Acts 5:22

22 However, the guards didn't find them in the prison. They returned 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 "Go, take your place in the temple, and tell the people everything about this new life."

21 Early in the morning, they went into the temple as they had been told and began to teach. When the high priest and his colleagues gathered, they convened the Jerusalem Council, that is, the full assembly of Israel's elders. They sent word to the prison to have the apostles brought before them.

22 However, the guards didn't find them in the prison. They returned and reported,

23 "We found the prison locked and well-secured, with guards standing at the doors, but when we opened the doors we found no one inside!"

24 When they received this news, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were baffled and wondered what might be happening.