In the morning there is not a little "consternation" among the guards over Peter's whereabouts (the term can refer to mental agitation as well as the commotion that flows from it). Herod interrogates the guards and according to Roman custom has them led away to suffer the same penalty, in this case execution that the escapee would have faced (Code of Justinian 9.4.4).

Though Herod had chosen Jerusalem as his place of residence, Caesarea on the coast was still the administrative capital. For whatever reason he now leaves the environs of Jerusalem (Judea should be understood here in this narrower sense) and goes to Caesarea.

Herod had power of life and death not only over individuals but also over regions, as the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon knew well. These coastal cities of northwest Palestine depended on the breadbasket of Judea for grain (compare Ezek 27:17). We are not told the cause of Herod's exasperation, even "fury" (NIV quarreling), with the cities. Haenchen (1971:386) suggests a trade war sparked by competition between Caesarea and these Phoenician ports. We do not know the precise action Herod took; it may have been an economic boycott. It was effective, for now the cities send a joint delegation with the aid of Blastus, the king's trusted personal servant, to ask peace for themselves (note the middle voice, etounto).

Herod was at the very zenith of his power. Not only had Rome granted him rule over as great a territory as his grandfather Herod the Great ruled, but he could force self-governing cities adjacent to his domain into submission. On the appointed day to conclude the peace, which was during games in honor of Caesar, as Josephus reports it, "clad in a garment woven completely of silver so that its texture was indeed wondrous, he entered the theatre at daybreak. There the silver, illumined by the touch of the first rays of the sun, was wondrously radiant and by its glitter inspired fear and awe in those who gazed intently upon it" (Jewish Antiquities 19.343-44 [whole account 343-59]; note that the theater seats faced west). No wonder that as Herod addressed the assembly, which included the populace of Caesarea as well as the delegation from Tyre and Sidon (Bruce 1990:288 says the populace of Caesarea), they cried out, This is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

Herod does not refuse their homage. Immediately an angel of the Lord strikes him down and he is eaten by worms. He experiences pain in the heart and stomach—peritonitis from a perforated appendix, combined with intestinal roundworms, ten to sixteen inches long. (Bunches of these can obstruct the intestines, causing severe pain, copious vomiting and finally death.) This excruciating condition continues for five days until he dies.

Luke tells us why Herod experiences the Lord's immediate judgment: because he does not give "glory" (praise) to God (Lk 2:14; 19:38). In receiving the worship of people who are economically dependent on him (12:20; contrast 14:17), Herod made himself the object of false worship, violated the first two commandments and justly earned God's immediate judgment. All political leaders and followers in whatever day, Theophilus's or ours, and under whatever political system, must be duly warned by Herod's defeat. The Lord is "Lord of all" (Acts 10:36), and he will not share his glory with any other (Is 42:8; 48:11).