Lives of Scripture

Blastus was the personal chamberlain of King Herod Agrippa I, a trusted household official with access to the king. When Herod, angry with the cities of Tyre and Sidon, threatened them, their leaders sought peace, since their region depended on food supplied from Herod's territory (Acts 12:20). To gain an audience with the king, they first won Blastus to their side -- his favor was the door into Herod's presence. Blastus is mentioned only this once, a minor courtier at the edge of a much larger event: shortly after this peace was secured, Herod appeared before the assembled crowd in royal robes and delivered a public address. The people flattered him, shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" Because Herod accepted their worship instead of giving God the glory, an angel of the Lord struck him down immediately, and he died, eaten by worms (12:21-23). Blastus's small, practical role in brokering political favor sits right beside one of Scripture's starkest warnings about a ruler who let others praise him as divine.