Acts 27:30

30 And [when] the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship's boat into the sea, pretending as if they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,

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 And taking soundings, they found twenty fathoms. So going on a little [further] and taking soundings again, they found fifteen fathoms.

29 And [because they] were afraid lest somewhere we run aground against rough places, they threw down four anchors from the stern [and] prayed for day to come.

30 And [when] the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship's boat into the sea, pretending as if they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,

31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these [men] remain with the ship, you cannot be saved!"

32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("were seeking")