The Greek verb dēmēgoreō (from dēmos = people + agoreō = to speak publicly) means 'to make a public address,' 'to harangue a crowd,' or 'to deliver an oration.' It appears once in the New Testament describing Herod Agrippa I's fatal speech.
Herod Agrippa I's public oration in Acts 12 is one of Scripture's most dramatic cautionary tales about pride. He accepted divine worship — the crowd shouted 'The voice of a god, not of a man!' — and was immediately struck down by an angel (Acts 12:22–23). Luke's use of dēmēgoreō emphasizes the public, theatrical nature of Herod's speech, contrasting it sharply with Paul's later Areopagus address where Paul consistently redirected glory to God. The contrast is between speech that seeks self-glorification and speech that glorifies the Creator.