Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 27:40

"And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosing the bands of the rudders; and hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach." — Acts 27:40 (ASV)

Had taken up the anchors. The four anchors with which they had moored the ship (Acts 27:29). See the margin. The expression may mean that they slipped or cut their cables, and thus they left the anchors in the sea. This is the most probable interpretation.

And loosed the rudder-bands. The rudder in navigation is that by which a ship is steered. It is that part of the helm which consists of a piece of timber, broad at the bottom, which enters the water, and is attached by hinges to the stern-post on which it turns (Webster).

But what the precise form of the rudder was among the ancients is not certainly known. Sometimes a vessel might be steered by oars. In most ships, they appear to have had a rudder at the prow as well as at the stern. In some instances, they also had them on the sides.

The word used here in Greek is plural—twn phdaliwn—and it is evident that they had more than one rudder in this ship. The bands mentioned here were probably the cords or fastenings by which the rudder could be made secure to the sides of the ship, or could be raised up out of the water in a violent storm, to prevent its being carried away.

And as in the tempest the rudders had become useless (Acts 27:15, 17), they were probably either raised out of the water or made fast. Now that the storm had passed, and they could be used again, they were loosed, and they endeavored to direct the vessel into port.

The mainsail. artemona. There have been various explanations of this word. Luther translates it the mast; Erasmus, the yards. Grotius, who supposes that the mainmast had been cast away (Acts 27:17), thinks that this must mean the foremast or bowsprit.

The word usually means the mainsail. The Syriac and Arabic understand it as a small sail that was hoisted for a temporary purpose.