Now when it was determined that 1awe bwould sail for cItaly, they turned Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan dRegiment named Julius.Luke apparently stayed nearby, so that he could visit and assist Paul during the two years of his imprisonment.[we] Acts 16:10; 27:1-28Acts 25:12, 25Acts 18:2; 27:6Acts 10:1 2 And going aboard a ship from Adramyttian which was about to sail for the ports along the west coast province of aAsia Minor, we put out to sea; and bAristarchus, a cMacedonian from dThessalonica, accompanied us.Acts 2:9Acts 19:29Acts 16:9Acts 17:1 3 The next day we landed at aSidon; and Julius, btreating Paul with thoughtful consideration, callowed him to go to his friends there and be cared for and refreshed.Matt 11:21Acts 27:43Acts 24:23 4 From there we put out to sea and sailed to the leeward side of aCyprus for protection from weather because bthe winds were against us.Acts 4:36Acts 27:7 5 When we had sailed across the sea along the coasts of aCilicia and bPamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia on the south coast of Asia Minor.Acts 6:9Acts 13:13 6 There the centurion Julius found an aAlexandrian ship a grain ship of the Roman fleet sailing for bItaly, and he put us aboard it.Acts 28:11Acts 18:2; 27:1 7 For a number of days we sailed slowly and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus; then, abecause the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the leeward side of bCrete, off Salmone;Acts 27:4Acts 2:11; 27:12f, 21; Titus 1:5, 12 8 and ahugging the shore with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea on the south side of Crete.Acts 27:13
9 Now much time had been lost, and 1navigation was dangerous, because even the time for athe fast was already over, so Paul began to strongly warn them,Sailing in the Mediterranean was dangerous for ancient ships after the second week of September, and virtually impossible after Nov 11, so now there was no hope of reaching Italy before winter.Lev 16:29-31; 23:27-29; Num 29:7 10 saying, “Men, I sense after careful thought and observation that this voyage will certainly be a adisaster and with great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”Acts 27:21 11 However, the centurion Julius, ranking officer on board was persuaded by the apilot and the owner of the ship rather than by what Paul said.Rev 18:17 12 Because the harbor was not well situated for wintering, the majority of the sailors decided to put to sea from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor of aCrete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.Acts 2:11; 27:13, 21; Titus 1:5, 12
13 So when the south wind blew softly, thinking that they had obtained their goal, they weighed anchor and asailed along bCrete, hugging the coast.Acts 27:8Acts 2:11; 27:12f, 21; Titus 1:5, 12
14 But soon afterward a violent wind, called Euraquilo a northeaster, a tempestuous windstorm like a typhoon, came arushing down from the island;Mark 4:37 15 and when the ship was caught in it and could not head against the wind to gain stability, we gave up and letting her drift were driven along. 16 We ran under the shelter of a small island twenty-five miles south of Crete called Clauda, and with great difficulty we were able to get the ship’s 1skiff on the deck and secure it.This was a small boat towed behind the ship for transportation to and from shore or as a lifeboat for emergencies. In a violent sea it might collide repeatedly with the ship and cause major damage. 17 After hoisting the skiff on board, they used 1support lines for frapping to undergird and brace the ship’s hull; and fearing that they might arun aground on the shallows of Syrtis off the north coast of Africa, they let down the 2sea anchor and lowered the sails and were driven along backwards with the bow into the wind.These were ropes that were tightly wrapped around (and sometimes under) the hull of an ancient ship to firm and strengthen it in heavy seas.A sea anchor (para-anchor) is a sturdy fabric parachute set at the end of an anchor rode (designed for use with a rope/chain windlass) or other long line and sometimes weighted so it rides deep. A sea anchor is placed off the bow (front) so that the boat’s bow would be held into the wind while drifting or being blown downwind. One danger of this is that the rudder may be damaged and that is what happened later—the rudder was lost (see v 40). A drogue is set off the stern (back) when sailing downwind to slow the boat and provide more control. The sea anchor held the bow into the wind and slowed the drift. The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, Third Edition.Acts 27:26, 29 18 On the next day, as we were being violently tossed about by the storm and taking on water, they began to ajettison the cargo;Jon 1:5; Acts 27:38 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands to further reduce the weight. 20 Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm kept raging about us, from then on all hope of our being saved was growing worse and worse and gradually abandoned.
21 After 1they had gone a long time without food because of seasickness and stress, Paul stood up before them and said, “aMen, you should have followed my advice and should not have set sail from bCrete, and brought on this cdamage and loss.Lit there was much loss of appetite.Acts 27:10Acts 27:7 22 But even now I urge you to akeep up your courage and be in good spirits, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss of the ship.Acts 27:25, 36 23 For this very night aan angel of the God to whom I belong and bwhom I serve cstood before me,Acts 5:19Rom 1:9Acts 18:9; 23:11; 2 Tim 4:17 24 and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul. aYou must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has given you the lives of ball those who are sailing with you.’Acts 23:11Acts 27:31, 42, 44 25 So akeep up your courage, men, for I believe God and have complete confidence in Him that it will turn out exactly as I have been told;Acts 27:22, 36 26 but we must arun the ship aground on some bisland.”Acts 27:17, 29Acts 28:1
27 The fourteenth night had come and we were drifting and being driven about in the 1Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.The Ionian Sea was then considered part of the Adriatic (Adrian Gulf) which, in ancient times, extended much farther south than today’s Adriatic Sea. 28 So they took soundings using a weighted line and found the depth to be twenty fathoms ; and a little farther on they sounded again and found the depth to be fifteen fathoms . 29 Then fearing that we might arun aground somewhere on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern to slow the ship and kept wishing for daybreak to come.Acts 27:17, 26 30 But as the sailors were trying to escape secretly from the ship and had let down athe skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,Acts 27:16 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the aropes that held the skiff and let it fall and drift away.John 2:15
33 While they waited for the day to dawn, Paul encouraged them all and told them to have some food, saying, “This is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly on watch and going without food, having eaten nothing. 34 So I urge you to eat some food, for this is for your survival; for anot a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”Matt 10:30 35 Having said this, he took bread and agave thanks to God in front of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.Matt 14:19 36 Then aall of them were encouraged and their spirits improved, and they also ate some food.Acts 27:22, 25 37 All told there were two hundred and seventy-six aof us aboard the ship.Acts 2:41 38 After they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by athrowing the 1wheat from Egypt overboard into the sea.Wheat was a major Egyptian export.Jon 1:5; Acts 27:18
39 When day came, athey did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, and they decided to run the ship ashore there if they could.Acts 28:1 40 So they acut the cables and severed the anchors and left them in the sea while at the same time 1unlashing the ropes of the rudders; and after hoisting the foresail to the wind, they headed steadily for the beach.Ships of this period and region often had two large paddles on either side of the stern for steering, and when not in use they would be secured with ropes. This was particularly necessary in foul weather, where the sea might dislodge a rudder. Now that they were casting off, the rudders had to be freed and lowered into the water for use.Acts 27:29 41 But striking a 1reef with waves breaking in on either side, they ran the ship aground. The prow stuck fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up under the violent force of the waves.Lit place with water on both sides. This may have been a strip of land extending from the beach, but most of it evidently was awash by the waves at the time, since the centurion commanded everyone to swim or paddle on debris to land (vv 43f). 42 The soldiers’ plan was to akill the prisoners, so that none of them would dive overboard and swim to land and escape;Acts 12:19 43 but the centurion, awanting to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He commanded those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to the shore;Acts 27:3 44 and he commanded the rest to follow, some on floating planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it was that aall of them were brought safely to land.Acts 27:22, 31