The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim to freedom.
Parallel translations
- WEB The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.
- KJV And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.
- NKJV And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.
- NASB The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;
- NLT The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn’t swim ashore and escape.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The soldiers plan to kill the prisoners to prevent any from swimming away and escaping.
Overview
Under Roman law guards could pay with their lives for escaped prisoners, so the soldiers resolve to kill them, including Paul. This deadly threat seems to endanger God's promise of safety for all. The peril heightens the drama just before God works deliverance through the centurion's intervention.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Luke 23:40–41But the other one rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment?
- Acts 12:19After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.
- Prov 12:10A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.
- Eccl 9:3This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
- Ps 74:20Consider Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
- Mark 15:15–20And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 27:42 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.