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Acts 16:35
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33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
34 Now when he had brought them into his house, ahe set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.  

Paul Refuses to Depart Secretly

35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the1 officers, saying, “Let those men go.”  
36 So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned aRomans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”  
38 And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.
39 Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and aasked them to depart from the city.  
40 So they went out of the prison aand entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. 
Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
<< Acts 16:34   Acts 16:36 >>


Acts 16:35

And when it was day ... - It is evident from the narrative that it was not contemplated at first to release them so soon, Acts 16:22-24. But it is not known what produced this change of purpose in the magistrates. It is probable, however, that they had been brought to reflection, somewhat as the jailor had, by the earthquake, and that their consciences had been troubled by the fact, that in order to please the multitude, they had caused strangers to be beaten and imprisoned without trial and contrary to the Roman laws. An earthquake is always suited to alarm the guilty; and among the Romans it was regarded as an omen of the anger of the gods, and was therefore adapted to produce agitation and remorse. The agitation and alarm of the magistrates were shown by the fact that they sent the officers as soon as it was day. The judgments of God are eminently suited to alarm sinners. Two ancient mss. read this, "The magistrates who were alarmed by the earthquake, sent, etc." (Doddridge). Whether this reading be genuine or not, it doubtless expresses the true cause of their sending to release the apostles.

The serjeants - ̔́ rabdouchous . Literally, those having rods; the lictors. These were public officers who walked before magistrates with the emblems of authority. In Rome they bore before the senators the fasces; that is, a bundle of rods with an axe in its center, as a symbol of office. They performed somewhat the same office as a beadle in England, or as a constable in our courts (America).


 
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