod Agrippa I. He then held the government of Judea subject to Claudius the Roman emperor, and he also held the position of tetrarch of Galilee. He was professedly a proselyte to the Jewish faith and apparently very zealous in carrying out the ceremonies of the Jewish law.
Desirous of obtaining the favor of the Jews, hoping thereby to make secure his offices and honors, he carried out their desires by persecuting the church of Christ. That persecution included spoiling the houses and goods of the believers and imprisoning the leading members of the church. His heart had grown still harder, so that he was not much troubled even by the news that Jesus had risen.
To please the Jews he took the life of James, and seeing that it pleased them he took Peter also, intending to put him to death. Because God still had a work for Peter to do, He sent His angel and delivered Peter from Herod. Tyre and Sidon sought peace with Herod because their country was nourished by supplies from his territory, and their representatives made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend in order to approach him.
After this verse Herod journeyed from Judea to Caesarea, where he stayed and held a grand festival not long after Peter's deliverance from prison. He was afterward visited with divine judgment. While he was exalting himself before a great multitude, God smote him in their sight and he died a horrible death.