Acts 27:30

30 The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They let the lifeboat down into the sea and pretended they were going to lay out the anchors from the front of the ship.

Acts 27:30 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:30

And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship
To save their lives, concluding that it was in the utmost danger, and that it would quickly, notwithstanding the anchors cast out, break away, and fall upon the rocks, and split to pieces:

when they had let down the boat into the sea;
which before they had taken up into the ship, ( Acts 27:16 Acts 27:17 ) and now they let it down, in order to get into it, and make their escape:

under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the
foreship;
the foremost part of the ship, the prow of it; their pretence in attempting to get out of the ship, and into the boat, was, that whereas there were anchors cast out of the stern, or hinder part of the ship, so they would cast out others, from the fore part of it; and "stretch" them "out", as the word signifies, or carry them further out into the sea, for the security of the ship; and to do which, it was necessary to use the boat.

Acts 27:30 In-Context

28 So they threw a line with a weight on it into the water. It sank 120 feet. They waited a little while and did the same thing again. This time the line sank 90 feet.

29 Fearing we might hit rocks, they dropped four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for morning to come.

30 The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They let the lifeboat down into the sea and pretended they were going to lay out the anchors from the front of the ship.

31 Paul told the officer and the soldiers, "If these sailors don't stay on the ship, you have no hope of staying alive."

32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.