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Bible Dictionaries
Ship (2)
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or (ναῦς, occurring in Acts 27:41 only, ‘a vessel of considerable size’; cf. πλοῖον, ‘ship, boat, sailing vessel,’ Acts 20:13; Acts 20:38; Acts 21:2-3; Acts 21:6; Acts 27:2 ff; Acts 28:11, James 3:4, Revelation 8:9; Revelation 18:17; Revelation 18:19, and frequently in the Gospels; cf. also πλοιάριον, ‘a little boat,’ Mark 3:9; Mark 4:36, John 21:8, and ἡ σκάφη, ‘a skiff,’ used of the small life-boat which was towed astern the larger vessel on which St. Paul sailed from Palestine to Italy, Acts 27:16; Acts 27:30; Acts 27:32)
The ancient Hebrews were not given to seafaring, Solomon (1 Kings 5:9; 1 Kings 9:26-28; 1 Kings 10:22) and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:48-49) being the only important exceptions. They preferred agricultural and pastoral life. Besides, Canaan had no good harbours, and almost the entire coast remained permanently in the possession of others, the Phcenicians holding all north of Mt. Carmel, and the Philistines most of that to the south. Simon the Hasmonaean (circa, about 145 b.c.) was the first to make a harbour. ‘He took Joppa for haven, and made it an entrance for the isles of the sea’ (1 Maccabees 14:5). According to Josephus (Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) I. xxi. 5, Ant. XV. ix. 6), Herod the Great added a second harbour at Caesarea. As early as 400 b.c. the Greeks demonstrated their ability to construct large ships. Dionysius I. of Syracuse built ships with four ranks of oarsmen (Pliny, Historia Naturalis (Pliny) vii. 57; Diod. Sic. xiv. 41, 42). In the days of St. Paul the Romans controlled the commerce of the Mediterranean.
It is to St. Luke that we owe the most vivid as well as the most accurate account of sea-voyaging which has come down to us from antiquity. Experts in naval science agree that it is without a parallel (cf. J. Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul4). Luke must have possessed a genuine Greek love for things nautical. The wealth of detail contained in Acts 27, 28 regarding St. Paul’s experiences from Caesarea to Puteoli, which covered a period of six months (Sept. a.d. 58 to March 59), is invaluable. But long prior to this most eventful voyage, St. Paul had become experienced in nautical affairs. Writing to the Corinthians, he says, ‘Thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep’ (2 Corinthians 11:25), clinging perhaps to some floating plank or other timber of a wrecked vessel (cf. Acts 27:44).
In the voyage to Italy St. Paul and his fellow-prisoners were carried in three different vessels: (1) In a ship of Adramyttium (a town near Troas in Mysia), probably a coasting vessel which was returning home for the winter (Acts 27:2). The centurion’s plan probably was, originally, to take the prisoners all the way to Mysia, and from there cross over and join the Egnatian Way, which ran overland from Byzantium through Philippi to Dyrrachium, thence crossing to Italy. As a matter of fact, they sailed by this vessel only from Caesarea to Myra in Lycia. (2) In a corn-ship of Alexandria bound for Italy, from Myra to Melita, one of the great fleet of merchant ships which assisted in feeding Rome (Acts 27:6). This was the vessel which was wrecked. (3) In a second corn-ship of Alexandria, which brought them from Melita to Puteoli (Acts 28:11).
The following points in connexion with these ships are especially noteworthy:
1. Size of ships.-While we are not informed as to their exact dimensions, we do know that they were capable of carrying not only a considerable cargo of wheat but also 276 souls all told (though the Vaticanmanuscript reads but 76), and that when one was wrecked another took all these persons on board (Acts 27:37-38, Acts 28:11). It has been estimated that the capacity of such vessels must have ranged from 500 to 1000 tons. This is corroborated by what we know in general about Roman merchant vessels. That, for example, on which Josephus was wrecked, he tells us, carried ‘about six hundred’ (Vita, 3). Lucian (Πλοῖον ἢ Εὐχαί) also describes a vessel which was driven by a storm into the port of Athens, which measured the equivalent of 180 ft. in length by 45 ft. in breadth, having an approximate tonnage of 1200. And, according to Athenaeus (28:37), the war galley of Ptolemy Philopator measured 420 by 57 ft. (cf. J. Smith, Voyage and Shipwreck4, pp. 187 ff., 234 ff.).
2. The officers.-(a) The sailing-master, steersman, pilot (Κυβερνήτης, Acts 27:11; cf. Revelation 18:17; in the Authorized Version of James 3:4 called ‘the governor,’ ὁ εὐθύνων); and (b) the ship-owner, ship-master, captain (ναύκληρος); he it was who hired out his vessel, wholly or in part, for purposes of transportation, probably also receiving the fares.
3. The sailors, called ναῦται, seamen, shipmen, crew.-It was their keen ears that detected the sounds of the breakers when they were nearing land (Acts 27:27; Acts 27:30).
4. The sails (σκεῦος, translated ‘gear,’ Acts 27:17; the same word is used in Acts 10:11 of the great sheet which Peter saw in a vision; cf. ἀρτέμωνα, translated ‘foresail,’ Acts 27:40).-Roman ships usually bore but one large square sail, on which for the most part they depended to propel the vessel. Pliny says there was also a sail at the stern, but this J. Smith regards as exceptional (Pliny, Proaem. xix.; Smith, Voyage and Shipwreck4, p. 192). This large mainsail was fastened to a long yard. It was furled by being drawn up to the yard. It was reefed in time of storm (cf. Acts 27:15). From a drawing, preserved at Pompeii, of a vessel dating from the time of the apostles, it is evident that Roman sails were sewn across both vertically and horizontally by bands of rope to check any rent from extending beyond the square in which it occurred. They were made of costly material-byssus, or shesh-and sometimes bore designs, which were woven into them. The ships of Antony and Cleopatra carried purple sails. Tyrian sails were richly embroidered. As St. Paul was a tent-maker, he probably understood sail-making also, and may have more than once crossed the Mediterranean, earning his passage by plying his trade. In times of storm a vessel could not safely carry the large mainsail, or even the yard-arm; hence these were lowered on the deck, and a small storm-sail or ‘foresail’ (ἀρτέμων) was hoisted to take their place. This was what was actually done on St. Paul’s ship just before running aground (Acts 27:40). Some, however, following Breusing, interpret the ‘gear’ which was ‘lowered’ (Acts 27:17) to mean that cables with weights attached were lowered into the sea to retard the vessel in its progress to inevitable destruction (so Blass, Gcerne, Knabenbauer, and, to a modified extent, also Wendt).
5. The masts.-Nothing is said of masts in the account except by implication. There must have been a large mainmast, and probably a foremast also at the bow. They were made of strong wood, possibly of cedar (cf. Ezekiel 27:5). There is no proof that these Roman corn-ships bore a mizzenmast or aftermost mast, though doubtless the Romans at this time possessed three-masted vessels.
6. The anchor (ἄγκυρα, Acts 27:29-30; Acts 27:40).-Four are specially mentioned in Acts 27:29, but others were doubtless carried, for use at both bow and stern. Originally, the ancients used large stones, but in Roman times they made anchors of iron. They consisted of a main stock with two teeth-like extremities, not always ‘without flukes’ (cf. Roschach in Daremberg-Saglio’s Dictionnaire des Antiquités, 1873-75, p. 267). Anchors were needed to prevent a vessel from being cast on the rocks. Those on the ill-fated vessel with St. Paul were finally cast off into the sea and abandoned (Acts 27:40). A singularly beautiful figurative use is made of the expression in Hebrews 6:19, in which the Apostle speaks of hops as ‘an anchor of the soul’ (see Anchor).
7. The rudder (πηδάλιον, Acts 27:40; cf. James 3:4).-The Greek word comes from a root meaning ‘the blade of an oar’; hence a rudder was primarily a broad float oar or paddle. It was probably hung by straps or ropes from the after part of the ship, and was managed by the steersman or master of the vessel (κυβερνήτης). When not in use, as for example in harbour, it was made fast either to the side of the ship or on deck. When a vessel was on the verge of running aground, the rudder was loosed to carry the ship up the beach (Acts 27:40). Of the rudder, also, a striking figurative use is made by the apostle James in speaking of the tongue; he says that, as a little rudder can turn about a great ship, so the tongue can control the whole nature of man (Acts 3:4-5).
8. Helps (Acts 27:17, ‘They used helps, undergirding the ship,’ βοηθείαις ἐχρῶντο, ὑποζωννύντες τὸ πλοῖον).-These were cables for undergirding and strengthening the hull especially in bad weather, in order to prevent the ship’s timbers from yielding under strain. The vessels of the Romans were so loosely built that they had to be frapped. This was done either lengthwise round the ship from stem to stern above the water-line (as Breusing and Torr are disposed to think) or transversely, amidship under the keel, encircling the vessel (as Balmer, J. Smith, and others). The verb ‘undergirding’ favours the latter view, though both processes may have been in vogue.
9. Tackling (σκευή, Acts 27:19).-A comprehensive term including all the ship’s necessary furniture, its fittings and equipment, everything movable lying on deck or anywhere about, not in actual use-these were cast overboard the third day.
10. The little boat (ἡ σκάφη, Acts 27:16; Acts 27:30; Acts 27:32).-Every large merchant ship probably had one or more such skiffs to serve as life-boats. They were usually towed behind. That attached to St. Paul’s ship was dragging water-logged astern, until, under the lee or Cauda, it was taken up for greater security (Acts 27:16). When the sailors felt that danger was imminent, they began to lower it in order to escape to land (Acts 27:30), but St. Paul promptly detected their scheme and reported them to the centurion, whereupon it was cut loose and dropped overboard (Acts 27:32).
11. Ropes (σχοινία, Acts 27:32).-These held the little life-boat, but, being cut, the boat was allowed to fall off into the sea. No incident in the voyage shows so well the faith which the soldiers had in St. Paul.
12. Sign (παράσημον, Acts 28:11).-Roman ships bore individual ensigns. That on which St. Paul left Melita bore the sign ‘Dioscuri,’ the Twin Brothers, referring to the heroes Castor and Pollux, the twin sons of Zeus, who were generally regarded as protectors of voyagers. In Greek mythology they were the heroes of many adventures, and were worshipped as divinities, particularly by Dorians and at Rome. To them, as the patron deities of the seamen, this third ship was dedicated. Why the ensign of this particular vessel should be given is not clear, but perhaps it was because of the captain’s courage in starting in winter (February?) on so perilous a voyage-Melita to Puteoli. Sometimes eyes also were painted or sculptured on the prows of vessels (cf. Acts 27:15, ἀντοφθαλμεῖν, lit. [Note: literally, literature.] ‘to look at the wind eye to eye’). The hull, too, was often painted and decorated, the ornament on the stern-post being commonly a swan or a goose-head. From the hull (πρύμνα, Acts 27:29) rose the flagstaff which carried the pennant.
13. Speed, winds, currents, direction, etc.-A vessel’s rate of sailing depended much upon the wind. The voyage from Troas to Philippi St. Paul made on one occasion apparently in two days (Acts 16:11-12), whereas on another it required five (Acts 20:6). With a fair wind, Roman ships ordinarily averaged, it is reckoned, seven knots an hour. Being rigged like modern Chinese junks, they were peculiarly well fitted to make good speed before the wind. When the winds were unfavourable, ships could be made to sail ‘within seven points of the wind’; for example, St. Paul’s vessel maintained a N.W.W. course from Cauda to Melita in spite of an E.N.E. Euraquilo, or north-easter (Acts 27:14). Roman sailors knew also how to make use of the currents of the Mediterranean. Thus, the ship of Adramyttium sailed northward from Sidon under the lee of Cyprus against winds that were contrary (Acts 27:4), probably helped somewhat by a coast current which flows in that direction. In a very severe storm, sailors made their ships ‘lie to,’ the object being, not to make progress, but to ride out the gale, as under the lee of Cauda (Acts 27:14-17). But with vessels of only moderate size, rigged with sails unequally distributed over the deck, and having at best very imperfect charts, and with no compass, shipwrecks were of common occurrence. Sailing was avoided as much as possible in the winter season because the heavens were then frequently clouded and it was impossible to take observations (Acts 27:20, Acts 28:11), Plumb-lines were carried for purposes of sounding (Acts 27:28), and possibly other instruments, such as windlasses; but the science of navigation in apostolic times was still in its infancy.
Most remarkable is the fact that before setting out to sea it was customary even among the Greeks and Romans to supplicate the protecting deities for a prosperous voyage (cf. Wisdom of Solomon 14:1, Jonah 1:5).
Literature.-J, Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul4, 1880; A. Breusing, Die Nautik der Alten, 1886; J. Vars, L’Art nautique dans l’antiquité et spécialement en Grèce, d’après A. Breusing, 1887; H. Balmer, Die Romfahrt des Apostels Paulus und die Seefahrtskunde im röm. Kaiserzeitalter, 1905; Cecil Torr, Ancient Ships, 1894; A. Böckh, Urkunden über das Seewesen des attischen Staates, 1840; H. Guthe, article ‘Ships and Navigation’ in Standard Bible Dictionary, 1909; M. A. Canney, article ‘Ship’ in Encyclopaedia Biblica iv.; F. H. Woods, article ‘Ships and Boats’ in Hastings’ Single-vol. Dictionary of the Bible ; article ‘Ship’ in Piercy’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1908; P. Watts, article ‘Ship’ in Encyclopaedia Britannica 11 xxiv.; R. M. Blomfield, article ‘Ships and Boats’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) v.
George L. Robinson.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Ship (2)'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/s/ship-2.html. 1906-1918.
