‘And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.'
Both the crowds (those who had been used as pawns by the rabble-rousers) and the politarchs were troubled at the thought that such people might be in Thessalonica, and we may assume that they questioned Jason and his fellow-believers thoroughly. It is quite possible also that rumours had filtered through from Philippi, possibly coming from before the time when Paul and Silas had been declared innocent there. That being so it is clear that a compromise was reached.
They took large security from Jason and his friends, presumably as a bond against any further trouble, and let them go, possibly suggesting, or even specifically requiring, that it would be a good idea to get Paul and Silas out of town, with the recognition that they must not return. If they failed to do so they would lose their security. It was possibly this last that was the means by which ‘Satan stopped' Paul returning to Thessalonica, although an alternative possibility is that it was an awareness of the volatile nature of the city and the constant danger of further uprising of which Paul was deeply aware (see 1 Thessalonians 2:18).