Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 5:19

"But an angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them out, and said," — Acts 5:19 (ASV)

But the angel of the Lord.—Better, an angel. The fact is obviously recorded by St. Luke as supernatural. Those who do not accept that view of it, and yet wish to maintain the general historical character of the narrative, are driven to the hypothesis that the “angel” was some jealous and courageous disciple; and that the Apostle, in the darkness of the night and the excitement of his liberation, ascribed his rescue to the intervention of an angel.

Acts 12:7 may be noted as another instance of a similar intervention. It has sometimes been urged, with something of a sneer, what was the use of such a deliverance as this, when the Apostles were again arrested on the very next day? The answer to such a question is not difficult to find.

1. The marvelous deliverance was a sign, not without its influence on the subsequent decision of the Council, and on the courage of the two Apostles.
2. It was no small benefit for them to be delivered even for a few hours from the vile companionship to which they had been condemned.