Acts 27:14

King James Version

But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
But then a very strong wind called the "Northeaster" came from across the island.

Revised Standard Version
But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
But anone after ther arose agaynste their purpose a flawe of wynde out of the northeeste.

Hebrew Names Version
But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euroclydon.

International Standard Version
But it was not long before a violent wind (called a northeaster) swept down from the island.from it">[fn]

New American Standard Bible
But before very long a violent wind, called Euraquilo, rushed down from the land;

New Century Version
But then a very strong wind named the "northeaster" came from the island.

Update Bible Version
But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo:

Webster's Bible Translation
But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.

English Standard Version
But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.

World English Bible
But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euroclydon.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon.

Weymouth's New Testament
But it was not long before a furious north-east wind, coming down from the mountains, burst upon us and carried the ship out of her course.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And not aftir miche, the wynde Tifonyk, that is clepid north eest, was ayens it.

English Revised Version
But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo:

Berean Standard Bible
But it was not long before a cyclone called the Northeaster swept down across the island.

Contemporary English Version
But soon a strong wind called "The Northeaster" blew against us from the island.

Amplified Bible
But soon afterward a violent wind, called Euraquilo [a northeaster, a tempestuous windstorm like a typhoon], came rushing down from the island;

American Standard Version
But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo:

Bible in Basic English
But after a little time, a very violent wind, named Euraquilo, came down from it with great force.

Complete Jewish Bible
But before long there struck us from land a full gale from the northeast, the kind they call an Evrakilon.

Darby Translation
But not long after there came down it a hurricane called Euroclydon.

Etheridge Translation
And after a little there came forth against us a blowing of the tempest which is called Tuphonikos Euroklidon;

Murdock Translation
And shortly after, a tempest of wind arose upon us, called Typhonic Euroclydon.

King James Version (1611)
But not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous winde, called Euroclydon.

New Living Translation
But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a "northeaster") burst across the island and blew us out to sea.

New Life Bible
Later a bad wind storm came down from the land. It was called a northeaster.

New Revised Standard
But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But anon after, there arose by it a stormy winde called Euroclydon.

George Lamsa Translation
A short while after, there arose against us a hurricane called Ty-phon''ic Eu-roc''lydon.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, after no long time, there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, called Euraquilo, -

Douay-Rheims Bible
But not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroaquilo.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But not long after, there arose against their purpose, a flawe of wynde out of the northeast.

Good News Translation
But soon a very strong wind—the one called "Northeaster"—blew down from the island.

Christian Standard Bible®
But before long, a fierce wind called the “northeaster” rushed down from the island.

Lexham English Bible
But not long afterward a wind like a hurricane, called the northeaster, rushed down from it.

Literal Translation
And not much after, a stormy wind being called Euroclydon beat down on it.

Young's Literal Translation
and not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, that is called Euroclydon,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But not longe after, there rose agaynst their purpose a flawe of wynde, which is called the Northeast.

Mace New Testament (1729)
but soon after it blew a storm from north-east, which bore so upon the ship,

New English Translation
Not long after this, a hurricane-force wind called the northeaster blew down from the island.

New King James Version
But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon. [fn]

Simplified Cowboy Version
But all of sudden, the weather turned on them like a mad momma cow. A storm close to a hurricane came across the land and blew us out to sea.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo;

Legacy Standard Bible
But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo;

Contextual Overview

¹² And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. ¹³ And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. ¹⁴ But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. ¹⁵ And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. ¹⁶ And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: ¹⁷ Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. ¹⁸ And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; ¹⁹ And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. ²⁰ And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

not: Exodus 14:21-27, Jonah 1:3-5

arose: or beat

a tempestuous: Psalms 107:25-27, Ezekiel 27:26, Matthew 8:24, Mark 4:37

Euroclydon: Probably, as Dr. Shaw supposes, one of those tempestuous winds called levanters, which blow in all directions, from ne round by e to se

Reciprocal: Luke 8:23 - came James 3:4 - are driven

Cross-References

Genesis 25:28
And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Genesis 27:2
And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:

Genesis 27:3
Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

Genesis 27:4
And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.

Genesis 27:7
Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.

Genesis 27:9
Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

Genesis 27:17
And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

Genesis 27:31
And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

Psalms 141:4
Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

Luke 21:34
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But not long after,.... They had not been long at sea, but

there arose against it; the ship, or the island of Crete, or both:

a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon; in the Greek text it is a "Typhonic" wind, so called, not from the name of a country from whence it blew; rather from Typho, the same with Python, an Heathen deity, who is said to be drowned in the lake Serbonis, or in the river Orontes; about which places this sort of wind is observed to be frequent, and which may take its name from him, being supposed to be raised by him. This wind may very well be thought to be the same which is called Typhon, and is by writers s represented as a very tempestuous one, as a sort of whirlwind or hurricane, a violent storm, though without thunder and lightning; and Pliny t calls it the chief plague of sailors, it breaking their sails, and even their vessels to pieces: and this may still have its name from Typho, since the Egyptians used to call everything that is pernicious and hurtful by this name; moreover, this wind is also called "Euroclydon". The Alexandrian copy reads, "Euracylon", and so the Vulgate Latin version seems to have read, rendering it "Euro-aquilo, the north east wind". The Ethiopic version renders it, the "north wind"; but according to Aristotle u, and Pliny w the wind Typhon never blew in the northern parts; though some think that wind is not meant here, since the Typhon is a sudden storm of wind, and soon over; whereas this storm of wind was a settled and lasting one, it continued many days; and that it is only called Typhonic, because it bore some likeness to it, being very blustering and tempestuous: it seems by its name to be an easterly wind, which blew very violently, ploughed the sea, and lifted up its waves; hence the Arabic version renders it, "a mover" or "stirrer up of the waves"; which beat against the ship in a violent manner, and exposed it to great danger.

s Aristotel. Meteorolog. l. 3. c. 1. Apaleius de Mundo, p. 266. t Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 48. u Ut supra. (Aristotel. Meteorolog. l. 3. c. 1.) w lb. c. 49.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Arose - Beat violently.

Against it - Against the vessel. Greek: seizing her, and whirling her around.

A tempestuous wind - Turbulent - violent - strong.

Called Euroclydon - Εὐροκλύδων Eurokludōn. Interpreters have been much perplexed about the meaning of this word, which occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The most probable supposition is, that it denotes “a wind not blowing steadily from any quarter, but a hurricane, or wind veering about to different quarters.” Such hurricanes are known to abound in the Mediterranean, and are now called Levanters, deriving their name from blowing chiefly in the Levant, or eastern part of the Mediterranean. The name euroclydon is derived probably from two Greek words, εῦρος euros, “wind,” and κλύδων kludōn, “a wave”; so called from its agitating and exciting the waves. It thus answers to the usual effects of a hurricane, or of a wind rapidly changing its points of compass.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 27:14. A tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. — Interpreters have been greatly perplexed with this word; and the ancient copyists not less so, as the word is variously written in the MSS. and versions. Dr. Shaw supposes it to be one of those tempestuous winds called levanters, which blow in all directions, from N.E. round by the E. to S.E. The euroclydon, from the circumstances which attended it, he says, "seems to have varied very little from the true east point; for, as the ship could not bear, αντοφθαλμειν, loof up, against it, Acts 27:15, but they were obliged to let her drive, we cannot conceive, as there are no remarkable currents in that part of the sea, and as the rudder could be of little use, that it could take any other course than as the winds directed it. Accordingly, in the description of the storm, we find that the vessel was first of all under the island Clauda, Acts 27:16, which is a little to the southward of the parallel of that part of the coast of Crete from whence it may be supposed to have been driven; then it was tossed along the bottom of the Gulf of Adria, Acts 27:27, and afterwards broken to pieces, Acts 27:41, at Melita, which is a little to the northward of the parallel above mentioned; so that the direction and course of this particular euroclydon seems to have been first at east by north, and afterwards, pretty nearly east by south." These winds, called now levanters, and formerly, it appears, euroclydon, were no determinate winds, blowing always from one point of the compass: euroclydon was probably then, what levanter is now, the name of any tempestuous wind in that sea, blowing from the north-east round by east to the south-east; and therefore St. Luke says, there rose against it (i.e. the vessel) a tempestuous wind called euroclydon; which manner of speaking shows that he no more considered it to be confined to any one particular point of the compass, than our sailors do their levanter. Dr. Shaw derives ευροκλυδων from ευρου κλυδων, an eastern tempest, which is the very meaning affixed to a levanter at the present day.

The reading of the Codex Alexandrinus is ευρακυλων, the north-east wind, which is the same with the euro-aquilo of the Vulgate. This reading is approved by several eminent critics; but Dr. Shaw, in the place referred to above, has proved it to be insupportable.

Dr. Shaw mentions a custom which he has several times seen practised by the Mohammedans in these levanters:-After having tied to the mast, or ensign staff, some apposite passage from the Koran, they collect money, sacrifice a sheep, and throw them both into the sea. This custom, he observes, was practised some thousand years ago by the Greeks: thus Aristophanes:-

Αρν', αρνα μελαιναν, παιδες, εξενεγκατε·

Τυφως γαρ εκβαινειν παρασκευαζεται.

Ran. Act. iii. s. 2, ver. 871.

A lamb! boys, sacrifice a black lamb immediately:

For a tempest is about to burst forth.

Virgil refers to the same custom: -

Sic fatus, meritos aris mactavit honores:

Taurum Neptuno, taurum tibi, pulcher Apollo;

Nigram hyemi pecudem, zephyris felicibus albam.

AEn. iii. ver. 118.

Thus he spake, and then sacrificed on the altars the proper eucharistic victims: -

A bull to Neptune, and a bull to thee, O beautiful Apollo;

A black sheep to the north wind, and a white sheep to the west.

And again: -

Tres Eryci vitutos, et tempestatibus agnam,

Caedere deinde jubet.

AEn. v. ver. 772.

Then he commanded three calves to be sacrificed to Eryx,

and a lamb to the tempests.

In the days of the Prophet Jonah the mariners in this sea were accustomed to do the same. Then they offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows; John 1:16. See Shaw's Travels, 4to. edit. p. 329-333.

The heathens supposed that these tempests were occasioned by evil spirits: and they sacrificed a black sheep in order to drive the demon away. See the ancient Scholiast on Aristophanes, in the place cited above.

Sir George Staunton (Embassy to China, vol. ii. p. 403) mentions a similar custom among the Chinese, and gives an instance of it when the yachts and barges of the embassy were crossing the Yellow River:-

"The amazing velocity with which the Yellow River runs at the place where the yacht and barges of the embassy were to cross it rendered, according to the notions of the Chinese crews, a sacrifice necessary to the spirit of the river, in order to insure a safe passage over it. For this purpose, the master, surrounded by the crew of the yacht, assembled upon the forecastle; and, holding as a victim in his hand a cock, wrung off his head, which committing to the stream, he consecrated the vessel with the blood spouting from the body, by sprinkling it upon the deck, the masts, the anchors, and the doors of the apartments; and stuck upon them a few of the feathers of the bird. Several bowls of meat were then brought forward, and ranged in a line across the deck. Before these were placed a cup of oil, one filled with tea, one with some ardent spirit, and a fourth with salt; the captain making, at the same time, three profound inclinations of his body, with hands uplifted, and muttering a few words, as if of solicitation to the deity. The loo, or brazen drum, vas beaten in the meantime forcibly; lighted matches were held towards heaven; papers, covered with tin or silver leaf, were burnt; and crackers fired off in great abundance by the crew. The captain afterwards made libations to the river, by emptying into it, from the vessel's prow, the several cups of liquids; and concluded with throwing in also that which held the salt. All the ceremonies being over, and the bowls of meat removed, the people feasted on it in the steerage, and launched afterwards, with confidence, the yacht into the current. As soon as she had reached the opposite shore, the captain returned thanks to heaven, with three inclinations of the body.

"Besides the daily offering and adoration at the altar erected on the left or honourable side of the cabin in every Chinese vessel, the solemn sacrifices above described are made to obtain the benefit of a fair wind, or to avert any impending danger. The particular spot upon the forecastle, where the principal ceremonies are performed, is not willingly suffered to be occupied or defiled by any person on board."