Acts 27:42Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Again the devil attempts to hinder the fulfillment of the prophecy: the soldiers wished to kill some of them. It seems to me that there were notorious criminals here, if the soldiers intended to put them to death.

It should be noted that one kills someone voluntarily, and fate cannot prevent the committing of murder. Thus the soldiers voluntarily resolve upon the act of killing and proceed toward it.

The next day they saw the gently sloping shore of some bay and directed the ship there. But they struck a sandbank, and the ship ran aground. The bow stuck fast and remained immovable, while the stern was broken by the force of the waves.

So that the prisoners would not scatter, the soldiers wanted to kill them. But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, restrained them from this intention.

So that none of the prisoners might swim away and escape, he ordered the soldiers who could swim to disembark first and form a guard along the shore.

After this, all the others who had sailed on the ship swam to the shore, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. In this way all were saved onto land.

But what was to be done with the prisoners? Would they not use this opportunity to escape? The soldiers answered with their lives for every prisoner. In desperation they decided it was better to kill them on deck and free themselves from further responsibility. They certainly would have carried out their intention, had the noble centurion Julius, who had evidently recognized all the greatness and nobility of the Apostle Paul, not averted this bloody design by his authority.

The soldiers guarding the prisoners saw the ship's inevitable destruction and feared that the prisoners, after being saved from it, might flee and disappear. This was all the more so because the land was unknown to them, and they probably did not even know whether it was an island or a mainland jutting into the sea. So they agreed among themselves to kill the prisoners, because the law strictly punished guards for failing to keep prisoners entrusted to them (Acts 12:19 and note).

A new deliverance of the prisoners for Paul's sake took place unexpectedly, just as mortal danger had unexpectedly threatened them. The harsh soldiers, seeing the difficulty of continuing to guard the prisoners, wanted to kill them so as not to answer for their escape.

But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, stopped them. He ordered those who could swim to swim, and those who could not to reach the shore somehow on pieces of the ship. And all swam to shore.

On this occasion St. John Chrysostom exclaims: "Again the devil attempts to hinder the fulfillment of the prophecy. The soldiers wanted to kill some of the prisoners, but the centurion restrained them in order to save Paul. He had already become attached to him.