ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Acts 16.31

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

29. And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.

  1. And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. (Acts 16:29-33, ASV)
WEB

29. He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, 30. brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31. They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

  1. They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house. 33. He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. (Acts 16:29-33, WEB)
KJV

29. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

  1. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. (Acts 16:29-33, KJV)
YLT

29. And, having asked for a light, he sprang in, and trembling he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30. and having brought them forth, said, 'Sirs, what must I do, that I may be saved?'

31. and they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house;'

  1. and they spake to him the word of the Lord, and to all those in his household; 33. and having taken them, in that hour of the night, he did bathe [them] from the blows, and was baptized, himself and all his presently, (Acts 16:29-33, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul and Silas, answering the jailer's question
  • Audience: the Philippian jailer and his household
  • Location: the prison at Philippi, in Macedonia
  • Time period: c. AD 49 to 51

Theological reading

Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.

It is the most direct answer to the most direct question in the New Testament. The jailer, having seen the earthquake and assumed his prisoners fled, asks what he must do to be saved. The reply contains no works, no ritual prerequisite, and no delay: believe on the Lord Jesus.

Pisteuo eis is a stronger construction than assent to a proposition. Belief into a person carries the sense of entrusting oneself, which is why the same night produces washing of wounds, hospitality, and baptism without any of those being made the condition.

The phrase thou and thy house is the flashpoint. Paedobaptist readers see a household solidarity in which the covenant sign follows the head's faith. Credobaptist readers point to verse 32, where the word was spoken to all that were in his house, and verse 34, where he rejoiced having believed in God with all his house, which attributes belief to the household rather than to the jailer alone. The text records household belief and household baptism together and does not tell us the ages involved. See Baptism.

The narrative frame is worth keeping. Paul and Silas had been beaten and put in the stocks, and were singing at midnight. The jailer's question arises from watching how they behaved under injustice, not from an argument they made.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.