Acts 27:42

42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners. They wanted to keep them from swimming away and escaping.

Acts 27:42 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:42

And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners
Paul, and the rest: this they had not only an inclination to, but they declared it, and gave it as their opinion, and what they thought advisable to be done directly:

lest any of them should swim out and escape;
and they should be accountable for them: but this was dreadful wickedness in them to seek to take away the lives of others, when they themselves were in so much danger; and monstrous ingratitude to the Apostle Paul, who had been so much concerned for their lives, and careful of them, and had been the means of saving them, and for whose sake they were saved: the devil must have had a great hand in this.

Acts 27:42 In-Context

40 So they cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that held the rudders. They lifted the sail at the front of the ship to the wind. Then they headed for the beach.

41 But the ship hit a sandbar. So the front of it got stuck and wouldn't move. The back of the ship was broken to pieces by the pounding of the waves.

42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners. They wanted to keep them from swimming away and escaping.

43 But the commander wanted to save Paul's life. So he kept the soldiers from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim to land.

44 The rest were supposed to get there on boards or other pieces of the ship. That is how everyone reached land safely.