ACTS 16:27 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.”
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped — the jailer's despair (sunoida, to know together, be conscious of) and suicide impulse (mellō apokteinō heauton) reflect the Roman military code: a guard whose prisoners escape forfeited his life. The sword's appearance indicates ready access and the severity of his predicament.
Church Fathers on Acts 16:27
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately, all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. Acts 16:27 There was an earthquake, that the keeper should be roused from sleep, and the doors flew open, that he should…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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