Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.
We have here the issue of the distress of Paul and his fellow-travellers; they escaped with their lives and that was all, and that was for Paul's sake. We are here told (Act 27:37) what number there were on board - mariners, merchants, soldiers, prisoners, and other passengers, in all two hundred and seventy-six souls; this is taken notice of to make us the more...
Commenting on Acts 27:21-44
And while the day was coming on,.... Between midnight and break of day: Paul besought them all to take meat; to sit down and eat a meal together: saying, this day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried; or have been waiting for, or expecting; that is, as the Arabic version expresses it, a shipwreck; for fourteen days past, ever since the storm begun...
Verse 32. Cut off the ropes, etc. It is evident that the mariners had not yet got on board the boat. They had let it down into the sea, , and were about to go on board. By thus cutting the ropes which fastened the boat to the ship, and letting it go, they removed all possibility of their fleeing from the ship, and compelled them to remain on board.