When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
Parallel translations
- WEB When we entered into Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
- KJV And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.
- NKJV Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
- NASB When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.
- NLT When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier.
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
In Rome Paul is granted the lenient custody of house arrest with a single guard. Even his confinement serves the spread of the gospel.
Overview
Rather than prison, Paul is permitted to live by himself, chained to a soldier who guards him. This relative freedom allows the open ministry described in the chapter's close. God's providence arranges even Paul's imprisonment so that, as he writes elsewhere, his chains advance the gospel (Phil. 1:12-13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Acts 27:3The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with consideration, allowing him to visit his friends and receive their care.
- Acts 24:23He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.
- Acts 28:30–31Paul stayed there two full years in his own rented house, welcoming all who came to visit him.
- Rom 1:7–15To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Rev 17:9This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
- Acts 27:31But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.”
- Acts 18:2There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,
- Acts 2:10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome,
- Gen 39:21–23the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
- Acts 19:21After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”
- Rom 15:22–29That is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
- Acts 23:11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.”
- Gen 37:36Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
- Acts 27:43But the centurion, wanting to spare Paul’s life, thwarted their plan. He commanded those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.
- Jer 40:2The captain of the guard found Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place,
- 2 Kgs 25:8On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
- Rev 17:18And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
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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 28:16 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
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