Acts 5:22

22 The officers arrived at the prison. But they didn't find the apostles there. So they went back and reported it.

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 courtyard," the angel said. "Tell the people all about this new life."

21 Early the next day they did as they had been told. They entered the temple courtyard. There they began to teach the people. The high priest and his companions arrived. They called the Sanhedrin together. The Sanhedrin was a gathering of all the elders of Israel. They sent for the apostles who were in prison.

22 The officers arrived at the prison. But they didn't find the apostles there. So they went back and reported it.

23 "We found the prison locked up tight," they said. "The guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors, we didn't find anyone inside."

24 When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were bewildered. They wondered what would happen next.