But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said,
Parallel translations
- WEB But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and brought them out, and said,
- KJV But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
- BSB But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying,
- NKJV But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
- NLT But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them,
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
An angel of the Lord opens the prison by night and frees the apostles. God overrules human opposition to His messengers.
Overview
The angelic rescue shows that no human authority can finally imprison those God sends. It demonstrates God's active care for His witnesses and His sovereign control over events. The deliverance also serves the gospel, freeing the apostles to keep preaching rather than simply to escape.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Acts 16:26Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.
- Ps 34:7Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
- Acts 12:7–11And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off from his hands.
- Acts 8:26But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.”
- Acts 27:23For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve,
- Ps 105:17–20He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.
- Ps 146:7who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners.
- Matt 1:20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
- Isa 61:1The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
- Luke 1:11An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
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 5:19 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.