the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Euroclydon
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Εὐροκλύδων, q.d. south-east billow), the name given (Acts 27:14) to the gale of wind in, the Adriatic Gulf, which off the south coast of Crete seized the ship in which Paul was ultimately wrecked on the coast of Malta. (See SHIPWRECK OF PAUL). The circumstances of this gale are described with much particularity, and they admit abundant illustration from the experience of modern seamen in the Levant. In the first place it came down from the island (κατ᾿ αύτῆς ), and therefore must have blown more or less from the northward, since the ship was sailing along the south coast, not far from Mount Ida, and on the wary from Fair-Havens towards Phoenice. So Captain Spratt, after leaving Fair-Havens with a light southerly wind, fell in with "a strong northerly breeze blowing direct from Mount Ida" (Smith, Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, 1856, pages 97, 245). Next, the wind is described as being like a typhoon (mod. tuffone, i.e., "striker") or whirlwind (τυφωνικός, A.V. "tempestuous;" comp. τυφών, Aristot. Meteor. 1; De Mundo, 4:18); and the same authority speaks of such gales in the Levant as being generally "accompanied by terrific gusts and squalls from those high mountains" (Conybeare, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 1856, 2:401). It is also observable that the change of wind in the voyage before us (27:13, 14) is exactly what' might have been expected; for Captain J. Stewart observes, in his remarks on the Archipelago, that "it is always safe to anchor under the lee of an island with a northerly wind, as it dies away gradually, but it would be extremely dangerous with southerly winds, as they almost invariably shift to a violent northerly wind" (Purdy's Sailing Directory, part 2, page 61).
The long duratian of the gale ("the fourteenth night," Acts 27:27), the overclouded state of the sky ("neither sun nor stars appearing," Acts 27:20), and even the heavy rain which concluded the storm (τὸν ὑετόν, 28:2), could easily be matched with parallel instances in modern times (see Smith. Voyage and Shipwreck, page 144; Conybeare, Life and Epp. 2:412). We have seen that the wind has more or less northerly. The context gives us full materials for determining its direction with great exactitude. The vessel was driven from the coast of Crete to Clauda (27:16), and apprehension was felt that she would be driven into the African Syrtis (Acts 27:17). Combining these two circumstances with the fact that she was less than half way from Fair- Havens to Phoenice when the storm began (Acts 27:14), we come to the conclusion that it came from the N.E. or E.N.E., and hence might fitly be termred a north-easter. This is quite in harmony with the natural sense of Εὐρακύλων (Vulg. Euro-aquilo, i.e. north-east wind, the modern Gregalia of those seas), which is regarded as the true reading by Bentley, and is found in some of the best MSS.; but we are disposed to adhere to the received text, more especially as it is the more difficult reading, and the phrase used by Luke (ὁ καλούμενος Εὐροκλύδων ) seems to point to some peculiar word in use among the sailors. Alford thinks that the true name of the wind was εὐρακύλων, but that the Greek sailors, not understanding the Latin termination, corrupted the word into εὐροκλύδων, aid that so Luke wrote it (Comment. in loc.). Such winds are known to modern mariners in the Mediterranean bythe name of Levanters. They are not confined to any single point, but blow in all directions from the northeast round by the north to the south-east. The "great wind" or mighty tempest experienced by the prophet Jonah on his way from Joppa to Tarshish (1, 4; comp. the destructive "east wind" of Psalms 48:7) appears to have been one of these gales (comp. Josephus, War, 3:8, 3, who calls it the "black north wind," μελαμβόρειον ). (See WIND).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Euroclydon'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/e/euroclydon.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
