Bible Strands
Acts 12:20
Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Herod, having relocated to Caesarea after executing his guards, confronts a delegation from Tyre and Sidon seeking peace. The envoys approach him through Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, during a period of regional food dependency.
The words — The Greek term θυμομαχῶν (thumomachōn) literally describes a state of furious conflict or intense anger. It frames the diplomatic encounter as a visceral political struggle rather than a formal negotiation.
The thread — The economic reliance of Tyre and Sidon on neighboring grain supplies parallels the trade networks described in Ezra 3:7 and Ezekiel 27:17. Jesus later invokes Tyre in Matthew 11:21 to contrast the region’s potential responsiveness with the spiritual hardness of his own audience.
Why it lands — The text records that political survival frequently requires securing court access and exploiting economic leverage. It asks a reader to observe how material necessity shapes diplomatic strategy under autocratic rule.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Ezra 3:7 They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
- Ezekiel 27:17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith, cakes and honey, oil and balm for your merchandise.
- Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
- Luke 14:31 Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
- Luke 16:8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.
- Genesis 10:15 And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,
- Genesis 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
- Joshua 19:29 The border then turned back toward Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre, turned toward Hosah, and came out at the Sea in the region of Achzib,
- 1 Kings 5:9 My servants will haul the logs from Lebanon to the Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate the logs, and you can take them away. And in exchange, you can meet my needs by providing my household with food.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”