Acts 5:23

23 "When we arrived at the jail, we found it locked up tight and all the guards on watch at the gates; but when we opened the gates, we found no one inside!"

Acts 5:23 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 5:23

Saying, the prison truly found we shut with all safety,
&c.] Locked, barred and bolted;

and the keepers standing without before the doors;
both inner and outer in their proper places, diligently discharging their office:

but when we had opened we found no man within;
that is, none of the apostles, for there might be other prisoners in it, who were not released by this means.

Acts 5:23 In-Context

21 The apostles obeyed, and at dawn they entered the Temple and started teaching. The High Priest and his companions called together all the Jewish elders for a full meeting of the Council; then they sent orders to the prison to have the apostles brought before them.

22 But when the officials arrived, they did not find the apostles in prison, so they returned to the Council and reported,

23 "When we arrived at the jail, we found it locked up tight and all the guards on watch at the gates; but when we opened the gates, we found no one inside!"

24 When the chief priests and the officer in charge of the Temple guards heard this, they wondered what had happened to the apostles.

25 Then a man came in and said to them, "Listen! The men you put in prison are in the Temple teaching the people!"