Luke is just making shit up now and we can prove it by comparing his novel to the historical record. If you want to believe in miracles you can believe in Peter's miraculous escape from prison. But you can't believe the account of the death of Herod, because we know what really happened.
Just as a reminder, this king Herod is not the guy called Herod the Great who was supposedly king when Jesus was born, according to Matthew, but a successor, called Herod Antipas. Antipas is the same guy who had John the Baptist executed, according to the gospels, and who ruled while Jesus was crucified. He died in 39 BC, so the timing is about right, because according to Luke Jesus was born six years later than Matthew had it, after Herod the Great was already dead, so this would be about 3 years after the crucifixion. We can't tell exactly how much time has elapsed, as Luke doesn't mark the months or years for us, but the date is plausible. However . . .
Herod Antipas did not die while he was sitting on his throne, wearing his royal robes, and giving an address to the people. In 39 CE Emperor Caligula, following a dispute between Herod and his nephew, named Agrippa, took Agrippa's side. He stripped Herod of his throne and his property, and exiled him to somewhere in what is today France, probably Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges on the Spanish border. That's where he died, possibly because Caligula had him killed, though that is disputed. So no, the story Luke tells here is completely made up. We know that it isn't true. So there is actually no reason to believe any of this.
12 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
Herod’s Death
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.
21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.
Barnabas and Saul Sent Off
25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from[a] Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.
Footnotes
- Acts 12:25 Some manuscripts to
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