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 casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosing the bands of the rudders; and hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.

41 But lighting upon a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the foreship struck and remained unmoveable, but the stern began to break up by 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, desiring to save Paul, stayed them from their purpose; and commanded that they who could swim should cast themselves overboard, and get first to the land;

44 and the rest, some on planks, and some on [other] things from the ship. And so it came to pass, that they all escaped safe to the land.