Acts 16:29

29 And demanding lights, he rushed in and, {beginning to tremble}, fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas.

Acts 16:29 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 16:29

Then he called for a light
Or "lights"; he ordered his servants to bring in some candles; the Syriac version renders it, "he lighted a light for himself"; and the Ethiopic version, "he brought a light": whilst he was under the influence of Satan, and going about a work of darkness, namely, to destroy himself, he was in no concern for a light; but when he was delivered from the temptation and snare, he calls for light:

and sprang in;
leaped in at once, in all haste, into the inner prison:

and came trembling;
not as before, because of the prisoners and their escape; nor merely or so much on account of the earthquake, though the terror of that might not be as yet over; but chiefly through the horror of his conscience, and the dreadful sense he had of himself as a sinner, and of his lost state and condition by nature; the law had entered into his conscience, and had worked wrath there; the Spirit of God had convinced him of his sin and misery, and there was a fearful looking for of fiery indignation in him:

and fell down before Paul and Silas;
not in a way of religious adoration, for they would never have admitted that; but in token of civil respect unto them, and of his great veneration for them, as was the manner of the eastern people; the Syriac version renders it, "he fell down at their feet", and so in Velesius's readings; at those feet, which he had before made fast in the stocks: a strange change and sudden alteration this! what is it that almighty power and efficacious grace cannot do?

Acts 16:29 In-Context

27 And [after] the jailer was awake and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew [his] sword [and] was about to kill himself, [because he] thought the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, "Do no harm to yourself, for we are all here!"

29 And demanding lights, he rushed in and, {beginning to tremble}, fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas.

30 And he brought them outside [and] said, "Sirs, what must I do so that I can be saved?"

31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!"

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "became trembling"