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Acts 5:23

in Acts 5

“We found the jail securely locked, with the guards posted at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

saying, The prison-house we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing at the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.

KJV

Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.

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This verse in Acts 5

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

We found the prison indeed closed with all diligence, and the guards standing before the doors; but opening it, we found no one inside. Why, profane Jew, are you driven by blind madness, saying that the apostles stole the Lord from the tomb? Say, I …

This site's exposition

found them not in the prison

on Acts 5:22-26

The officers return and found them not in the prison, and their report to the council describes a prison shut with all safety and keepers standing at the doors, yet no man within. The high priest and the chief priests doubted of them whereunto this would grow, uncertain rulers facing a fact their categories cannot absorb, until word comes that the apostles are already teaching in the temple. The captain brings them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned, the crowd's favor now working as a shield the council itself dares not cross.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

When these things were completed by the apostles, and the multitude was increased by the preaching, and the number of the faithful was already growing great by the daily distribution; the high priest, he says, having risen, that is, being aroused and stirred by what …

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 13 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

It is well ordered that the information was not brought to them at once, but they are first utterly at a loss what to think, that when they have considered it well and seen that there is a Divine Power in the case, then they may learn the whole state of the case.

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 13 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

A twofold security this; as was the case at the sepulchre, where was both the seal, and the men to watch. See how they fought against God! Say, was this of man's doing, that happened to them? Who led them forth, when the doors were shut? How came they out, with the keepers standing before the door? Verily they must be mad or drunken to talk so. Here are men, whom neither prison, nor bonds, nor closed doors, had been able to keep in; and yet they expect to overpower them: such is their childish folly!

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, There is no prison so dark, so strong, but God can both visit his people in it, and, if he pleased, fetch them out of it. This discharge of the apostles out of prison by an angel was a resemblance of Christ's resurrection, and his discharge out of the prison of the grave, and would help to confirm the apostles' preaching of it.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

They last time they were forthcoming when they were called for, ch. iv. But now they were gone, and the report which the officers make is, " The prison-doors truly found we shut with all safety " (nothing had been done to weaken them); " the keepers had not been

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

3 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Saying, the prison truly found we shut with all safety,.... Locked, barred and bolted; and the keepers standing without before the doors; both inner and outer in their proper places, diligently discharging their office: but when we had opened we found no man within; that is, none of the apostles, for there might be other prisoners in it, who were not released by this means.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Found we shut - It had not been broken open; and there was therefore clear proof that they had been delivered by the interposition of God. Nor could they have been released by the guard, for they were keeping watch, as if unconscious that anything had happened, and the officers had the only means of entering the prison.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The prison truly found we shut - All the doors were properly bolted, and the keepers at their post; but when we had opened, for it appears they were alone in possession of the keys; how much must this have increased their astonishment when they found that the doors were not broken open, the guards properly posted, and every thing as they left it, for they themselves had put the apostles in prison; but, when they had opened, there was no man within!

The words behind it

21 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 2:4The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.3 worksPsalms 33:10The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.3 worksDaniel 6:22–24My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”2 worksActs 5:19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying,2 worksProverbs 21:30There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.2 worksLamentations 3:55–58I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit.2 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
Matthew 27:63–66“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’2 worksJohn 8:59At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.2 worksMatthew 28:12–15And after the chief priests had met with the elders and formed a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money2 worksLamentations 3:37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?2 worksDaniel 3:11–25and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.2 worksActs 12:6On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison.2 worksActs 16:23And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.2 worksJoshua 2:7So the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out, the gate was shut.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 33:10

    The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 21:11

      Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.

    • Job 5:12–13

      He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

    • Isaiah 44:25

      who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

    • Proverbs 21:30

      There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.

    • 2 Samuel 15:31

      Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

  • Through

    Psalms 2:4

    The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 37:13

      but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming.

    • Psalms 59:8

      But You, O LORD, laugh at them; You scoff at all the nations.

  • Through

    Proverbs 21:30

    There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.

    it leads to

    • Acts 5:39

      But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 5 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 13; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts.

Read on in Acts 5 →