{19} And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

(19) Shame and confusion is in due time the reward of wicked and unjust magistrates.

People's New Testament

16:35,36 The magistrates sent the officers. The lictors are meant. It is possible that the magistrates had, in some way, heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They wished, therefore, to quietly get rid of them. The Porcian and Valerian laws exempted all Roman citizens from stripes or torture. They had broken the law.

Wesley's Notes

16:35 The pretors sent - Being probably terrified by the earthquake; saying, Let those men go - How different from the charge given a few hours before! And how great an ease of mind to the jailer!

Scofield Reference Notes

Margin serjeants

Gr. "lictors."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

35, 36. when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, Let those men go-The cause of this change can only be conjectured. When the commotion ceased, reflection would soon convince them of the injustice they had done, even supposing the prisoners had been entitled to no special privileges; and if rumor reached them that the prisoners were somehow under supernatural protection, they might be the more awed into a desire to get rid of them.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:35-40 Paul, though willing to suffer for the cause of Christ, and without any desire to avenge himself, did not choose to depart under the charge of having deserved wrongful punishment, and therefore required to be dismissed in an honourable manner. It was not a mere point of honour that the apostle stood upon, but justice, and not to himself so much as to his cause. And when proper apology is made, Christians should never express personal anger, nor insist too strictly upon personal amends. The Lord will make them more than conquerors in every conflict; instead of being cast down by their sufferings, they will become comforters of their brethren.