Acts 5:22

The Apostles on Trial Again

22 But when the temple police got there, they did not find them in the jail, 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 and stand in the temple complex, and tell the people all about this life."

21 In obedience to this, they entered the temple complex at daybreak and began to teach. When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin-the full Senate of the sons of Israel-and sent [orders] to the jail to have them brought.

22 But when the temple police got there, they did not find them in the jail, so they returned and reported,

23 "We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!"

24 As the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, as to what could come of this.