A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods.
Parallel translations
- WEB The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off of them, and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
- KJV And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
- BSB The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.
- NKJV Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
- NASB The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The crowd joined the attack, and the magistrates had Paul and Silas stripped and beaten with rods.
Overview
Without trial or evidence, the magistrates yielded to mob pressure and inflicted a brutal Roman beating. This was one of the three beatings with rods Paul later recalls in 2 Corinthians 11. The suffering of these faithful servants, unjustly condemned by a hostile crowd, mirrors the path of their Master and the cost of bearing His name.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Th 2:2but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as you know, at Philippi, we grew bold in our God to tell you the Good News of God in much conflict.
- 2 Cor 6:5in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;
- Heb 11:36Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
- Acts 22:22–26They listened to him until he said that; then they lifted up their voice, and said, “Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn’t fit to live!”
- 2 Cor 11:23–25Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
- Acts 17:5But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
- Acts 5:40They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
- Matt 10:17But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.
- Acts 21:30–31All the city was moved, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the doors were shut.
- Matt 27:26Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified.
- Acts 16:37But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!”
- 1 Pet 2:24who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
- Acts 19:28–41When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
- Acts 18:12But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 16:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.