Acts 5:22

22 But when the temple police went there, they 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 and tell the people the whole message about this life."

21 When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

22 But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported,

23 "We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside."

24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.