Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.”
- KJV And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
- BSB When daylight came, the magistrates sent their officers with the order: “Release those men.”
- NKJV And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go.”
- NLT The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!”
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
By daylight the magistrates sent officers ordering that the men be released.
Overview
Perhaps unsettled by the earthquake or recognizing they had overreached, the magistrates sought to quietly dismiss the matter. Their casual order ignores the grave injustice already done. The verse sets up Paul's insistence that the wrong be publicly acknowledged, protecting both their dignity and the young church's reputation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 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.
- Ps 76:10Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained.
- Acts 4:21When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done.
- Jer 5:22Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail; though they roar, yet they can’t pass over it.’
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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 16:35 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.