Paragraph 27:30–32

27:30a

attempted to escape: The Greek words here are literally “seeking to flee.” The sailors probably thought that trying to reach land in the smaller boat was safer than staying on the ship. Other ways to translate this clause are:

as the sailors were seeking to escape (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
the sailors tried to escape (Good News Translation)

27:30b

Pretending: The real goal of the sailors was to escape. This word indicates that they lied to others saying that they planned to lower some anchors from the bow. Other ways to translate this word are:

under pretense of (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
as though (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
they lied saying that

to lower anchors from the bow: To prevent the bow of the ship from turning, sailors could take an anchor to the left as far as the anchor rope would let it and drop the anchor, and then would do the same on the right side. If the front of the ship turned sideways to the waves, the waves could capsize the ship. In some languages some implied information is needed for the correct meaning. For example:

they were going to lower some anchors from the bow ⌊to prevent the bow of the ship from turning⌋
-or-
they were going to lower some anchors from the bow ⌊to prevent the ship from turning and the waves hitting the side of the ship⌋

lower anchors from the bow: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lower is literally “stretch.” It probably indicates that the sailors would take the anchors in the lifeboat away from the ship until the anchor ropes were tight, then they would throw the anchors into the sea.

laying out anchors from the bow (English Standard Version)
-or-

⌊row away⌋ with the anchors until the anchor ropes were tight/stretched ⌊and then drop them into the sea⌋

anchors: This is the same kind of anchor as in 27:29.

the bow: The word bow refers to the front of the ship.

let the lifeboat down into the sea: Here the phrase let…down refers to lowering. The smaller boat was tied to the top of the ship (27:17). Here the sailors untied it and lowered it over the side of the ship into the sea. Since the small boat was heavy, they tied ropes to it to help with lowering it. In some languages it is more natural to include some of this implied information. For example:

lowered the lifeboat ⌊with ropes⌋ onto the sea
-or-

⌊untied⌋ the lifeboat and lowered it ⌊with ropes⌋ onto the sea
-or-

⌊untied⌋ the lifeboat and lowered it ⌊with ropes⌋ ⌊over the side of the ship⌋ onto the sea

lifeboat: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lifeboat refers to a boat that could hold ten to thirty people, depending on its size. See how you translated this word in 27:16.

into the sea: The word into indicates here that they lowered the smaller boat so that it floated on the sea ready to use. They did not lower it in a way that caused the lifeboat to sink or fill with water. In some languages a different phrase is needed for the correct meaning. For example:

onto the sea
-or-
to float on the sea

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