Acts 27:38

38 And [when they] had eaten their fill of food, they lightened the ship [by] throwing the wheat into the sea.

Acts 27:38 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:38

And when they had eaten enough
] Were satisfied, having eaten a full meal:

they lightened the ship;
of its burden, that it might the better carry them to the shore, and that by the following method:

and cast out the wheat into the sea;
which seems to have been part of the ship's provision; or one part of their lading, which they brought from Egypt, and were carrying to Italy: they had cast out some of the goods of the ship before, and also the tackling of the ship, and now, last of all, the wheat; for what was eatable they reserved till last, not knowing to what extremity they might be reduced.

Acts 27:38 In-Context

36 So they all were encouraged and partook of food themselves.

37 (Now we were [in] all two hundred seventy six persons on the ship.)

38 And [when they] had eaten their fill of food, they lightened the ship [by] throwing the wheat into the sea.

39 Now when day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay having a beach, onto which they decided to run the ship ashore if they could.

40 And slipping the anchors, they left [them] in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes of the steering oars. And hoisting the foresail to the [wind] that was blowing, they held course for the beach.

Footnotes

• [a] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("had eaten their fill") which is understood as temporal
• [b] *Here "[by]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("throwing") which is understood as means
• [c] Or "grain"