“Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.”
Then someone came and said, 'Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people' - the report is almost comical in its matter-of-factness: the apostles have walked out of jail and straight back to their missionary work. The 'standing in the temple courts' (hestanai en tō hierō) is a position of public proclamation, visible and irrefutable. They are not hiding, repenting, or fleeing; they are continuing their witness.
Church Fathers on Acts 5:25
But the Angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. Acts 5:19-21 This was done both for the encouragement of the disciples, and for the benefit and instruction of the others. And observe how the proceeding in the present instance is just the same as in what Christ Himself did.…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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