Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Acts » Chapter 27 » Verse 9-28

Acts 27:9-28 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

9 Now G1161 when much G2425 time G5550 was spent, G1230 and G2532 when sailing G4144 was G5607 now G2235 dangerous, G2000 because G1223 the fast G3521 was G3928 now G2532 already G2235 past, G3928 Paul G3972 admonished G3867 them,

10 And said G3004 unto them, G846 Sirs, G435 I perceive G2334 that G3754 this voyage G4144 will be G3195 G1510 with G3326 hurt G5196 and G2532 much G4183 damage, G2209 not G3756 only G3440 of the lading G5414 and G2532 ship, G4143 but G235 also G2532 of our G2257 lives. G5590

11 Nevertheless G1161 the centurion G1543 believed G3982 the master G2942 and G2532 the owner of the ship, G3490 more G3123 than G2228 those things which were spoken G3004 by G5259 Paul. G3972

12 And G1161 because G5225 the haven G3040 was G5225 not commodious G428 to G4314 winter in, G3915 the more part G4119 advised G1012 G5087 to depart G321 thence also, G2547 if G1513 by any means G4458 they might G1410 attain G2658 to G1519 Phenice, G5405 and there to winter; G3914 which is an haven G3040 of Crete, G2914 and lieth G991 toward G2596 the south west G3047 and G2532 G2596 north west. G5566

13 And G1161 when the south wind G3558 blew softly, G5285 supposing G1380 that they had obtained G2902 their purpose, G4286 loosing G142 thence, they sailed G3881 close by G788 Crete. G2914

14 But G1161 not G3756 long G4183 after G3326 there arose G906 against G2596 it G846 a tempestuous G5189 wind, G417 called G2564 Euroclydon. G2148

15 And G1161 when the ship G4143 was caught, G4884 and G2532 could G1410 not G3361 bear up into G503 the wind, G417 we let her drive. G1929 G5342

16 And G1161 running under G5295 a certain G5100 island G3519 which is called G2564 Clauda, G2802 we had G2480 much G3433 work G2480 to come by G4031 G1096 the boat: G4627

17 Which G3739 when they had taken up, G142 they used G5530 helps, G996 undergirding G5269 the ship; G4143 and, G5037 fearing G5399 lest G3361 they should fall G1601 into G1519 the quicksands, G4950 strake G5465 sail, G4632 and so G3779 were driven. G5342

18 And G1161 we G2257 being exceedingly G4971 tossed with a tempest, G5492 the next G1836 day they lightened the ship; G1546 G4160

19 And G2532 the third G5154 day we cast out G4496 with our own hands G849 the tackling G4631 of the ship. G4143

20 And G1161 when neither G3383 sun G2246 nor G3383 stars G798 in G1909 many G4119 days G2250 appeared, G2014 and G5037 no G3756 small G3641 tempest G5494 lay on G1945 us, all G3956 hope G1680 that we G2248 should be saved G4982 was G4014 then G3063 taken away. G4014

21 But G1161 after G5225 long G4183 abstinence G776 G5119 Paul G3972 stood forth G2476 in G1722 the midst G3319 of them, G846 and said, G2036 Sirs, G5599 G435 ye should G1163 G3303 have hearkened G3980 unto me, G3427 and not G3361 have loosed G321 from G575 Crete, G2914 and G5037 to have gained G2770 this G5026 harm G5196 and G2532 loss. G2209

22 And G2532 now G3569 I exhort G3867 you G5209 to be of good cheer: G2114 for G1063 there shall be G2071 no G3762 loss G580 of any man's life G5590 among G1537 you, G5216 but G4133 of the ship. G4143

23 For G1063 there stood by G3936 me G3427 this G5026 night G3571 the angel G32 of God, G2316 whose G3739 I am, G1510 and G2532 whom G3739 I serve, G3000

24 Saying, G3004 Fear G5399 not, G3361 Paul; G3972 thou G4571 must G1163 be brought before G3936 Caesar: G2541 and, G2532 lo, G2400 God G2316 hath given G5483 thee G4671 all G3956 them that sail G4126 with G3326 thee. G4675

25 Wherefore, G1352 sirs, G435 be of good cheer: G2114 for G1063 I believe G4100 God, G2316 that G3754 it G3779 shall be G2071 even G2596 G3739 as G5158 it was told G2980 me. G3427

26 Howbeit G1161 we G2248 must G1163 be cast G1601 upon G1519 a certain G5100 island. G3520

27 But G1161 when G5613 the fourteenth G5065 night G3571 was come, G1096 as we G2257 were driven up and down G1308 in G1722 Adria, G99 about G2596 midnight G3319 G3571 the shipmen G3492 deemed G5282 that they G846 drew near G4317 to some G5100 country; G5561

28 And G2532 sounded, G1001 and found G2147 it twenty G1501 fathoms: G3712 and G1161 when they had gone G1339 a little further, G1024 they sounded G1001 again, G3825 and G2532 found G2147 it fifteen G1178 fathoms. G3712

Commentary on Acts 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 27

Ac 27:1-44. The Voyage to ItalyThe Shipwreck and Safe Landing at Malta.

1. we should sail, &c.—The "we" here reintroduces the historian as one of the company. Not that he had left the apostle from the time when he last included himself (Ac 21:18), but the apostle was parted from him by his arrest and imprisonment, until now, when they met in the ship.

delivered Paul and certain other prisoners—State prisoners going to be tried at Rome; of which several instances are on record.

Julius—who treats the apostle throughout with such marked courtesy (Ac 27:3, 43; Ac 28:16), that it has been thought [Bengel] he was present when Paul made his defense before Agrippa (see Ac 25:23), and was impressed with his lofty bearing.

a centurion of Augustus' band—the Augustan cohort, an honorary title given to more than one legion of the Roman army, implying, perhaps, that they acted as a bodyguard to the emperor or procurator, as occasion required.

2. a ship of—belonging to.

Adramyttium—a port on the northeast coast of the Ægean Sea. Doubtless the centurion expected to find another ship, bound for Italy, at some of the ports of Asia Minor, without having to go with this ship all the way to Adramyttium; and in this he was not disappointed. See on Ac 27:6.

meaning to sail by the coasts—"places."

of Asia—a coasting vessel, which was to touch at the ports of proconsular Asia.

one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us—rather, "Aristarchus the Macedonian," &c. The word "one" should not have been introduced here by our translators, as if this name had not occurred before; for we find him seized by the Ephesian mob as a "man of Macedonia and Paul's companion in travel" (Ac 19:29) and as a "Thessalonian" accompanying the apostle from Ephesus on his voyage back to Palestine (Ac 20:4). Here both these places are mentioned in connection with his name. After this we find him at Rome with the apostle (Col 4:10; Phm 24).

3. next day we touched at Sidon—To reach this ancient and celebrated Mediterranean port, about seventy miles north from Cæsarea, in one day, they must have had a fair wind.

Julius courteously—(See on Ac 27:1).

gave him liberty to go to his friends—no doubt disciples, gained, it would seem, by degrees, all along the Phœnician coast since the first preaching there (see on Ac 11:19 and Ac 21:4).

to refresh himself—which after his long confinement would not be unnecessary. Such small personal details are in this case extremely interesting.

4. when we had launched—"set sail."

from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary—The wind blowing from the westward, probably with a touch of the north, which was adverse, they sailed under the lee of Cyprus, keeping it on their left, and steering between it and the mainland of Phœnicia.

5. when we had sailed over the Sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia—coasts with which Paul had been long familiar, the one, perhaps, from boyhood, the other from the time of his first missionary tour.

we came to Myra, a city of Lycia—a port a little east of Patara (see on Ac 21:1).

6. there … found a ship of Alexandria, sailing into Italy, and he put us therein—(See on Ac 27:2). As Egypt was the granary of Italy, and this vessel was laden with wheat (Ac 27:35), we need not wonder it was large enough to carry two hundred seventy-six souls, passengers and crew together (Ac 27:37). Besides, the Egyptian merchantmen, among the largest in the Mediterranean, were equal to the largest merchantmen in our day. It may seem strange that on their passage from Alexandria to Italy they should be found at a Lycian port. But even still it is not unusual to stand to the north towards Asia Minor, for the sake of the current.

7. sailed slowly many days—owing to contrary winds.

and scarce—"with difficulty."

were come over against Cnidus—a town on the promontory of the peninsula of that name, having the island of Coos (see on Ac 21:1) to the west of it. But for the contrary wind they might have made the distance from Myra (one hundred thirty miles) in one day. They would naturally have put in at Cnidus, whose larger harbor was admirable, but the strong westerly current induced them to run south.

under—the lee of

Crete—(See on Tit 1:5).

over against Salmone—the cape at the eastern extremity of the island.

8. And hardly passing it—"with difficulty coasting along it," from the same cause as before, the westerly current and head winds.

came to … the Fair Havens—an anchorage near the center of the south coast, and a little east of Cape Matala, the southern most point of the island.

nigh whereunto was the city Lasea—identified by the Reverend George Brown [Smith, Voyages and Shipwreck of St. Paul, Appendix 3, Second Edition, 1856]. (To this invaluable book commentators on this chapter, and these notes, are much indebted).

9, 10. when much time was spent—since leaving Cæsarea. But for unforeseen delays they might have reached the Italian coast before the stormy season.

and when sailing—the navigation of the open sea.

was now dangerous, because the fast was now … past—that of the day of atonement, answering to the end of September and beginning of October, about which time the navigation is pronounced unsafe by writers of authority. Since all hope of completing the voyage during that season was abandoned, the question next was, whether they should winter at Fair Havens, or move to Port Phenice, a harbor about forty miles to the westward. Paul assisted at the consultation and strongly urged them to winter where they were.

10. Sirs, I perceive, that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, &c.—not by any divine communication, but simply in the exercise of a good judgment aided by some experience. The event justified his decision.

11. Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and owner … more than … Paul—He would naturally think them best able to judge, and there was much to say for their opinion, as the bay at Fair Havens, being open to nearly one-half of the compass, could not be a good winter harbor.

12. Phenice—"Phenix," now called Lutro.

which lieth toward the southwest and northwest—If this means that it was open to the west, it would certainly not be good anchorage! It is thought therefore to mean that a wind from that quarter would lead into it, or that it lay in an easterly direction from such a wind [Smith]. Ac 27:13 seems to confirm this.

13. when the south wind blew softly, supposing they had attained their purpose—With such a wind they had every prospect of reaching their destination in a few hours.

14, 15. a tempestuous—"typhonic"

wind—that is, like a typhon or tornado, causing a whirling of the clouds, owing to the meeting of opposite currents of air.

called Euroclydon—The true reading appears to be Euro-aquilo, or east-northeast, which answers all the effects here ascribed to it.

15. could not bear up into—"face"

the wind, we let her drift—before the gale.

16, 17. under—the lee of.

a certain—"small"

island … Clauda—southwest of Crete, now called Gonzo; about twenty-three miles to leeward.

we had much work to come by—that is, to hoist up and secure.

the boat—now become necessary. But why was this difficult? Independently of the gale, raging at the time, the boat had been towed between twenty and thirty miles after the gale sprang up, and could scarcely fail to be filled with water [Smith].

17. undergirding the ship—that is, passing four or five turns of a cable-laid rope round the hull or frame of the ship, to enable her to resist the violence of the seas, an operation rarely resorted to in modern seamanship.

fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands—"be cast ashore" or "stranded upon the Syrtis," the Syrtis Major, a gulf on the African coast, southwest of Crete, the dread of mariners, owing to its dangerous shoals.

they strake—"struck"

sail—This cannot be the meaning, for to strike sail would have driven them directly towards the Syrtis. The meaning must be, "lowered the gear" (appurtenances of every kind); here, perhaps, referring to the lowering of the heavy mainyard with the sail attached to it [Smith].

19, 20. cast out with our own hands—passengers and crew together.

the tackling of the ship—whatever they could do without that carried weight. This further effort to lighten the ship seems to show that it was now in a leaking condition, as will presently appear more evident.

20. neither sun nor stars appeared in many—"several"

days—probably most of the fourteen days mentioned in Ac 27:27. This continued thickness of the atmosphere prevented their making the necessary observations of the heavenly bodies by day or by night; so that they could not tell where they were.

all hope that we should be saved was taken away—"Their exertions to subdue the leak had been unavailing; they could not tell which way to make for the nearest land, in order to run their ship ashore, the only resource for a sinking ship: but unless they did make the land, they must founder at sea. Their apprehensions, therefore, were not so much caused by the fury of the tempest, as by the state of the ship" [Smith]. From the inferiority of ancient to modern naval architecture, leaks were sprung much more easily, and the means of repairing them were fewer than now. Hence the far greater number of shipwrecks from this cause.

21-26. But after long abstinence—(See on Ac 27:33). "The hardships which the crew endured during a gale of such continuance, and their exhaustion from laboring at the pumps and hunger, may be imagined, but are not described" [Smith].

Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, &c.—not meaning to reflect on them for the past, but to claim their confidence for what he was now to say:

23. there stood by me this night the angel of God—as in Ac 16:9; 23:11.

whose I am—(1Co 6:19, 20).

and whom I serve—in the sense of worship or religious consecration (see on Ac 13:2).

24. saying, Fear not, Paul: thou must be brought before Cæsar and, lo, God hath given thee all … that sail with thee—While the crew were toiling at the pumps, Paul was wrestling in prayer, not for himself only and the cause in which he was going a prisoner to Rome, but with true magnanimity of soul for all his shipmates; and God heard him, "giving him" (remarkable expression!) all that sailed with him. "When the cheerless day came he gathered the sailors (and passengers) around him on the deck of the laboring vessel, and raising his voice above the storm" [Howson], reported the divine communication he had received; adding with a noble simplicity, "for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me," and encouraging all on board to "be of good cheer" in the same confidence. What a contrast to this is the speech of Cæsar in similar circumstances to his pilot, bidding him keep up his spirit because he carried Cæsar and Cæsar's fortune! [Plutarch]. The Roman general knew no better name for the Divine Providence, by which he had been so often preserved, than Cæsar's fortune [Humphry]. From the explicit particulars—that the ship would be lost, but not one that sailed in it, and that they "must be cast on a certain island"—one would conclude a visional representation of a total wreck, a mass of human beings struggling with the angry elements, and one and all of those whose figures and countenances had daily met his eye on deck, standing on some unknown island shore. From what follows, it would seem that Paul from this time was regarded with a deference akin to awe.

27-29. when the fourteenth night was come—from the time they left Fair Havens.

as we were driven—drifting

up and down in Adria—the Adriatic, that sea which lies between Greece and Italy.

about midnight the shipmen deemed—no doubt from the peculiar sound of the breakers.

that they drew near some country—"that some land was approaching them." This nautical language gives a graphic character to the narrative.

29. they cast four anchors out of the stern—The ordinary way was to cast the anchor, as now, from the bow: but ancient ships, built with both ends alike, were fitted with hawseholes in the stern, so that in case of need they could anchor either way. And when the fear was, as here, that they might fall on the rocks to leeward, and the intention was to run the ship ashore as soon as daylight enabled them to fix upon a safe spot, the very best thing they could do was to anchor by the stern [Smith]. In stormy weather two anchors were used, and we have instances of four being employed, as here.

and wished—"anxiously" or "devoutly wished."

for day—the remark this of one present, and with all his shipmates alive to the horrors of their condition. "The ship might go down at her anchors, or the coast to leeward might be iron-bound, affording no beach on which they could land with safety. Hence their anxious longing for day, and the ungenerous but natural attempt, not peculiar to ancient times, of the seamen to save their own lives by taking to the boat" [Smith].

30. as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship—under cover of night.

when they had let down the boat … as though they would … cast anchors out of the foreship—"bow"—rather, "carry out" anchors, to hold the ship fore as well as aft. "This could have been of no advantage in the circumstances, and as the pretext could not deceive a seaman, we must infer that the officers of the ship were parties to the unworthy attempt, which was perhaps detected by the nautical skill of St. Luke, and communicated by him to St. Paul" [Smith].

31. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers—the only parties now to be trusted, and whose own safety was now at stake.

except ye abide in the ship ye cannot be saved—The soldiers and passengers could not be expected to possess the necessary seamanship in so very critical a case. The flight of the crew, therefore, might well be regarded as certain destruction to all who remained. In full assurance of ultimate safety, in virtue of a DIVINE pledge, to all in the ship, Paul speaks and acts throughout this whole scene in the exercise of a sound judgment as to the indispensable HUMAN conditions of safety; and as there is no trace of any feeling of inconsistency between these two things in his mind, so even the centurion, under whose orders the soldiers acted on Paul's views, seems never to have felt perplexed by the twofold aspect, divine and human, in which the same thing presented itself to the mind of Paul. Divine agency and human instrumentality are in all the events of life quite as much as here. The only difference is that the one is for the most part shrouded from view, while the other is ever naked and open to the senses.

32. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat—already lowered.

and let her fall off—let the boat drift away.

33-37. while day was coming on—"until it should be day"; that is, in the interval between the cutting off of the boat and the approach of day, which all were "anxiously looking for" (Ac 27:29).

Paul—now looked up to by all the passengers as the man to direct them.

besought them all to take meat—"partake of a meal."

saying, This is the fourteenth day ye have tarried—"waited for a breathing time."

having eaten nothing—that is, taken no regular meal. The impossibility of cooking, the occupation of all hands to keep down leakage, &c., sufficiently explain this, which is indeed a common occurrence in such cases.

34. I pray you to take some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not a hair fall from … any of you—On this beautiful union of confidence in the divine pledge and care for the whole ship's health and safety see on Ac 27:31.

35. when he had thus spoken he took bread—assuming the lead.

and gave thanks to God in presence of them all—an impressive act in such circumstances, and fitted to plant a testimony for the God he served in the breasts of all.

when he had broken it, he began to eat—not understood by the Christians in the ship as a love-feast, or celebration of the Lord's Supper, as some think, but a meal to recruit exhausted nature, which Paul shows them by his own example how a Christian partakes of.

36. Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat—"took food"; the first full meal since the commencement of the gale. Such courage in desperate circumstances as Paul here showed is wonderfully infectious.

38-40. when they had eaten enough, &c.—With fresh strength after the meal, they make a third and last effort to lighten the ship, not only by pumping, as before, but by throwing the whole cargo of wheat into the sea (see on Ac 27:6).

39. when it was day they knew not the land—This has been thought surprising in sailors accustomed to that sea. But the scene of the wreck is remote from the great harbor, and possesses no marked features by which it could be recognized, even by a native if he came unexpectedly upon it [Smith], not to speak of the rain pouring in torrents (Ac 28:2), which would throw a haze over the coast even after day broke. Immediately on landing they knew where they were (Ac 28:1).

discovered a creek with a shore—Every creek of course, must have a shore; but the meaning is, a practicable shore, in a nautical sense, that is, one with a smooth beach, in contradistinction to a rocky coast (as Ac 27:41 shows).

into which they were minded, if … possible, to thrust the ship—This was their one chance of safety.

40. taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea—The Margin is here evidently right, "cut the anchors (away), they left them in the sea."

loosed the rudder bands—Ancient ships were steered by two large paddles, one on each quarter. When anchored by the stern in a gale, it would be necessary to lift them out of the water and secure them by lashings or rudder bands, and to loose these when the ship was again got under way [Smith].

hoised up the mainsail—her, "the foresail," the best possible sail that be set in the circumstances. How necessary must the crew have been to execute all these movements, and how obvious the foresight which made their stay indispensable to the safety of all on board (see on Ac 27:31)!

41. falling into a place where two seas met—Smith thinks this refers to the channel, not more than one hundred yards broad, which separates the small island of Salmone from Malta, forming a communication between the sea inside the bay and that outside.

the fore part stuck fast, and remained immovable—"The rocks of Malta disintegrate into extremely minute particles of sand and clay, which, when acted upon by the currents or surface agitation, form a deposit of tenacious clay; but, in still waters, where these causes do not act, mud is formed; but it is only in creeks, where there are no currents, and at such a depth as to be undisturbed by the waves, that the mud occurs. A ship, therefore, impelled by the force of a gale, into a creek, with such a bottom, would strike a bottom of mud, graduating into tenacious clay, into which the fore part would fix itself, and be held fast, while the stern was exposed to the force of the waves" [Smith].

hinder part was broken—The continued action denoted by the tense here is to be noted—"was fast breaking," going to pieces.

42-44. the soldiers' counsel was to hill the prisoners, lest any … should escape—Roman cruelty, which made the keepers answerable for their prisoners with their own lives, is here reflected in this cruel proposal.

43. the centurion, &c.—Great must have been the influence of Paul over the centurion's mind to produce such an effect. All followed the swimmers in committing themselves to the deep, and according to the divine pledge and Paul's confident assurance given them, every soul got safe to land—yet without miracle. (While the graphic minuteness of this narrative of the shipwreck puts it beyond doubt that the narrator was himself on board, the great number of nautical phrases, which all critics have noted, along with the unprofessional air which the whole narrative wears, agrees singularly with all we know and have reason to believe of "the beloved physician"; see on Ac 16:40).