Bible Strands
Acts 16:35
When daylight came, the magistrates sent their officers with the order: “Release those men.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — When daylight arrived, the Philippian magistrates dispatched their officers to the prison with a direct command to free the imprisoned apostles.
The words — στρατηγοὶ (stratēgoi) identifies the city magistrates, and ῥαβδούχους (rhabdouchous) designates the officers or lictors who executed their orders.
The thread — This official reversal parallels the earlier restraint of apostolic preaching in Acts 5:40, while the underlying boundary on human authority reflects the divine limit described in Jeremiah 5:22.
Why it lands — The text records a civil mandate that halts persecution, requiring readers to acknowledge that earthly power operates within a boundary it cannot override.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
Cross-references
- Acts 5:40 At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.
- Psalms 76:10 Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
- Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
- Acts 4:21 After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened.