Acts 27:42

42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

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 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed [themselves] to the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted the mainsail to the wind, and made towards the shore.

41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained immovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from [their] purpose, and commanded that they who could swim, should cast [themselves] first [into the sea], and get to land:

44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on [broken pieces] of the ship: And so it came to pass, that they all escaped safe to land.