Acts 16:38 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens.

NIV: The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.

NASB: The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

CSB: The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

NLT: When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

KJV: And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.

NKJV: And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.

The Roman Empire was built on a multilayered caste system. Beyond the levels of patrician, equestrian, plebeian, freedman, and slave, there were citizens and non-citizens. People could be born citizens if they were from a Roman colony or their parents were citizens. They could earn it by accomplishing a significant honor for the Empire or by purchasing it. Citizenship accorded many advantages including the right to appeal a verdict (Acts 25:11) and the right to a fair trial before being punished.

It is this last civil right which has the Philippian magistrates frightened. Two itinerant Jewish teachers, Paul and Silas, have been teaching people to worship another Jewish man, Jesus of Nazareth. Not only is it a crime to worship a god that is not authorized by the Roman Empire, but also no mere man can be placed in a position of authority over Caesar. The magistrates let a crowd attack Paul and Silas, then order them beaten with rods and imprisoned for one night. As was the custom, the magistrates planned on exiling the missionaries from Philippi in the morning (Acts 16:21–24, 35).

The crime the magistrates have committed seems to be a greater legal offense than that of Paul and Silas. Years later, a tribune of the Roman army will have the same response of fear when he realizes his troops have merely tied Paul up (Acts 22:29).

Paul and Silas are not vindictive. They don't want to punish the magistrates; they just want a formal apology. The magistrates comply, and Paul and Silas bid farewell to their hostess Lydia and leave town (Acts 16:39–40).

Acts 16:25–40 records Paul's first imprisonment. The Philippian magistrates arrested Paul and Silas and had them beaten for spreading the news about Jesus. The two are now chained in a cell, praying and singing to God. An earthquake shakes the prison, releasing all the doors and chains. Paul assures the jailer no one has left, and the jailer tends to the pair's wounds. They share Jesus' offer of forgiveness of sins, and the jailer and his household accept Christ. In the morning, the magistrates attempt to release Paul and Silas, only to be confronted with their own crime: they have illegally punished two Roman citizens. After apologizing, the magistrates ask Paul and Silas to leave town.

Acts 16 follows Paul and Silas as they take the letter of Acts 15 into modern-day Asia Minor and Macedonia. They collect Timothy in Lystra and Luke in Troas. In Philippi, they meet Lydia and baptize her family. After expelling a demon from a fortune-telling girl, city officials illegally beat and imprison Paul and Silas. An earthquake frees them of their chains, but they stay and bring the jailer and his family to Christ. The next morning, Paul and Silas refuse to leave quietly, politely insisting that their civil rights have been violated. The officials apologize, and Paul, Silas, and Timothy go to Thessalonica.

Acts 15 ends with Paul and Silas spreading the news that Gentile Christians don't have to be circumcised. Acts 16 begins with Paul circumcising a Jewish man, Timothy, to prevent difficulties in preaching to older Jews as the boy grows into church leadership. Paul's second missionary trip finds the church growing east, into Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth (Acts 16:11—18:18). On his way back to Syrian Antioch, Paul will stop by Ephesus and soften the Jews for the extended ministry of Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. During his first trip, Paul planted churches and ordained elders; in his second, he commissions more missionaries.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.