A Work in Progress Bible Commentary
By: Chip Crush

ACTS
CHAPTER 27

Luke’s masterpiece – Acts 27 – is compared with Homer’s Odyssey, Jonah’s Mediterranean Voyage, and is even called in secular circles “one of the most instructive documents for the knowledge of ancient seamanship.” Let’s take a look.

1)      V1-12 – 1When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. 9Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, 10“Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” 11But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

In the fall of 59 or 60 AD, Luke and Aristarchus accompanied Paul, with 273 other passengers (Acts 27:37), onto a grain-ship bound for Rome. The passenger count included many prisoners escorted by a Roman Centurion named Julius (Acts 27:1-2). F.F. Bruce says, “Paul’s genius for friendship manifested itself at an early stage in the voyage. He so won the confidence of the centurion that, by the time the ship on which they had embarked at Caesarea put in at Sidon, he was allowed to go ashore on parole and visit his friends.”

After stopping in several cities along the way, the ship came in “early October” (59-60 AD) to Fair Havens, on the Isle of Crete (v7). Although Paul warned Julius not to sail the Mediterranean during a dangerous time of the year (September 14 through November 11), the Centurion disregarded his advice and tried to reach a farther – and better – port (Phoenix) in which to spend the winter (v9-12).

2)     V13-26 13When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the “northeaster,” swept down from the island. 15The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. 17When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. 21After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

A brief moment of friendly weather gave way to a fierce storm, which drove them out to sea where they expected to die. For 14 nights (v27), they were lost at sea and driven nearly mad, but, as Paul prophesied (v26) to the passengers, they would be safe after wrecking their ship off the coast of “some island” – Malta (Acts 27:14 - 28:1). Notice that Paul may not have chosen the best time to remind the passengers of his prior recommendation (v21), but after an angel of God foretold his future, Paul encouraged everyone with the prophecy of safety for all. How can you be encouraging without sounding arrogant?

3)     V27-34 – 27On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. 29Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away. 33Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food – you haven’t eaten anything. 34Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. 39When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. 42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.

There are a number of literary highlights in this passage, such as the attempt by some sailors to escape in lifeboats (v30-32), Paul’s instruction, encouragement, and prayer at the first mealtime in 14 days (v33-36), and the soldiers’ plan to kill the prisoners thwarted by the centurion (commander) for the sake of Paul (v42-43). So it was that everyone made it safely to the Maltese shore, just as Paul had prophesied.

Footnotes

  1. 27:9 That is, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
  2. 27:27 In ancient times the name referred to an area extending well south of Italy.
  3. 27:28 Greek twenty orguias (about 37 meters)
  4. 27:28 Greek fifteen orguias (about 27 meters)


Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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