Bible Commentaries
Acts 27

Verses 1-44

XXVII 1-XXVIII 31 The Journey to Rome and Captivity there, A.D. 60-3 —The preceding chapters, especially 22-26, have formed a kind of defence of St Paul in face of the empire. Again and again his innocence is recognized. St Luke’s aim seems to have been to defend not only St Paul but Christians generally, and to show how much they differed from the Jews, who were becoming every day more bitterly opposed to the empire. Instances of the respect of the imperial authorities for St Paul, which contrast with the hostility he encounters from the Jews, continue till the end of the book and his arrival in Rome. At that point the capital of the world having been reached, the church of the Gentiles is fully established. The Apostle of the circumcision had come to Rome, and now the Apostle of the uncircumcision is the only other Apostle to live.

XXVII 1-12 From Caesarea to Crete, A.D. 60 —1. The last ’we-section’ begins. St Luke’s eyewitness account is the chief authority for the art of navigation in antiquity. The minute scrutiny of sailors and other experts has confirmed his accuracy and observation; cf. J. Smith, Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul ( 1886). The other prisoners were probably criminals condemned to appear in the arena at Rome. St Paul the Roman citizen who might have been set at liberty was accompanied by St Luke and Aristarchus. They perhaps counted as the two slaves allowed to attend an imprisoned Roman citizen; cf.Colossians 4:10, ’the band Augusta’, the Augustan cohort (cohors I Augusta) then apparently stationed near Caesarea. 2. Adramyttium was a flourishing port near Troas. 3. On Sidon, 20 m. from Tyre, see 21:4. Julius treated St Paul with great respect throughout the journey. He visited the church ’to be cared for’.4. The NW. wind forced them to sail ’under the lee of Cyprus’, east of the island.

5-6. For Lystra read ’ Myra’. It was the port of call for grain ships from Egypt to Italy when the prevailing NW. wind prevented a direct crossing. They embarked on one of these, a navis oneraria of 300 tons and more.

7. The unwieldly ship made slow progress against the wind. Cnidus is the promontory N. of Rhodes, and Salmon that at the NE. of Crete, under the lee, i.e. along the south of which they sailed.

8. For Thalassa read ’ Lasea’.

9-10. After the Fast, the Day of Expiation at the end of September, with the equinoctial gales, the sailing season ended. Relying on all his experience ’Paul advised them’.

11. As the senior official on board the centurion was in command of the ship.

12. Phenice is probably the modern Phineka, and seems to have been protected from SW. and NW. whence came the dangerous winds; ’looking to south and north of west’.

13-20 The Great Storm —13. ’When they had weighed anchor, they sailed along Creteclose in’. Vg. mistakes the Gk for ’close in’ for a proper name.

14. ’There arose from the land a tempestuous wind called the NorthEaster’. This wind blows suddenly from the mountains of Crete, 7,000 feet high.

16. Under the lee of Cauda the boat was hoisted on board.

17. ’helps’, supports. Ropes were passed under the ship to hold the timbers together. The shifting Syrtis sandbanks to the South were the terror of sailors: ’the sail yard’, probably the mainsail, to act as a sea-anchor.

20. The sun and the stars were the on guides before the invention of the compass. These disappeared for several days’.

21-26 St Paul’s Vision —21. St Paul refers to his neglected advice to ensure that he is listened to now. 23. God encourages him in his darkest hours, 18:9; 23:11, and after a fortnight of tossing and drifting this was certainly one of them. Notice how he assumes the leadership in this crisis.

27-38 The Ship approaches Land —27. Malta is 600 m. from Crete. The progress was at the rate of just under 2 m. an hour, which is said to be that of a ship driven helpless. Adria, the Adriatic, included the central Mediterranean.

28. The fathom is about five feet.

30. The danger that the ship would break up was increased now that it was stationary.

31. The expert help of the sailors was necessary if all were to be saved. God had revealed that this would be so, but prudent means must be used. The respect that St Paul inspired and also his practical sense are continually in evidence.

33-34. There had been no proper meals for a fortnight, 21, and there was exhausting work ahead.

35. The technical ’he broke bread’ can mean either an ordinary meal or the Eucharist (see on 2:42), but probably no more is meant here than prayer of thanksgiving for food. 38. The ship must be brought as near shore as possible.

39-44 The ’Shipwreck —39. A bay with a beach was discovered.

40. ’So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time unloosing the ropes that tied the rudders, and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made towards the shore’. The anchors were now superfluous, but the rudders, long oars on either side of the stern were needed to guide the ship, and the sail to drive it onto the beach.

41. ’Where two seas meet’: St Paul’s Bay answers to St Luke’s description, and the identification is generally accepted. The ship grounded on the western shore of the bay, a little south of the island of Gzeier, which lies across the western part of the mouth of the bay, in the channel separating the western end of Gzeier from the mainland.

42. The soldiers were liable to death if the prisoners escaped; cf. 12:19. 43. Cf. 3. 44. After the swimmers the rest were ordered to come ’on planks and on pieces of the ship’. Omit ’they carried’.