When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square before the local authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These people are Jews and are disturbing our city 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack on them, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them securely. 24 When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and secured their feet to a stake.
25 About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, 26 there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew [his] sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” 29 He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” 32 So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. 33He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. 34 He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.
35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the lictors with the order, “Release those men.” 36 The jailer reported the[se] words to Paul, “The magistrates have sent orders that you be released. Now, then, come out and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, even though we are Roman citizens and have not been tried, and have thrown us into prison. And now, are they going to release us secretly? By no means. Let them come themselves and lead us out.” 38 The lictors reported these words to the magistrates, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and placated them, and led them out and asked that they leave the city. 40 When they had come out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house where they saw and encouraged the brothers, and then they left.
After the dramatic exorcism of the slave girl in Philippi, Paul and Silas are seized by her enraged masters, who have lost their source of income. In Acts 16:19, they are dragged into the public square—the agora, which served not only as a marketplace but also as the civic and judicial center of Roman colonies. The magistrates (Greek: strategoi) who presided there were the chief local officials responsible for maintaining order and enforcing Roman law.
To strengthen their case, the accusers play on ethnic and religious prejudice, declaring that “these men are Jews” who “are advocating customs that are not lawful for us Romans to adopt or practice” (v. 21). In Roman eyes, Jews were already viewed with suspicion because of their exclusive worship and foreign customs. The charge was more inflammatory than accurate, but it had the desired effect: it stirred fear, resentment, and civic anxiety. To frame Paul and Silas as Jews promoting disruptive practices was to label them as dangerous agitators who threatened Roman civic unity and religious order. This tactic—exaggerating or distorting the truth to incite public emotion—is nothing new. Politicians and leaders throughout history have used similar rhetoric to sway crowds and silence opposition. What happened in Philippi echoes what still happens in today’s headlines. Yet even in the face of such injustice, God is not absent. As Scripture reminds us, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). Paul and Silas were falsely accused, beaten, and imprisoned—but their suffering became the occasion for a jailer's conversion and an entire household's salvation.
Without trial or proper investigation, the magistrates order that Paul and Silas be beaten with rods (v. 22). This punishment, common in Roman colonies, was administered by lictors (v. 35), attendants who carried out the decrees of magistrates and often bore fasces—bundles of rods symbolizing their authority. Other Roman forms of punishment included scourging with leather thongs (often embedded with metal or bone), and flogging, a milder yet still painful public beating. Beatings were meant not only to inflict pain but to publicly humiliate and subdue.
After being stripped, beaten, and imprisoned in the innermost cell, Paul and Silas respond—not with anger—but with prayer and song (v. 25). Their praise amidst suffering recalls the longing of the psalmist in Psalm 42, who, overwhelmed by affliction, still entrusts himself to God: “By day may the Lord send his mercy, and by night may his righteousness be with me! I will pray to the God of my life” (Ps 42:9). Even as “all [God’s] waves and breakers sweep over” him (v. 8), the psalmist prays in hope—just as Paul and Silas lift their voices in the darkness, entrusting their fate to God..
At midnight, a great earthquake shakes the prison, loosening chains and opening doors (v. 26). Believing the prisoners have escaped, the jailer prepares to kill himself (v. 27). In Roman law, a jailer was personally responsible for his charges. Failure to secure them meant he could face torture and a dishonorable execution—and his family could suffer public disgrace. Suicide was seen as the honorable alternative.
Paul intervenes just in time, assuring him no one has escaped. Deeply moved, the jailer asks the apostles, “What must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). Their answer is simple yet foundational: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved” (v. 31). This affirms that salvation comes through faith in Christ, and reflects the early Church’s practice of household baptism (cf. Acts 2:38–39; 1 Cor. 1:16).
The jailer’s response is immediate and tender. In verse 33, he “took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds.” This act of care was not just medical—it was a visible sign of conversion. The wounds were likely cleaned in a courtyard or outer area before he brought them into his house and set a meal before them (v. 34). His hospitality echoes Abraham’s welcome of strangers (Gen 18:1-8) and foreshadows the sacred fellowship (Eucharist) often expressed in shared meals among believers.
The next morning, the magistrates sent word to quietly release Paul and Silas (v. 35), but Paul refused. In verse 37, he reminds them: “They have beaten us publicly, even though we are Roman citizens.” Under Roman law, citizens, regardless of ethnicity, were protected from public punishment without a trial. Paul’s insistence on a public acknowledgment of this violation was not about personal revenge but about holding the magistrates accountable to justice. It also served to warn local officials that some followers of Jesus were Roman citizens—and that the civil authorities should be careful not to act rashly or unjustly toward this growing movement. In this way, Paul’s boldness quietly reminded them that faith in Christ did not cancel one’s rights, and that those who bear His name cannot be maltreated with impunity.
Lord Jesus, you are near to those who suffer injustice and respond to praise even in the darkest night. Help us to sing your name through trials, to witness with courage, and to welcome others into the joy of your salvation. May our homes, like the jailer’s, become places where wounds are healed and faith takes root. Amen!
Bless those who walk by faith and not by sight
Sources
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: The Pentateuch. Four Courts Press, 2017
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
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