and arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
Parallel translations
- WEB and laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public custody.
- KJV And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
- NKJV and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.
- NASB They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison.
- NLT They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
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 leaders arrest the apostles and jail them publicly. Human authority tries to silence the gospel by force.
Overview
Public custody was meant to intimidate the apostles and warn the people. Yet imprisonment cannot bind the word of God, as the next verses show. The scene recalls Jesus' warning that His witnesses would be handed over, and His promise that He would be with them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Acts 4:3They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day.
- 2 Cor 11:23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
- Luke 21:12But 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.
- Acts 16:23–27And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.
- Rev 2:10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, 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.
- Heb 11:36Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
- Acts 8:3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
- Acts 12:5–7So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.
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 5:18 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.