Acts 16:24

Act_16:24. The zealous jailor fulfilled the command ἀσφαλῶς τηρεῖν by a twofold measure; he not only put the accused into the prison-ward situated more (than the other wards) in the interior of the house (εἰς τὴν ἐσωτέραν φυλακήν), but also secured their feet in the stocks.

εἰς τὸ ξύλον, in nervum (Plaut. Captiv. iii. 5. 71; Liv. viii. 28), i.e. in the wooden block in which the feet, stretched apart from each other, were enclosed, called also ποδοκάκη and ποδοστράβη, in Heb. סַד (Job_13:27; Job_33:11). See Herod. vi. 75, ix. 37, and later writers, Grotius and Wetstein in loc.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 16:24 . ἐσωτέραν : comparative for superlative, as often in N.T. (Blass). Not necessarily underground, but a part of the prison which would have been further from such light and air as could be had. τὸ ξύλον , Hebrew סַד , Job 33:11 (A κυκλώματι ), cf. Arist., Eq. , 367, 393, 705; Herod., vi., 75; ix., 37; and instances in Wetstein, Liv., viii., 28, Plaut., Capt. , iii., 70, Latin nervus . So Eusebius uses the word of the martyrs in Gaul (see Alford). In Jeremiah’s case another and equivalent word is used in the Heb. 29:26 = LXX ἀπόκλεισμα . The same Hebrew is used in 2Ch 16:10 , where LXX has simply φυλακή . ἠσφαλίσατο : only elsewhere in N.T. in Mat 27:64-66 ; in LXX and Polyb., cf. critical note, Act 16:30 in [296] .

[296] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because he would be more sure of them, he set them fast in the stocks.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

made their feet fast in the stocks--an instrument of torture as well as confinement, made of wood bound with iron, with holes for the feet, which were stretched more or less apart according to the severity intended. (ORIGEN at a later period, besides having his neck thrust into an iron collar, lay extended for many days with his feet apart in the rack). Though jailers were proverbially unfeeling, the manner in which the order was given in this case would seem to warrant all that was done.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. The inner prison] Probably what we would call the dungeon; the darkest and most secure cell.

Made their feet fast in the stocks.] The το ξυλον, which we here translate stocks, is supposed to mean two large pieces of wood, pierced with holes like our stocks, and fitted to each other, that, when the legs were in, they could not be drawn out. The holes being pierced at different distances, the legs might be separated or divaricated to a great extent, which must produce extreme pain. It is this circumstance to which it is supposed Prudentius refers, in speaking of the torments of St. Vincent:-

Lignoque plantas inserit,

Divaricatis cruribus.

"They placed his feet in the stocks, his legs greatly distended!"

If the apostles were treated in this way, lying on the bare ground with their flayed backs, what agony must they have suffered! However, they could sing praises notwithstanding.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) Thrust them into the inner prison.—Those who have seen anything of the prisons of the Roman empire, as, e.g., the Mamertine dungeon at Rome itself, can picture to themselves the darkness and foulness of the den into which Paul and his friend were now thrust: the dark cavern-like cell, below the ground, the damp and reeking walls, the companionship of the vilest outcasts. And, as if this were not enough, they were fastened in the “stocks.” St. Luke uses the Greek term xylon, the same as is used sometimes for the cross (Act_5:30; Act_13:29). The technical Latin word was nervus. Like the English stocks, it was a wooden frame with five holes, into which head and feet and arms were thrust, and the prisoner left in an attitude of “little-ease.” Here, however, it would seem, the feet only were fastened, the rest of the body being left lying on the ground. If the Received version of Job_13:27; Job_33:11, which follows the LXX. and the Vulgate, be correct, the punishment was common at a very early period in the East. (Comp. Jer_29:26.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. the inner prison] Necessarily a place dark and without ventilation, and hence foul and loathsome; perhaps underground, like the Tullianum at Rome (Varr. L. L. v. § 161; Lev. 29:22).

their feet fast in the stocks] The stocks (lit. wood) was a means of additional security and additional torture. The feet Passed through holes and held secure made rest almost impossible. The instrument was of early use (cp. Job_13:27; Job_33:11), and the Greeks, as well as ourselves, had also the pillory, and had it made with five apertures for head, hands and feet (Aristoph. Eq. 1049).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who having received such a charge,.... So strict an one from the magistrates, was doubly careful and diligent:

thrust them into the inner prison: the innermost part of it, the lowest or furthest part of the prison; so that there were the more doors, bolts, and bars, to break open, and pass through, should they attempt to make their escape:

and made their feet fast in the stocks; or "wood", a wooden machine, in which the feet of prisoners were put for security, and which we call "the stocks"; some say it was such an one, in which the neck as well as the feet were put, and so might be the same with our "pillory".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Ver. 24. Fast in the stocks] The word το ξυλον signifieth such a pair of stocks, as wherein they used to make fast feet and neck too, saith Beza out of Nonius. Various of our martyrs were thus stocked in the bishop of London’s coalhouse; as Mr Philpot, and that martyr that rejoiced that she might have her foot in the hole of the stocks in which Master Philpot had been before her.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thrust them into the inner prison - Into the most retired and secure part of the prison. The cells in the interior of the prison would be regarded as more safe, being doubtless more protected, and the difficulty of escape would be greater.

And made their feet fast in the stocks - Greek: and made their feet secure to wood. The word “stocks,” with us, denotes a machine made of two pieces of timber between which the feet of criminals are placed, and in which they are thus made secure. The account here does not imply necessarily that they were secured precisely in this way, but that they were fastened or secured by the feet, probably by cords, to a piece or beam of wood, so that they could not escape. It is probable that the legs of the prisoners were bound to large pieces of wood which not only encumbered them, but which were so placed as to extend their feet to a considerable distance. In this condition it might be necessary for them to lie on their backs; and if this, as is probable, was on the cold ground, after their severe scourging, their sufferings must have been very great. Yet in the midst of this they sang praises to God.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Made their feet fast in the stocks. By the Latin and Greek text, they made them fast with wood. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thus they dealt with Joseph, Gen 39:20, compared with Psa 105:18, and with Jeremiah, and with John Baptist.

Sanctorum sors est, et non moleste ferenda.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. Feet fast in the stocks—The stocks were a wooden frame, often iron-bound, into which the limbs were fastened so as to be immovable. The feet, hands, or neck might be so cramped as to fill the body with weariness and pain.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cast for thrust, A.V. In the stocks; Greek tolon, sometimes called xulopedh. The xulon was of different forms, and used as a punishment. Sometimes it was a kind of heavy wooden collar put on the neck of a prisoner, whence the phrase, Xulw fimoun thna (Aristoph., "Nubes," 592)," To make fast his neck in the pillory." Sometimes it was what Aristophanes calls pentesuriggon xulon, "stocks with five holes," two for the feet, two for the hands, and one for the neck. Here, as inmati, Job_13:27 (where the LXX word is ejn kulu) Hebrew dse, a stake, or log), it is simply" the stocks." Thus Paul and Silas, first stripped and 1,catch, then put in the inner prison, and further made fast in the stocks, were treated with the utmost possible rigour and severity. See St. Paul"s vivid reminiscence of the outrage (ntev). (1Th_2:2, uJbrisqe)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Secured their feet in the stocks - These were probably those large pieces of wood, in use among the Romans, which not only loaded the legs of the prisoner, but also kept them extended in a very painful manner.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

24-26. To put a final quietus to all the trouble, they cast Paul and Silas into the deep, dark dungeon of their cruel, filthy old prison, with their lacerated, bleeding backs down on the cold, stone floor, and their feet raised up and wedged fast in great blocks of wood, thus precluding all possibility of escape. If you had been in their place, would you not have concluded that you were mistaken as to the call of God to that place? Paul and Silas, while the hours glide away, tell their experiences, pray to God, get very happy and continue to sing uproariously the praises of God, arresting the attention and astonishing the suffering inmates of those gloomy dungeons, utterly unaccustomed to hear songs of joy. At midnight God answers their prayer with the earthquake shock, disrupting the deep foundations of the prison, snapping all the bars and bolts, and slamming back the ponderous iron doors against the massive stone walls like claps of thunder.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 22

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. εἰς τὴν ἐσωτέραν φυλακήν, into the inner prison. Necessarily a place dark and without ventilation, and hence foul and loathsome, perhaps underground, like the Tullianum at Rome (Varr. L. L. 5. § 161; Liv. 29:22).

καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἠσφαλίσατο αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ ξύλον, and made their feet fast in the stocks. The ξύλον (literally wood) was a means of additional security and additional torture. The feet passed through holes and held secure made rest almost impossible. The instrument was of early use (cf. Job 33:11 (LXX.) ἔθετο δὲ ἐν ξύλῳ μου τὸν πόδα); and the Greeks, as well as ourselves, had also the pillory, and had it made with five apertures for head, hands and feet (Aristoph. Eq. 1049).

ἀσφαλίζομαι is used (Wis 13:15) of man making his idol firm in its place, ἐν τοίχῳ ἔθηκεν αὐτὸ ἀσφαλισάμενος σιδήρῳ.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. τὸ ξύλον] Also called κᾶλον, ποδοκάκη, and ποδοστράβη, and in Latin, nervus: so ‘noctu nervo vinctus custodibitur,’ Plaut. Cap. iii. 5. 71. Eusebius (v. 1, vol. ii. p. 16, ed. Heinichen) mentions, speaking of the martyrs in Gaul, τὰς ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ διατάσεις τῶν ποδῶν ἐπὶ πέμπτον διατεινομένων τρύπημα.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The inner prison. Some have supposed this to be the lower prison, being misled by the remains of the Mamertine prison at Rome, on the declivity of the Capitoline, and near the Arch of Septimius Severus. This consists of two chambers, one above the other, excavated in the solid rock. In the center of the vault of the lower chamber is a circular opening, through which it is supposed that prisoners were let down into the dungeon. Modern excavations, however, have shown that these two chambers were connected with a series of large chambers, now separated by an alley from the prison of St. Peter. The opening into the passage leading to these was discovered in the lower dungeon. Under this passage ran a drain, which formed branch of the Cloaca Maxima, or main sewer. Six of these chambers have been brought to light, evidently apartments of a large prison in the time of the Roman kings. Mr. John Henry Parker, from whose elaborate work on the primitive fortifications of Rome these details are drawn, believes that the prison of St. Peter now shown to tourists formed the vestibule and guard - room of the great prison. It was customary to have a vestibule, or house for the warder, at a short distance from the main prison. Thus he distinguished the inner prison from this vestibule. With this agrees the description in the Rev. John Henry Newman's "Callista :" " The state prison was arranged on pretty much one and the same plan through the Roman empire, nay, we may say throughout the ancient world. It was commonly attached to the government buildings, and consisted of two parts. The first was the vestibule, or outward prison, approached from the praetorium, and surrounded by cells opening into it. The prisoners who were confined in these cells had the benefit of the air and light which the hall admitted. From the vestibule there was a passage into the interior prison, called Robur or Lignum, from the beams of wood which were the instruments of confinement, or from the character of its floor. It had no window or outlet except this door, which, when closed, absolutely shut out light and air. This apartment was the place into which Paul and Silas were cast at Philippi. The utter darkness, the heat, and the stench of this miserable place, in which the inmates were confined day and night, is often dwelt upon by the martyrs and their biographers. "

Stocks [ξυλον] . Lit., the timber. An instrument of torture having five holes, four for the wrists and ankles and one for the neck. The same word is used for the cross, ch. Act 5:30; Act 10:39; Gal 3:13; 1Pe 2:24.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.