Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Acts 27:32

in Acts 27

So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and set it adrift.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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

KJV

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

⋯

This verse in Acts 27

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat,.... With which it had been fastened to the sides of the ship, and by which the mariners were letting it down, in order to get into it, and go off: and let her fall off; from the sides of the ship into the sea, and so prevented the shipmen quitting the ship; for now they gave more credit to Paul than to them.

This site's exposition

about to flee out of the ship

on Acts 27:30-32

The shipmen were about to flee out of the ship under colour of laying anchors from the bow, taking the only boat and leaving landsmen to work a wreck. Paul's word to the centurion is the chapter's theology in one sentence: Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. The promise of verse 24 was absolute, yet the means are commanded, and the commentators from Calvin down have used the verse as the standing text on providence and means, God who ordains the end ordaining the sailors' hands as the way to it. The soldiers cut the ropes and let the boat fall off, obedience this time without debate, the centurion now believing Paul over the professionals.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ammonius of Alexandria

CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 27.31-32 · Written before 300.

proposed

After they realized that their bad will had caused them to fall into dangers, they began to believe Paul by thinking that the appropriate words of the righteous were more effective for their salvation than the fate in danger, which has no name. In fact, …

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

"Then the soldiers cut the ropes of the boat." God arranged it so that Paul was not believed at first, but was believed after his words were tested by experience; which is what happened. Look: the centurion believes Paul to such an extent that he …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Happy they who had such a one as Paul in their company, who not only had correspondence with Heaven, but was of a hearty lively spirit with those about him, that sharpened the countenance of his friend, as iron sharpens iron. Such a friend in distress, when without are fightings and within are fears, is a friend indeed.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The soldiers cut off the ropes - These were probably the only persons who dared to have opposed the will of the sailors: this very circumstance is an additional proof of the accuracy of St. Luke.
Cut off the ropes ... - It is evident that the mariners had not yet got on board the boat. They had let it down into the sea Act 27:30, and were about to go on board. By thus cutting the ropes which fastened the boat to the ship, and letting it go, all possibility of their fleeing from the ship was taken away, and they were compelled to remain on board.

The words behind it

12 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Luke 16:8

    The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:5

      For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

    • Ephesians 5:8

      For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

    • Proverbs 6:6–8

      Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

    • Luke 16:10

      Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

    • John 12:36

      While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light.” After Jesus had spoken these things, He went away and was hidden from them.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 27 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Acts; Ammonius of Alexandria, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 27.31-32; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.

Read on in Acts 27 →