Acts 27:42

42 Then the armed men were for putting the prisoners to death, so that no one would get away by swimming.

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 cutting away the hooks, and letting them go into the sea, and freeing the cords of the guiding-blades, and lifting up the sail to the wind, they went in the direction of the inlet.

41 And coming to a point between two seas, they got the ship to land; and the front part was fixed in the sand and not able to be moved, but the back part was broken by the force of the waves.

42 Then the armed men were for putting the prisoners to death, so that no one would get away by swimming.

43 But the captain, desiring to keep Paul safe, kept them from their purpose, and gave orders that those who had knowledge of swimming were to go off the ship and get first to land:

44 And the rest, some on boards and some on things from the ship. And so it came about that they all got safe to land.