And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

ACTS 16:35KJV
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Acts 16:35 (KJV)

What does Acts 16:35 mean?

Acts 16:35 describes how, the morning after Paul and Silas were imprisoned, the city officials (magistrates) sent their officers (serjeants) with instructions to release them. The verse shows a sudden change in the officials’ attitude, as they now want to let Paul and Silas go free.

The setting is Philippi, where Paul and Silas had been jailed the previous day after causing a disturbance by casting out a spirit from a slave girl. The “magistrates” were the Roman authorities in charge, and the “serjeants” were their officers or attendants. This verse marks a turning point, as the officials quietly try to resolve the situation after the dramatic events of the night, including an earthquake and the conversion of the jailer.

The Greek behind Acts 16:35

  • ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi, “men”): This word is a general term for people or men, emphasizing that the officials refer to Paul and Silas in a somewhat impersonal or dismissive way, not by name.
  • στρατηγοί (stratēgoi, “magistrates”): This word refers to the chief Roman officials in Philippi, highlighting their authority and the legal context of the decision.
  • ῥαβδούχους (rhabdouchous, “serjeants”): This term means “rod-bearers” or lictors, the officers who enforced the magistrates’ orders, showing the formal and official nature of the release.

Why Acts 16:35 matters

  • Acts 16:35 clarifies that the decision to release Paul and Silas came from the city’s highest authorities, not just the jailer, which sets up the following verses where Paul insists on a public acknowledgment of their innocence.
  • The verse highlights the legal and social structure of Philippi as a Roman colony, helping readers understand the seriousness of the situation and the officials’ concern for order.
  • This turning point in the story connects to the miraculous events of the previous night, showing how the authorities’ actions are influenced by what happened in the jail and possibly by fear of repercussions.

Where else these words appear

“serjeants” Greek G4465 · used in 2 verses

  • Acts 16:38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.

“magistrates” Greek G4755 · used in 10 verses

  • Luke 22:4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.
  • Acts 5:24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
  • Acts 16:22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

“Let” Greek G630 · used in 63 verses

  • Matthew 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
  • Mark 8:3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.
  • Luke 23:20 Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.

“sent” Greek G649 · used in 130 verses

  • Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
  • Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
  • John 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.