Acts 5:22

22 But the officers who went did not find them in the prison. So 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, stand in the Temple court and keep telling the people all about this new life!"

21 After hearing that, they entered the Temple area about dawn and began to teach. Now the cohen hagadol and his associates came and called a meeting of the Sanhedrin (that is, of Isra'el's whole assembly of elders) and sent to the jail to have them brought.

22 But the officers who went did not find them in the prison. So they returned and reported,

23 "We found the jail securely locked and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened it, we found no one inside!"

24 When the captain of the Temple police and the head cohanim heard these things, they were puzzled and wondered what would happen next.