Acts 16:35 (WEB)

Passage

But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.”

Nearby Context

Acts 16:33 He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.

Acts 16:34 He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.

Acts 16:35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.”

Acts 16:36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out, and go in peace.”

Acts 16:37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "magistrates", "sent", "sergeants", and "saying". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "magistrates" and "sent", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 34's "He brought them up into his house..." into verse 36's "The jailer reported these words to Paul...", so "magistrates" and "sent" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "magistrates" and "sent" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.