Acts 27:30-32

27:30 Then when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship’s boat into the sea, pretending ¹  that they were going to put out anchors from the bow, 27:31 Paul said to the centurion ²  and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you ³  cannot be saved.” 27:32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes ⁴  of the ship’s boat and let it drift away. ⁵ 

[27:30]  ¹ tn BDAG 889 s.v. πρόφασις 2 states, “προφάσει ὡς under the pretext that, pretending that…Ac 27:30.” In other words, some of the sailors gave up hope that such efforts would work and instead attempted to escape while pretending to help.

[27:31]  ² sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:31]  ³ sn The pronoun you is plural in Greek.

[27:32]  ⁴ sn The soldiers cut the ropes. The centurion and the soldiers were now following Paul’s advice by cutting the ropes to prevent the sailors from escaping.

[27:32]  ⁵ tn Or “let it fall away.” According to BDAG 308 s.v. ἐκπίπτω 1 and 2 the meaning of the verb in this verse could be either “fall away” or “drift away.” Either meaning is acceptable, and the choice between them depends almost entirely on how one reconstructs the scene. Since cutting the boat loose would in any case result in it drifting away (whether capsized or not), the meaning “drift away” as a nautical technical term has been used here.