Acts 16:35

Magistrates. See on v. 20.

Serjeants. Gr. rhabdouchoi, “rod bearers,” that is, the Roman officials known as lictors (cf. on v. 22). These may have been the very ones who had inflicted the stripes in the first place.

Let those men go. No reason is given for this command. The magistrates may have considered the punishment to have been sufficient, or they may have felt that they had acted hastily in punishing the accused without a regular trial or an inquiry into their backgrounds. Probably the earthquake had alarmed the magistrates. The Holy Spirit also may have aroused within them an uneasy sense of wrongdoing. In any event they wished to release the two prisoners as quickly and as quietly as possible.