Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 16:28

"But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." — Acts 16:28 (ASV)

One would expect that after such brutal treatment, Paul and Silas would be bemoaning their plight. Certainly they were suffering pain and shock from the flogging. But about midnight, while Paul and Silas were “praying and singing hymns to God,” God suddenly vindicated his servants by sending an earthquake that shook the prison, opened its doors, and loosened the chains of all the prisoners. When the awakened jailer saw the doors open, he surmised the worst. In Roman law a guard who allowed his prisoner to escape was liable to the same penalty the prisoner would have suffered. Thus the jailer drew his sword to kill himself, believing the prisoners had all escaped. But Paul saw him in the doorway and shouted out from within the prison, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”