Acts 16:39

Acts 16:39 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
• New International Version (NIV)They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city.

Context of Acts 16:39

37But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.” 38The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town. 40After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.

Acts 16:39 word by word

καὶ ἐλθόντες παρεκάλεσαν αὐτούς, καὶ ἐξαγαγόντες ἠρώτων ἀπελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• they cameἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• and besoughtπαρακαλέωparakaleō · to plead/comfortG3870
• themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• broughtἐξάγωexagō · to lead outG1806
• and desiredἐρωτάωerōtaō · to askG2065
• to departἐξέρχομαιexerchomai · to go outG1831
• out of the cityὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• out of the cityπόλιςpolis · cityG4172

Cross-references for Acts 16:39

• Exodus 11:8All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Get out, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will get out.” And he went out from Pharaoh’s presence fiercely angry.
• Isaiah 45:14This is what the Lord says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush and the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will follow you, they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you, ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”
• Isaiah 49:23Kings will be your guardians and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who put their hope in me will not be put to shame.
• Isaiah 60:14The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet. They will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
• Micah 7:9Because I have sinned against him, I must endure the Lord’s fury until he champions my cause and establishes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see his salvation.
• Revelation 3:9Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.
• Daniel 6:16So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you continually serve, rescue you!”
• Matthew 8:34At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
• Mark 5:17Then they began to beg him to leave their region.

Commentaries on Acts 16:39

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 39And they came and besought them - A most humiliating act for Roman magistrates, but in this case it was unavoidable. The apostles had them completely in their power, and could easily effect their disgrace and ruin. Probably they besought them by declaring them innocent; by affirming that they were ignorant that they were Roman citizens, etc. And desired them to depart … - Probably: (1) To save their own character, and be secure from their taking any…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 35-40Verses 35-40 Paul, though willing to suffer for the cause of Christ, and without any desire to avenge himself, did not choose to depart under the charge of having deserved wrongful punishment, and therefore required to be dismissed in an honourable manner. It was not a mere point of honour that the apostle stood upon, but justice, and not to himself so much as to his cause. And when proper apology is made, Christians should never express personal anger…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 37-39Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, so it was illegal to beat and imprison them (16:22–24). When the city officials learned this, they were understandably alarmed because they had broken Roman law. Let them come themselves and escort us out!: Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen to save his reputation and protect the Christian message from receiving a bad name. Luke wanted to show that Christianity should have the same status as Judaism in the Roman…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 39-4039-40. And they came--in person. and besought them--not to complain of them. What a contrast this suppliant attitude of the preachers of Philippi to the tyrannical air with which they had the day before treated the preachers! (See Is 60:14; Re 3:9). brought them out--conducted them forth from the prison into the street, as insisted on. and desired--"requested." them to depart out of the city--perhaps fearing again to excite the populace.Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 16:39

• Criminals
• Minister, Christian
• Paul
• Philippi
• Prisoners
• Readings, Select
• Reproof
• Silas
• Trial

In the dictionaries

• Establish
• Freedom
• Gather
• Gone
• Harm
• James
• Judge
• Light
• Macedonia
• Note

Commentaries on Acts 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings