Acts 16:36

36 The jailer gave Paul the message, "The judges sent word that you're free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!"

Acts 16:36 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 16:36

And the keeper of the prison told this, saying to Paul,
&c.] The Ethiopic version adds, "and to Silas"; this was the same person with the jailer, whom Paul had baptized; and indeed, the same word is here used, though a little differently rendered, who no doubt reported this message to Paul with great joy:

the magistrates have sent to let you go;
they have sent an order to let you out of prison:

now therefore depart, and go in peace;
which expresses the jailer's pleasure of mind, and joy of heart, in executing his orders; and his sincere and hearty wishes for peace and prosperity to go along with them wherever they went, who had been instrumental of so much good to him and his family.

Acts 16:36 In-Context

34 There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.

35 At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, "Release these men."

36 The jailer gave Paul the message, "The judges sent word that you're free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!"

37 But Paul wouldn't budge. He told the officers, "They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight."

38 When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.