Greek word · G1546

ἐκβολή

ekbolē

jettisoning

Literally 'a casting out'. It could be used for expelling a person or for an outlet such as a river mouth. In seafaring language it was the standard word for jettison, meaning deliberately throwing cargo or equipment overboard to lighten a ship in a storm.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 09, 2026

What it means

ἐκ-βολή, -ῆς

(ἐκβάλλω), [in LXX: Exodus 11:1 (גָּרַשׁ), Joshua 1:5 (ἐκβολὴν ποιεῖσθαι, טול hi.), Ezekiel 47:8 (יָצָא)* ;]

1. a throwing out.

2. a jettison, a throwing overboard of cargo: Acts 27:18 (cf. Jos, l.with; and see Field, Notes, 144 f.).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Acts 27:18

Range of meaning: Literally 'a casting out'. It could be used for expelling a person or for an outlet such as a river mouth. In seafaring language it was the standard word for jettison, meaning deliberately throwing cargo or equipment overboard to lighten a ship in a storm.
Against the English: BSB, ESV and NASB use 'jettison', which is the exact technical equivalent. KJV has 'lightened the ship', which describes the purpose rather than the act. YLT's 'making a clearing' is a stiff literal rendering. WEB's 'throw things overboard' is accurate and avoids saying what was thrown. 'The cargo' in BSB, NIV and others is a reasonable inference, but Luke does not name the object.
Used elsewhere in the period: The same phrase appears in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) at Jonah 1:5: the sailors in Jonah's storm ἐκβολὴν ἐποιήσαντο τῶν σκευῶν, 'made a jettison of the gear', to lighten the ship. Aristotle uses ekbolē for jettison in a storm (Nicomachean Ethics 3.1, 1110a: the man who throws goods overboard in a storm acts under constraint). Pollux's word-lists treat it as a nautical term. Roman maritime law on jettison, the lex Rhodia de iactu (Digest 14.2), assumes the practice was routine.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

Acts 27:18 ἐκβολὴν a jettison of cargo

We were tossed so violently that the next day the men began to jettison the cargo.

Here: The usual seafaring word for throwing goods overboard to lighten a ship in danger. The verse does not say what went over. The context suggests part of the cargo, because the grain was kept until verse 38.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.