“And now do they thrust us out privily?”
The full verse · Acts 16:37 · KJV
, They have , , and have us ; do they ? ; let them and .
Asked by
Paul: the apostle, a Roman citizen, beaten with Silas and imprisoned at Philippi without trial (Acts 16:22-23, 37)
Asked to
Officers: the serjeants sent by the magistrates of Philippi with the order "Let those men go," who carried Paul's answer back to the magistrates (Acts 16:35, 38)
The Scene
The morning after the earthquake, the magistrates of Philippi send serjeants to release Paul and Silas, and the keeper of the prison tells Paul they may depart in peace (Acts 16:35-36).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThe magistrates wanted the matter to go away quietly. They had beaten Paul and Silas in public, without a trial, and now they wanted to release them in secret (Acts 16:22-23, 35). Paul's question exposes the unfairness: public shame, then a private release. Gill explains that a quiet departure would have let people assume they had been guilty, "which would have been a reproach to Christianity, and a scandal to the Gospel." Matthew Henry says, "It was not a point of honour that Paul stood thus stiffly upon, but a point of justice, and not to himself so much as to his cause."
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul answers his own question: "nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out" (Acts 16:37). The serjeants told the magistrates, "and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans" (Acts 16:38). The magistrates came, "besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city" (Acts 16:39). Paul and Silas went first to the house of Lydia, comforted the brethren, and then departed (Acts 16:40).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsPaul and Silas were Roman citizens, and Roman law protected citizens from this kind of treatment. Gill writes that "according to the Porcian and Sempronian laws, a Roman citizen might neither be bound nor beaten." Barnes also cites Roman laws forbidding magistrates to beat citizens. The Greek words in Paul's complaint are sharp: demosia, publicly; akatakritous, without trial; and lathra, secretly.
The "serjeants" (Acts 16:35) were officers who, Gill suggests, seem to have been named for the rods they carried. Gill says the "them" Paul spoke to were these serjeants, present when the jailer gave Paul the message. Paul would claim his citizenship again in Jerusalem when he was about to be scourged (Acts 22:25).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyGod's servants suffered wrongly at Philippi, and God turned the injustice into a public vindication. The magistrates who had ordered the beating came in person to ask the prisoners to leave (Acts 16:39). Before they departed, Paul and Silas went to Lydia's house, saw the brethren, and comforted them (Acts 16:40).
Paul's question is not revenge. Matthew Henry has Paul asking the magistrates to "give a testimony to our innocency." Gill sees Paul acting wisely to keep reproach from the gospel. The same man who sang in the stocks also knew when to speak up for justice, for the sake of the cause of Christ.
Look Closer
Why did Paul refuse to leave the prison quietly?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, when I am treated unfairly, how can I tell whether to quietly bear it or to speak up for the sake of Your name and Your people?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Paul did not demand an apology for himself but a public acknowledgment for the sake of the gospel. How can you tell when standing up for what is right is about God's honor and not your pride?
- Have you ever seen someone handle an injustice in a way that protected others or strengthened their witness? What did they do?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Followers of Jesus are not required to accept every injustice in silence. Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen openly, so that the truth about the gospel would not be clouded by a false appearance of guilt.
This does not make every personal slight a cause to fight. Paul endured the beating and sang in prison (Acts 16:23-25). He spoke up the next morning when the reputation of the gospel and the young church was at stake. Matthew Henry's words are a good test: "not to himself so much as to his cause."
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
“Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?”
“Sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?”