Acts 16:39
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And they came and sought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And they came and sought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
American Standard Version (ASV)
and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Then they came and made prayers to them, requesting them, when they had taken them out, to go away from the town.
Webster's Revision
And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
World English Bible
and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city.
English Revised Version (ERV)
and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.
Definitions for Acts 16:39
Barnes's Acts 16:39 Bible Commentary
And they came and besought them - A most humiliating act for Roman magistrates, but in this case it was unavoidable. The apostles had them completely in their power, and could easily effect their disgrace and ruin. Probably they besought them by declaring them innocent; by affirming that they were ignorant that they were Roman citizens, etc.
And desired them to depart ... - Probably:
(1) To save their own character, and be secure from their taking any further steps to convict the magistrates of violating the laws; and,
(2) To evade any further popular tumult on their account. This advice Paul and Silas saw fit to comply with, after they had seen and comforted the brethren, Acts 16:40. They had accomplished their main purpose in going to Philippi; they had preached the gospel; they had laid the foundation of a flourishing church (compare the Epistle to the Philippians); and they were now prepared to prosecute the purpose of their agency into surrounding regions. Thus, the opposition of the people and the magistrates at Philippi was the occasion of the founding of the church there, and thus their unkind and inhospitable request that they should leave them was the means of the extension of the gospel into adjacent regions.