Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
Ver. 1. Now about that time] That the famine lay sore upon the Church. Afflictions seldom come single. The saints usually fall into various temptations at once, James 1:2. Fluctus fluctum trudit. Job's messengers tread one upon the heels of another.
Herod the king] Nephew to Herod the Great, brother to Herodias, and father to that Agrippa, Acts 25:13 .