Verses 19b to 23 are a kind of footnote to the previous section, adding nothing to the main thrust of the narrative, but giving a point of reference to secular history (cf. Luke 3:1f.). They do, however, contain the salutary warning that God is on the throne to judge as well as to save. The section ends with a note on the progress of the gospel and the return of Barnabas and Paul to Antioch.

12:19b–23 The death of Herod Agrippa I is recorded also by Josephus (Antiquities 19.343–352). The two accounts are complementary. According to Josephus, Herod died after three years as king of Judea and in the seventh year of his total reign (see disc. on v. 1). On this evidence we should unhesitatingly place his death in the early months of A.D. 44 (which makes Peter’s imprisonment during the Passov…