Acts 12:23

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck Herod down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Παραχρῆμα δὲ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ἄγγελος Κυρίου, ἀνθʼ ὧν οὐκ ἔδωκεν τὴν δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ: καὶ γενόμενος σκωληκόβρωτος, ἐξέψυξεν.

Transliteration

Parachrēma de epataxen auton angelos Kyriou, anth' hōn ouk edōken tēn doxan tō Theō: and genomenos skōlēkobrōtos, exepsyxen.

Grammar Details

• *Parachrēma*: adverb - immediately/instantly
• *de*: postpositive particle - and/but
• *epataxen*: aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular - struck
• *auton*: accusative, masculine, singular - him
• *angelos*: nominative, masculine, singular - angel
• *Kyriou*: genitive, masculine, singular - of the Lord
• *anth' hōn*: preposition + genitive relative pronoun - because
• *ouk*: negative particle - not
• *edōken*: aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular - he gave
• *tēn doxan*: accusative, feminine, singular - the glory
• *tō Theō*: dative, masculine, singular - to God
• *genomenos*: aorist middle participle, nominative, masculine, singular - having become
• *skōlēkobrōtos*: nominative, masculine, singular, adjective - eaten by worms
• *exepsyxen*: aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular - he expired/died

Word Meanings

• *Parachrēma*: immediately/instantly/at once
• *epataxen*: struck/smote
• *anth' hōn*: because/on account of the fact that
• *edōken tēn doxan tō Theō*: gave the glory to God (failed to do so)
• *genomenos skōlēkobrōtos*: having become eaten by worms/worm-eaten
• *exepsyxen*: expired/breathed his last/died

Referenced Verses

• 1 Sam 25:38 : 38 After about ten days the LORD struck Nabal down and he died.
• 2 Sam 24:16-17 : 16 When the angel extended his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from his judgment. He told the angel who was killing the people,“That’s enough! Stop now!”(Now the LORD’s angel was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.) 17 When he saw the angel who was destroying the people, David said to the LORD,“Look, it is I who have sinned and done this evil thing! As for these sheep– what have they done? Attack me and my family.”
• Ps 115:1 : 1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us! But to your name bring honor, for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness.
• Isa 14:11 : 11 Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol, as well as the sound of your stringed instruments. You lie on a bed of maggots, with a blanket of worms over you.
• Isa 37:23 : 23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at? At whom have you shouted and looked so arrogantly? At the Holy One of Israel!
• Isa 51:8 : 8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes; a clothes moth will devour them like wool. But the vindication I provide will be permanent; the deliverance I give will last.”
• Isa 66:24 : 24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, and the fire that consumes them will not die out. All people will find the sight abhorrent.”
• Ezek 28:2 : 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:“‘Your heart is proud and you said,“I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas”– yet you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike.
• Exod 9:17 : 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people by not releasing them.
• Exod 10:3 : 3 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him,“This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has said:‘How long do you refuse to humble yourself before me? Release my people so that they may serve me!
• Exod 12:12 : 12 I will pass through the land of Egypt in the same night, and I will attack all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the LORD.
• Exod 12:23 : 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the LORD will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
• Exod 12:29 : 29 The Deliverance from Egypt It happened at midnight– the LORD attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
• 2 Kgs 19:35 : 35 That very night the LORD’s angel went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses.
• 1 Chr 21:14-18 : 14 So the LORD sent a plague through Israel, and 70,000 Israelite men died. 15 God sent an angel to ravage Jerusalem. As he was doing so, the LORD watched and relented from his judgment. He told the angel who was destroying,“That’s enough! Stop now!” Now the LORD’s angel was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 David looked up and saw the LORD’s angel standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. 17 David said to God,“Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep– what have they done? O LORD my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!” 18 So the LORD’s angel told Gad to instruct David to go up and build an altar for the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
• 2 Chr 21:18-19 : 18 After all this happened, the LORD afflicted him with an incurable intestinal disease. 19 After about two years his intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death. His people did not make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors.
• 2 Chr 32:21 : 21 The LORD sent a messenger and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib returned home humiliated. When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword.
• Job 7:5 : 5 My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs; my skin is broken and festering.
• Job 19:26 : 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God,
• Dan 4:30-37 : 30 The king uttered these words:“Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence by my own mighty strength and for my majestic honor?” 31 While these words were still on the king’s lips, a voice came down from heaven:“It is hereby announced to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that your kingdom has been removed from you! 32 You will be driven from human society, and you will live with the wild animals. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven periods of time will pass by for you before you understand that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms and gives them to whomever he wishes.” 33 Now in that very moment this pronouncement about Nebuchadnezzar came true. He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws. 34 But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me. I extolled the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever. For his authority is an everlasting authority, and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one slaps his hand and says to him,‘What have you done?’ 36 At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated over my kingdom. I became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are just. He is able to bring down those who live in pride.
• Dan 5:18-24 : 18 As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty. 19 Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished. 20 And when his mind became arrogant and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him. 21 He was driven from human society, his mind was changed to that of an animal, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes. 22 “But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, although you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone– gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways! 24 Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.
• Mark 9:43-48 : 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.
• Luke 12:47-48 : 47 That servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know his master’s will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.
• Acts 10:25-26 : 25 So when Peter came in, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. 26 But Peter helped him up, saying,“Stand up. I too am a mere mortal.”
• Acts 14:14-15 : 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.
• 2 Thess 2:4 : 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God.
• Ezek 28:9 : 9 Will you still say,“I am a god,” before the one who kills you– though you are a man and not a god– when you are in the power of those who wound you?