They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison.
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.
- BSB and arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
- NKJV and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common 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 laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening.
- 2 Cor 11:23Are 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.
- Luke 21:12But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
- Acts 16:23–27When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely,
- Rev 2:10Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.
- Heb 11:36Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
- Acts 8:3But Saul ravaged the assembly, entering into every house, and dragged both men and women off to prison.
- Acts 12:5–7Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 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.