Philippian Jailer's House

Acts 16:23-35
23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing 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 we are all here. 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. 32 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. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
While I have not restated the entire story of these events transpiring, I have posted the parts relating to the jailer which is where I want to focus this article. Many have come to the events surrounding the Philippian jailer to try and prove various doctrines: infant baptism, faith only, and so on. I would like to show that this passage is almost universally misunderstood in such a way that it will eliminate all but the most stubborn of believers in those incorrect doctrines.
== The Way It Is Taught ==
Typically when people read this passage or teach/preach on it, we read this passage in the following manner.
Paul and Silas are thrown into jail. They are worshipping Jehovah even in their cell under these dire circumstances. There is an earthquake and the doors to all the cells swing open. The jailer comes out, sees all the cells open and fears that all the prisoners have fled. As it is his duty to keep them all locked up and prevent them from leaving the jail, presumably on pain of death, the jailer prepares to commit some Roman version of seppuku and take his own life. Paul and Silas call out and tell him not to, that all the prisoners are still in their cells. The jailer calls for a light and sees that all the prisoners are there and falls down before Paul and Silas in relief asking what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas tell him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your entire family. 
Then somewhere between verses 31 and 32 the jailer takes Paul and Silas to his home where his family is in the middle of the night. While there, Paul and Silas preach to the whole family, even any babies that are part of the family, Then the jailer washes the wounds Paul and Silas had incurred before being put in their cell and then the whole family was baptized, including any babies that might have been present.
And then in verse 34 he...I guess...brings them to his house again and feeds them. There is rejoicing by the whole family as the jailer and his whole family believe. After the celebration, the jailer takes them back to the jail, puts them back in their cell before the magistrate sends the serjeants to have them released.
== Some Inconsistencies ==
There are some major inconsistencies with the above interpretation of the scene. I will highlight each of these in this section then provide what I believe to be the proper interpretation in the next section.
==== Seppuku but Then Home? ====
The first major objection I have to the common interpretation is that the jailer was about to commit ritual suicide because he thought the prisoners had all escaped the jail. It makes no sense whatsoever for him to then take Paul and Silas out of the jail, to his home and family in the middle of the night essentially aiding and abetting the very thing he was about to kill himself over.
==== Middle of the Night Family Bible Study? ====
The next major problem is that its the middle of the night, just after midnight (vs 25). While I understand urgency, is it reasonable to conclude, especially given the above objection, that the jailer took prisoners all the way to his home, woke up his entire family in the middle of the night, so that these prisoners could tell them all about Jesus?
=== Location Inconsistencies ===
# Verse 30 - the jailer asks what he must do to be saved.
# Verse 31 - Peter and Silas tell him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he and his family would be saved.
# Verse 32 - They speak to everyone in the house.
# Verse 33 - Their wounds were washed and the whole house was baptized.
# Verse 34 - The jailer brings them to his house and feeds them.
Do you see the inconsistency. They speak to everyone in the house and they were all baptized BEFORE they were brought to the house where they then ate a meal. This common interpretation doesn't make sense in order. However, this is Luke writing and he writes in chronological order as a historian (Luke 1:1).
== A More Sensible Interpretation ==
The following is what I believe to be a more sensible interpretation. It is based on the word oikos which is translated as house in the passage three times (vs 31, 32, and 34). The word can mean house, dwelling place, or all those under one's authority which can mean family but does not necessarily carry with it that meaning. I believe oikos when referring to the people in this passage (vs 31-32) are those under the jailer's authority including sub-jailers who brought the light and the prisoners. This will clear up all the objections above.
==== What Really Happened ====
When the earthquake came and the cells were opened, the jailer sees this and is about to kill himself when Paul and Silas call out for him to stop because the prisoners haven't gone anywhere. The jailer then calls for a light and sees that Paul is telling the truth. He has been hearing them worship and talk about this Jesus person so he knows enough to ask what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas say to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he and all those under his authority there in the jail would be saved. Paul and Silas, remaining there in the general jail cell area then preach the gospel to all those gathered about, prisoners and jailers alike. The jailer washes their wounds in a show or repentance and then everyone under his command and the prisoners as well were all baptized. Then the jailer brings Paul and Silas into his office, his dwelling place while at work, and feeds them a real meal instead of the simple prison fare. Everyone rejoices that they are now saved and brothers in Christ. The next morning, the magistrates send for them to be released from the prison they never left.
==== What This Fixes ====
First of all, this fixes the inconsistency of the jailer wanting to kill himself for the prisoners having left the jail and then personally taking them out of the jail since he never takes them out of the jail at all. Second, this fixes the idea of waking up a family in the middle of the night at his home for a Bible study as the passage isn't talking about his family but those at the jail that he has authority over. Lastly, this fixes the location inconsistencies because all of this was done right there at the prison without going anywhere except verse 34 when Paul and Silas were brought into the office in the jailhouse to eat.
== Doctrinal Corrections ==
There are a few doctrinal errors I want to address here. As I encounter more, I will edit the article and add them.
==== No Babies to Baptize ====
With the consistent interpretation of the event, there is no way get babies being baptized. They already were an unnecessary inference from the family-home interpretation since we don't know that the jailer had any small children or babies to begin with. That has to be pushed even into the inconsistent interpretation. However, with the more consistent one, that idea is just right out.
=== Faith Only ===
Many will read verse 31 and, once again seeing "believe" without anything else will insert the word "only" here because that is what they have heard all their lives. It is important to note that when Paul speaks of belief, he is talking about a living faith that incorporates confession of that belief in Christ (Romans 10:10) repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10) and baptism (Galatians 3:26-27). To say that this is faith only is proof-texting rather than taking all of what Paul and the rest of the New Testament writers wrote about belief and salvation. Paul never contradicts Jesus (Mark 16:16), James (James 2:24), Peter (1 Peter 3:21), or anyone else.
We see that in this event the jailer does indeed believe Paul because he follows through on that belief. His belief included washing their stripes (repentance), and being baptized into Christ to wash away his own sins in a kind of anti-parallelism of washing their wounds, and even faithfulness afterwards by feeding them. All of this was included in "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" not just some mental event or warm feeling in the heart. Belief included action.
== Conclusion ==
While this is just a small passage of scripture, it is one that is often used in various ways to teach things that people have decided to believe. However, in order to do so, they must interpret this passage in a way that becomes seriously inconsistent. Once we examine the passage critically, those inconsistencies are done away with, and in so doing, we do away with the false teachings that stem from the inconsistent interpretation.
As always, I look forward to your questions and comments.
In Truth and Love.