Acts 5:22

22 When the police got there, they couldn't find them anywhere in the jail. They went back and reported,

Acts 5:22 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 5:22

But when the officers came
The Arabic version adds, "to it"; that is, to the prison;

and found them not in the prison.
The Vulgate Latin version reads, "the prison being opened they found them not"; when they came to the prison, they opened the doors of it, or the keepers for them; for though the angel had opened them for the apostles, yet he shut them again, as he brought them out; for these men found the doors shut, as the following verse shows, and who upon opening them and searching the prison, for the apostles, could find none of them in it; wherefore they returned; the Arabic version reads, "to them"; to the sanhedrim:

and told;
that is, them, as both the Arabic and Ethiopic versions read.

Acts 5:22 In-Context

20 He said, "Go to the Temple and take your stand. Tell the people everything there is to say about this Life."
21 Promptly obedient, they entered the Temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.
22 When the police got there, they couldn't find them anywhere in the jail. They went back and reported,
23 "We found the jail locked tight as a drum and the guards posted at the doors, but when we went inside we didn't find a soul."
24 The chief of the Temple police and the high priests were puzzled. "What's going on here anyway?"
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.