What Does Acts 16:36 Mean in the King James?
And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The sentence carries release all the way to its destination: departing in wholeness.
THE MEANING
Release carries you from confinement into an onward movement shaped by wholeness. The farewell speaks now: the place that has held you does not name the whole of what lies ahead.
THE ROOT
ἀπολυθῆτε
apolythēte
GROWS FROM
λύω
luō
to loosen, untie, or release
“let you go” in this verse is apolythēte. The passive verb says Paul and Silas are being released by a decision sent from the authorities. Its seed, λύω (luō, to loosen), lets the word carry the feel of bonds coming undone as their departure begins.
ALSO GROWS
luō: to loosen, untie, release
λύω
The verb beneath “let you go” evokes what happens to the bound: what held them is loosened.
apólysis: release or dismissal
ἀπόλυσις
The noun form names release as a distinct event, giving the officials’ command the weight of an actual loosening.
ἐν εἰρήνῃ
en eirēnē
GROWS FROM
εἰρην-
eirēn-
peace, harmony, wholeness
The released ones are told to depart within εἰρήνη (eirēnē, wholeness). Its word family includes making peace and being peaceable, giving the farewell a quality that can be lived, not just wished.
ALSO GROWS
eirēnopoios: peacemaker
εἰρηνοποιός
The shared stem links peace with something made and carried into relationships.
eirēnikos: peaceable, characterized by peace
εἰρηνικός
This branch shows peace as a quality that can shape how a person moves forward.
THE PATTERN
Release from confinement restores movement and opens the way toward wholeness.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.THE THREAD
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.The same verb ἀπολύω (apolýō, release) appears here as “let him go.” Beside the release that reaches Paul and Silas, this verse holds a harder edge: an authority can intend release while the decision remains vulnerable to others’ power.
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