<p>12:23 <em>And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him</em><i>, because he did not give God the glory</i>- It would appear that he did not die immediately, because his death is described as through being &quot;eaten by worms&quot;, presumably a reference to some kind of cancer. Perhaps this method of death was chosen rather than instant death in order to give him a chance of repentance.</p><p><i>And he was eaten by worms and breathed his last<em>- </em></i>Not literally. Rather is this the language of the day being used to describe illnesses such as cancer which were not then understood. There should be no surprise, therefore, that the language of the day for mental illness is also used in the Bible. This explains the usage of 'demon possession' in the Gospels.</p>