Bible Strands
Acts 5:18
and arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The high priest and Sadducean authorities act immediately after being filled with jealousy over the apostles' public teaching. They seize the apostles and confine them in a public jail before the night angel intervenes.
The words — The Greek phrase ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας (epebalon tas cheiras) literally means "they laid their hands," denoting a physical arrest. This action is directed specifically at the apostles (ἀποστόλους) as the authorities attempt to halt their ministry.
The thread — This confinement follows the earlier custody of Peter and John in Acts 4:3 and mirrors the persecution Jesus foretold in Luke 21:12. The apostles' physical restraint aligns with the intensified suffering and labor described in 2 Corinthians 11:23.
Why it lands — The text records a concrete institutional seizure that precedes supernatural deliverance. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human confinement is a documented step in the apostolic narrative, not a final barrier to their mission.
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 laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
Cross-references
- Acts 4:3 They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day.
- Luke 21:12 But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors.
- 2 Corinthians 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
- Acts 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
- Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.
- Acts 16:23 And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.
- Hebrews 11:36 Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
- Revelation 2:10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.