Acts 16:27-28

Acts 16:27-28

[27] And  the keeper of the prison  awaking  out of his sleep,  and  the prison  doors  open,  he drew out  his sword,  and would  have killed  himself,  supposing  that the prisoners  had been fled.  [28] But  Paul  cried  with a loud  voice,  saying,  Do  thyself  no  harm:  for  all  here. 

What does Acts 16:27-28 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

This jailer was about to commit suicide and so avoid the shame of a public execution. He was certain his prisoners had escaped. God had restrained the other prisoners from escaping somehow, possibly out of fear or out of respect for Paul and Silas.
". . . were the other prisoners as terrified as the jailer at what they believed to be the magical power of two Jewish sorcerers which could bring about an earthquake? This might account for their failure to try to escape." [1]
Whatever the other prisoners may have thought, Luke"s emphasis was on the love that Paul and Silas demonstrated for the jailer by remaining in prison when they could have escaped. It was primarily this love, I think, that won the jailer over.