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Nazarene Commentary 2000©

21^st Century Paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures© –
21^st Century Version of the Christian Scriptures© [NCMM]

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
SAILING FOR ROME AND SHIPWRECK

[“I Told You So”]
Key word: Sailing

Acts 27:1-3 – Sailing for Italy [59 AD]

AC27:1 Now when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, 1074 they delivered Paul and other prisoners to the charge of one Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Cohort. 1075

1074

Now when it was decided that we should sail for Italy: Luke presents the following epic as an eyewitness. It is so precisely and accurately written that there can be no question Luke actually experienced the trip, storm and shipwreck. Unless one has sailed in a great storm it is hard to imagine how small a sailboat is in a great sea. Luke puts us there right in the action so that our stomachs churn with fear just as these seasoned sailors and hardened Roman soldiers experienced. As you read it smell the salt air, hear the winds, and feel the cold and sting of violent waves. Even these experienced men could not eat for two weeks because of the severity of the storm and the nausea caused by such a tossing ship.

1075	Cohort: Or, band, guard, battalion, regiment. Possibly part of the emperor’s own guard.

AC27:2 We boarded a ship sailing from Adramyttium which was bound for the coasts of Asia [Minor]. 1076 Now Aristarchus, 1077 a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us.

1076	Bound for the coasts of Asia [Minor]: The sailing route heads 300 miles north and then west 1200 nautical miles to Malta. The entire voyage was about as long as crossing the Atlantic.

1077	Aristarchus: Compare notes on Acts 19:29; 20:4; Colossians 4:10. This brother has no idea what he is in for. It will be the experience of a lifetime.

AC27:3 And on the next day we put in to Sidon, and there Julius treated Paul with human kindness and permitted him to go and see his friends and enjoy their hospitality.

Acts 27:4-8 – Details of the Sailing Course

AC27:4 After putting to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. 1078

1078	Contrary: Or, against us.

AC27:5 When we had sailed along the seas off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we arrived at Myra in Lycia. 1079

1079	We arrived at Myra in Lycia: Most Bibles have maps showing this precise voyage. N modern times tourists and pilgrims still follow this trip, the record is so precise.

AC27:6 There the centurion found a ship from Alexandria sailing to Italy, and so he put us on board her. AC27:7 Now after we had sailed many days under weak winds 1080 we came with some difficulty off Cnidus, and then with very unfavorable winds 1081 we sailed in the lee of Crete off Salmone. 1082

1080	Weak winds: Or, “in irons” as sailors call a lack of wind.

1081	Unfavorable winds: Or, wind was against us, beating us back, checked our progress. Sailing directly into winds is the sailors’ greatest challenge. Either one makes great tacks, or very small ones, zigging and zagging in tiring movements against the wind.

1082	In the lee of Crete off Salmone: Actually going south before turning west again.

AC27:8 Hugging the coast we made little headway until we arrived at a place called Fair Havens near a town of Lasea. 1083

1083	Fair Havens near a town of Lasea: Ruins have been found near modern Kaloi Limniones [Fair Havens].

Acts 27:9-12 – Despite a Warning They Try for Phoenix

AC27:9 After considerable time the sailing was now dangerous as it was past the autumn equinox. 1084 Paul began to advise,

1084

Now dangerous as it was past the autumn equinox: Or, KJV: because the fast was now already past; MOF: the autumn fast was past; RIE: the Fast of the Atonement was past; NOR: the fall festival was already over. [September 21/22] The Jews had four annual fasts and by these the time of year also could be determined. [Leviticus 16:29; 23:27]

AC27:10 saying: “Men, I perceive this voyage will be filled with danger and considerable damage, not only to the cargo and ship, but also to our own souls.” 1085

1085	Also to our own souls: Paul’s concern about any lives being lost is later calmed by God’s angel which tells him the opposite – no lives will be lost.

AC27:11 Despite this, the centurion trusted the ship’s master and owner more than the warnings Paul spoke. AC27:12 Now since the harbor was unsuitable to winter 1086 in, the majority favored sailing on if possible they might reach Phoenix, 1087 intending to winter there as it had another harbor in Crete facing west-south-west and west-north-west.

1086	To winter: One gets some idea about long voyages in the Roman world. Likely they would have had to spend several months through the fall and winter until the weather patterns improved. Sailing WNW in winter toward Rome becomes very difficult given the winds off either Africa or Europe.

1087	Phoenix: Possibly modern Loutro about 50 miles further west on the south of Crete.

Acts 27:13-19 – Fighting a Great Storm

AC27:13 Now when a gentle south wind came up, and thinking their object was within reach, they weighed anchor and sailed close along the coast of Crete. AC27:14 However, shortly afterwards, a tempestuous wind called Euraquilo 1088 beat down on us off the land.

1088	Euraquilo: Some texts use Euroclydon, but Euraquilo means ENE indicating violent winds called gregale generated by low pressure over Libya, Africa.

AC27:15 When the ship was violently caught in it, and was unable to bring her head to the wind, we let her run before it. AC27:16 Then running under the shelter of a certain small island called Caudia 1089 we were barely strong enough to pull in the trailing skiff.

1089	Caudia: An isle SW off Crete.

AC27:17 When we had pulled it in the men used ropes to under gird the ship, and then fearing they would be driven onto the Syrtis sandbanks 1090 they let out the sea anchor 1091 and let her drift before the wind.

1090	Syrtis sandbanks: They are at the mercy of the ENE gregale blowing them south toward the Gulf of Sidra and the shallow sandbanks off Africa. Regarding these Strabo, a 1st Century AD geographer wrote: “The safe escape of a boat is rare.” [Geography, 17, III, 20]

1091	They let out the sea anchor: The last measure to save a ship at the mercy of great winds and waves. The anchor slows the drift by creating drag and putting the stern into the gale and wave direction, preventing capsizing.

AC27:18 Now we were being tossed violently and battered by the storm, and the next day they began to lighten the ship. 1092

1092	They began to lighten the ship: Last desperate measures. This ship is evidently a grain boat heavily laden.

AC27:19 On the following day we threw overboard with our own hands all the ship’s spare tackle and gear.

Acts 27:20-26 – Paul Cheers Shipmates

AC27:20 Then when neither sun nor stars appeared in many days and the gale continued to rage, all hope that we would survive vanished. AC27:21 After a long time without food, 1093 Paul came forward among the crew and said: “Men, you should have listened to me 1094 and not set sail from Crete and there never would have been this loss and damage.

1093

After a long time without food: This will seem strange to those who have not been in such a storm. The crew are in their bunks or hammocks hanging on for dear life. It is impossible to move five feet without being beaten and broken against bulkheads. The movement is so violent any food eaten is usually vomited by even the most experienced sailor. The result is a slow weakening of the body until it can no longer do the simplest chores.

1094	You should have listened to me: The “I told you so.” Paul is no mean sailor himself having traveled much of the Roman world. Either before this, or after, he describes his shipwrecks and at least one night adrift in the water. [2 Corinthians 11]

AC27:22 And now I beg you to keep your courage, for a single soul among you will not be lost – just the ship. AC27:23 For last night an angel of my God that I serve stood by me, AC27:24 saying: ‘Fear not, Paul, you must stand before Caesar, and look, The God has granted [safety] to all those sailing with you.’ AC27:25 So, cheer up, men, for I trust completely in The God that all will occur just as I was told. AC27:26 However, we must all be cast away on a certain island.”

Acts 27:27-32 – To Be Saved ‘Stay with the Boat’

AC27:27 Now during the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were driven back and forth 1095 in [the sea of] Adria, 1096 about midnight the sailors suspected they were drawing near land. 1097

1095	Driven back and forth: Paul will later draw on this for an analogy at Ephesians 4:14, 15.

1096	Adria: Strabo writes that the name came from a town in the Gulf of Venice. The name was used of the Adriatic Sea.

1097	Drawing near land: Often by birds or scents from the land, or the color of water. Here it may have been the crashing surf off Koura Head on Malta.

AC27:28 On taking soundings they learned it was twenty fathoms. 1098 Then shortly they sounded again and it was fifteen fathoms.

1098	Twenty fathoms: A fathom is six feet, so 120 feet of depth.

AC27:29 So, fearing we might be thrown onto the rocks, they cast out four anchors at the stern 1099 and waited anxiously for daylight.

1099	They cast out four anchors at the stern: Over four hundred feet of rope or chain.

AC27:30 The sailors were about to abandon ship, and pretending to lower anchors from the bow, they let down the skiff. AC27:31 But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers: “Unless the sailors remain aboard there is no chance of being saved.” AC27:32 So the soldiers cut the ropes to the skiff and let her fall away.

Acts 27:33-38 – 276 Take Nourishment

AC27:33 Now as the day dawned Paul kept urging them all to eat some food, 1100 saying: “This is the fourteenth day under constant strain and you have gone without food from sheer anxiety.

1100	Eat some food: Likely bread and wine. They will need the strength for the coming swim.

AC27:34 I beg you to eat something, for your safety depends on it! For not a single hair of your head will perish.” AC27:35 After saying this Paul took some bread and gave thanks to The God in the presence of all. Then he broke the bread and began to eat. AC27:36 This brought courage to them all and so they also took something to eat. AC27:37 Now all of us on the ship numbered 276 1101 souls on board.

1101	276: One text gives only 76 but this is now known to be a copyist’s error. We can see the size of this boat by so many crew, soldiers, prisoners, and travelers.

AC27:38 After they had all eaten enough they began to lighten the ship, throwing sacks of grain into the sea.

Acts 27:39-44 – Shipwreck

AC27:39 Now when it was day they could not recognize the land, but they discovered a certain bay with a beach. 1102 They began to plan if it were possible to beach the ship.

1102	A certain bay with a beach: Today this is called Saint Paul’s Bay, NE of Malta.

AC27:40 When they had cut away the anchors they abandoned them to the sea. Next they removed the ropes to the rudder, and hoisting the foresail to the blow, they made for the beach. AC27:41 When they went aground 1103 upon a shoal between two currents the prow got stuck firmly but the stern began to break up in the surge.

1103	Went aground: There is thick mud and clay off St Paul’s Bay.

AC27:42 Now the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners lest any of them should swim away and escape. AC27:43 But the centurion wanted to save Paul and so he prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could to jump overboard first into the sea and swim for shore. AC27:44 The rest would follow on boards and broken pieces of the ship. And so it all happened that way and everyone got safely to land.

Review Questions on Chapter Twenty-seven