Arrested represents the same phrase (literally “lay hands on”) as appears in 4.3. Public jail (or “common jail”) is the translation accepted by most, though it is possible that the phrase may be taken to mean “they publicly put them in custody.” Three other times this phrase occurs in the New Testament (without being joined with the word “jail”) and each time it has an adverbial force and is translated something like “in public” (see 16.37; 18.28; 20.20).

In an number of languages the equivalent of “common” is “jail where bad people are kept.” This contrasts with jails for political prisoners.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .