Bible Strands
Acts 16:39
They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The magistrates, alarmed after learning Paul and Silas are Roman citizens, dispatch officers to the prison. These officers approach the imprisoned apostles to appease them, escort them out, and formally request that they depart the city.
The words — The Greek παρεκάλεσαν (parekalesan) literally means they appealed to or pleaded with, while ἠρώτων (ērōton) indicates they were asking or requesting. These verbs frame the magistrates' official entreaty as a political concession rather than a spiritual acknowledgment.
The thread — The supplied references record crowds and rulers begging Jesus or Daniel to leave their region after witnessing divine power or judgment. This pattern parallels the magistrates' request for Paul and Silas to depart Philippi following a display of authority that threatened civic order.
Why it lands — The text states a factual sequence: officials yield to legal pressure and ask the apostles to leave. A reader must note that civic compliance does not equate to conversion, and that the gospel's advance often proceeds through compelled political accommodation rather than voluntary submission.
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 they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
Cross-references
- Matthew 8:34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.
- Daniel 6:23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den, and when Daniel was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
- Mark 5:17 And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region.
- Exodus 11:8 And all these officials of yours will come and bow before me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that, I will depart.” And hot with anger, Moses left Pharaoh’s presence.
- Isaiah 45:14 This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”
- Isaiah 49:23 Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
- Isaiah 60:14 The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
- Daniel 6:16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
- Micah 7:9 Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.
- Revelation 3:9 As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.