Acts 27 · Verse 31

Acts 27:31

Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
Acts 27:31, King James Version

Acts 27:31 in other translations

BSBBut Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.”
WEBPaul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these stay in the ship, you can’t be saved.”
ASVPaul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
YLTPaul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, ‘If these do not remain in the ship--ye are not able to be saved;'
DARBYPaul said to the centurion and the soldiers, Unless these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved.
BBEBut Paul said to the captain and his men, If you do not keep these men in the ship, you will not be safe.
WebsterPaul said to the centurion, and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

What does Acts 27:31 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
31. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers--the only parties now to be trusted, and whose own safety was now at stake. except ye abide in the ship ye cannot be saved--The soldiers and passengers could not be expected to possess the necessary seamanship in so very critical a case. The flight of the crew, therefore, might well be regarded as certain destruction to all who remained. In full assurance of ultimate safety, in virtue of a DIVINE pledge, to all in the ship, Paul speaks and acts throughout this whole scene in the exercise of a sound judgment as to the indispensable HUMAN conditions of safety; and as there is no trace of any feeling of inconsistency between these two things in his mind, so even the centurion, under whose orders the soldiers acted on Paul's views, seems never to have felt perplexed by the twofold aspect, divine and human, in which the same thing presented itself to the mind of Paul. Divine agency and human instrumentality are in all the events of life quite as much as here. The only difference is that the one is for the most part shrouded from view, while the other is ever naked and open to the senses.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 31. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers. The centurion had, it appears, the general direction of the ship, Acts 27:11. Probably it had been pressed into the service of the government.

Except these. These seamen. The soldiers and the centurion were unqualified to manage the ship, and the presence of the sailors was therefore indispensable to the preservation of any.

Abide in the ship. Remain on board.

Ye cannot be saved. You cannot be preserved from death. You will have no hope of managing the ship so as to be secure from death. It will be remembered that Paul had been informed by the angel, and had assured then, Acts 27:22-24, that no lives should be lost. But it was only in the use of the proper means that their lives would be safe, yet this did not, in his view, prevent the use of the proper means to secure it. From this we lay learn,

(1.) that the certainty of an event does not render it improper to use means to obtain it.

(2.) That though the event may be determined, yet the use of the means may be indispensable. The event is rendered no more certain than the means requisite to accomplish it.

(3.). That the doctrine of the Divine purposes or decrees, making certain future events, does not make the use of man's agency unnecessary or improper. The means are determined as well as the end; and the one will not be secured without the other.

(4.) The same is true in regard to the decrees respecting salvation. The end is not determined without the means; and as God has resolved that his people shall be saved, so he has also determined the means. He has ordained that they shall repent, shall believe, shall be holy, and shall thus be saved.

(5.) We have in this case a full answer to the objection that a belief in the decrees of God will make men neglect the means of salvation, and lead to licentiousness. It has just the contrary tendency. Here is a case in which Paul certainly believed in the purpose of God to save these men; in which he was assured that it was fully determined; and yet the effect was not to produce inattention and unconcern, but to prompt him to use strenuous efforts to accomplish the very effect which God had determined should take place. So it is always. A belief that God has purposes of mercy; that he designs, and has always designed, to save some, will prompt to the use of all proper means to secure it. If we had no evidence that God had any such purpose, effort would be vain. We should have no inducement in exertion. Where we have such evidence, it operates as it did in the case of Paul, to produce great and strenuous endeavours to secure the object.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 31 Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved - God, who has promised to save your lives, promises this on the condition that ye make use of every means he has put in your power to help yourselves. While, therefore, ye are using these means, expect the co-operation of God. If these sailors, who only understand how to work the ship, leave it, ye cannot escape. Therefore prevent their present design. On the economy of Divine Providence, see the notes on Act 23:35.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Acts 27:30-38

God, who appointed the end, that they should be saved, appointed the means, that they should be saved by the help of these shipmen. Duty is ours, events are God's; we do not trust God, but tempt him, when we say we put ourselves under his protection, if we do not use proper means, such as are within our power, for our safety. But how selfish are men in general, often even ready to seek their own safety by the…

Read the full comment on Acts 27:30-38 →

Acts 27:31 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

εἶπενeipensaidG2036
ὁho<the>G3588
ΠαῦλοςPaulosPaulG3972
τῷtōto theG3588
ἑκατοντάρχῃhekatontarchēcenturionG1543
καὶkaiandG2532
τοῖςtoisto theG3588
στρατιώταις·stratiōtaissoldiers;G4757
ἐὰνeanOnlyG1437
μὴmēunlessG3361
οὗτοιhoutoitheseG3778
μείνωσινmeinōsinshall remainG3306
ἐνeninG1722
τῷtōtheG3588
πλοίῳ,ploiōship,G4143
ὑμεῖςhumeis[then] you yourselvesG4771
σωθῆναιsōthēnaito be savedG4982
οὐounotG3756
δύνασθε.dunastheyou are able.G1410

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Acts 27:31

  • 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

    But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  • Jeremiah 29:11-13

    For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

  • Psalms 91:11-12

    For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

  • Acts 27:21-24

    But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

  • Acts 27:42-43

    And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:

  • John 6:37

    All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

  • Ezekiel 36:36-37

    Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

  • Luke 4:9-12

    And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

  • Luke 1:34-35

    Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

  • Acts 27:11

    Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
said.
11,21,42,43
Except.
22-24; Ps 91:11,12; Jer 29:11-13; Eze 36:36,37; Lu 1:34,35; 4:9-12
Joh 6:37; 2Th 2:13,14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Acts 27:30

    And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,

  • Acts 27:31

    Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

  • Acts 27:32

    Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.

Read all of Acts 27

Acts 27:31 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Pablo dijo al centurión y á los soldados: Si éstos no quedan en la nave, vosotros no podéis salvaros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Paul dit au centurion et aux soldats: Si ceux-ci ne demeurent pas dans le navire, vous ne pouvez être sauvés.
German
Elberfelder 1871		sprach Paulus zu dem Hauptmann und den Kriegsleuten: Wenn diese nicht im Schiffe bleiben, könnt ihr nicht gerettet werden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		dixit Paulus centurioni et militibus: Nisi hi in navi manserint, vos salvi fieri non potestis.