And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
The magistrates' early order to release them shows God at work: either the earthquake convinced them it was His hand, or their own consciences gave them no rest. While Paul and Silas sang in stocks, these men tossed sleepless, lashed by guilt far worse than any rod. God made the persecutors pity their prisoners.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 16:35-40
They came in person, led the apostles out by the arm as they'd thrown them in, and begged them gone, attributing the whole affair to mob rage while pretending concern for the apostles' safety. A thin excuse, but it got what Paul had demanded: public escort from the jail.
AI summary
Roman magistrates begging pardon, humiliating, but they had no choice. The apostles held their ruin in hand. They wanted the apostles gone to save their own skins and prevent further exposure, but God turned their cruelty into the founding of a flourishing church and the spread of the gospel beyond.
AI summary