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

(h) Because he wanted to be more sure that they did not escape, he set them fast in the stocks.

People's New Testament

16:24 Thrust them into the inner prison. A damp interior cell from which all light was excluded.

The stocks. An instrument of torture as well as confinement. The feet, stretched wide apart, were thrust through holes in a wall of wood, and the prisoner was fastened there.

Wesley's Notes

16:24 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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24. 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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:16-24 Satan, though the father of lies, will declare the most important truths, when he can thereby serve his purposes. But much mischief is done to the real servants of Christ, by unholy and false preachers of the gospel, who are confounded with them by careless observers. Those who do good by drawing men from sin, may expect to be reviled as troublers of the city. While they teach men to fear God, to believe in Christ, to forsake sin, and to live godly lives, they will be accused of teaching bad customs.