Acts 16:35

"But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, Let those men go"Sergeants" "Lit., those who hold the rod. The Roman lictors. They had to inflict the punishment on the condemned" (Vincent p. 535). "Let those men go" "In some towns, undesirable characters are jailed on some insignificant charge, and when released, they are only too happy to move on and get away" (Reese p. 593). "It was thought that the prisoners, released thus early in the morning, would be glad to escape from the city, and no further agitation of the multitude would occur. The magistrates little knew the kind of men they were dealing with" (McGarvey p. 106).