59 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep,.... Not so much by the loud voices of Paul and Silas, as by the uncommon motion of the earth, which so shook him, as thoroughly to awake him: and seeing the prison doors open; which was the first thing in his fright he was looking after, and careful of, and which he might perceive, though it...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. For the law was that, if a jailer lost a prisoner, he was to suffer whatever penalty the prisoner would have suffered. He therefore knew that, in all probability,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Paul cried with a loud voice,.... Knowing by divine revelation, what the jailer was about to do; though being in the innermost prison, in a dark dungeon, he could not see him, unless it can be thought, that the opening of the doors had let in light sufficient; and it may be also, that he knew in the same way, what designs of grace God had...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Every prisoner was loosed from his bands, but not one had escaped; nor had any even attempted to escape, which was another miracle; for men who see their bands broken, and the prison doors open, are pretty sure to run away. These men did not, for a heavenly charm...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then he called for a light,.... Or "lights"; he ordered his servants to bring in some candles; the Syriac version renders it, "he lighted a light for himself"; and the Ethiopic version, "he brought a light": whilst he was under the influence of Satan, and going about a work of darkness, namely, to destroy himself, he was in no concern for a light;...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling Conscious of the supernatural, compelled to feel the hand which he had never perceived before, he hastened into the inner prison, where he had thrust the servants of Christ; Act_16:29. And fell down before Paul and Silas, Whom he had handled so roughly just now;
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And brought them out,.... Of the inner prison, to some part of the prison that was more free and open: and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? he treats them with great reverence now, and addresses them under a title and character of honour and respect; whom but a few hours ago he despised and abhorred, and perhaps knew no name bad enough for...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, What a word to address to those who were still in his charge as prisoners!
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
What must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,.... Not with a bare historical faith, as only to believe that he was the Son of God, and the Messiah, and that he was come in the flesh, and had suffered, and died, and rose again, and was now in heaven at the right hand of God, and would come again to judge both quick and dead, for there may be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord,.... That is, the Gospel; which comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, as the author of it; and is concerning him, as the subject matter of it, and is what was preached by himself when on earth; this is the word, which is called the word of salvation, the word of reconciliation and peace, the word of life,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he took them the same hour of the night,.... After they had done preaching to him, and to his family: and washed their stripes; which were very many and heavy, and whereby they were covered with blood; and which by this time began to fester, and to produce corrupt matter; and all this in a pool, which Grotius supposes was within the bounds of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he had brought them into his house,.... After he and his family had been baptized, either in the pool in the prison, or in the river near the city of Philippi: he set meat before them; he spread a table for them, with provisions to refresh them after all their fatigue; partly by stripes and imprisonment, partly by the exercises of prayer...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when it was day,.... In one copy Beza says, these words are added, "the magistrates came together in one place in the court, and remembering the earthquake that was made, they were afraid, and sent the sergeants;'' but they seem to be no other than a gloss, which crept into the text; however, it seems reasonable to suppose, that in the morning...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the keeper of the prison told this, saying to Paul,.... The Ethiopic version adds, "and to Silas"; this was the same person with the jailer, whom Paul had baptized; and indeed, the same word is here used, though a little differently rendered, who no doubt reported this message to Paul with great joy: the magistrates have sent to let you go;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Paul said unto them,.... The sergeants, who were present when the jailer reported to Paul the message they came with from the magistrates; though the Syriac version reads in the singular number, "Paul said to him", to the jailer: they have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; what the magistrates ordered to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates,.... They returned to them, and acquainted them with what the prisoners said: and they feared when they heard that they were Romans; they were not concerned for the injury they had done them; nor for the injustice and cruelty they had been guilty of; nor did they fear the wrath of God, and a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they came,.... To the prison in person, as Paul had insisted on they should: and besought them; that they would put up the injury that had been done them, and quietly depart out of prison: and brought them out; that is, out of prison; took them by the arms, and led them out, as they had put them in, which was what the apostle required: and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they went out of the prison,.... In a public manner, with great honour and reputation, at the request of the magistrates that put them there: and entered into [the house] of Lydia; whom Paul had baptized, Acts 16:14. The word "house" is rightly supplied, for the sense is not, that they went into the country of Lydia, as some have been tempted...