Chapter Twenty-Seven
Paul Sent to Rome
27:1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
When it was time for Paul to be sent to Rome, he and other prisoners were brought to a centurion of the Augustan (Greek Sebastēs, pertaining to Augustus an honorary title for elite groups, possibly specialists in escorting prisoners for the emperor) Cohort (see Acts 10:1) named Julius who enlisted an Adramyttium ship (a cargo ship whose home port was Adramyttium, a seaport in Mysia on the Aegean Sea). They departed from Caesarea Maritima and headed north. By the use of ‘we’ in the first verse, we know that Luke joined Paul on this journey, they were also accompanied by Aristarchus who was first identified as one of the two men who were seized by the rioters in Ephesus (see Acts 19:29).
27:3 The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
The following day they stopped at Sidon (approximately 35 miles north of Tyre) and Paul was allowed to go ashore to visit friends, although there is no record of him going to Sidon.
27:4 And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.
From Sidon the ship sailed on the leeward (north) side of the Island of Cyprus because the prominent winds were against them (opposite direction).
27:5 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.
Following the coastlines of Cilicia, Pamphylia and then to Lycia, they come to the port at Myra, the ship was likely on its way north into the Aegean Sea back to its home port. The passengers and cargo heading to Italy would need to be transfered to a different ship.
27:6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
The centurion found a ship from Alexandria (Egypt) that was sailing to Italy and everyone was brought on board. Due to wind conditions they slowly sailed along the coast near Cnidus (and the Island of Rhodes), but were able to make it to the Island of Crete near the city of Salmone, and then on to Fair Havens near the city of Lasea on the south side of the island.
27:9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
After much time had passed waiting for the wind to be favorable, Paul recognized that it was getting late in the year at at time when the weather could easily turn intolerable, risking both people’s lives and any ship cargo. Luke gives us a “time stamp” by saying that the “Fast” was already over, a reference to the Day of Atonement (click here to read about God’s appointed times) which, depending on the year, could be in late September or early October.
27:11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
Paul’s advice “fell on deaf ears” as the pilot and owner of the ship wanted to press on, plus the harbor there at Fair Havens was deemed unsuitable to spend the winter in (harbor faced south). So the majority decided to proceed, they were hoping to reach the harbor at Phoenix believed to be approximately 40 miles west on the same island. They should have listened to Paul as he already had experienced two shipwrecks (see 2 Corinthians 11:25).
The site of ancient Phoenix is as uncertain as that of Fair Havens, but a consensus seems to be forming that it is to be located at what is today known as Phineka Bay, a bay on the west side of Cape Mouros about thirty-three miles east of the western extremity of southern Crete. It faces northwest and southwest, just as Acts describes Phoenix, and its modern name preserves the old tradition. This harbor would give much better protection from winter “northeaster[s],” and the sailors set out for it.[1]
Paul's Ship Encounters a Storm
27:13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.
So when the south wind began to blow, they pulled up the anchor and sailed along the southern coastline of Crete. But soon they encounter a tempestuous (Greek typhōnikos, a violent and stormy wind, the root is where the English word ’typhoon’ comes from) wind called the northeaster (Greek Eurakylōn, a hybrid word that is constructed from the Greek word euros meaning east wind and the Latin word aquilo meaning “north wind”) blowing strong from the land.
Crete is dotted with mountains, some of them towering 7,000 feet above the sea. Perhaps as the ship rounded Cape Matala a violent wind rushed down from the mountains, striking the ship broadside. Luke described it as being “typhonic” (typhōnikos) in force, a word that in Greek as well as in its English cognate refers to a whirling, cyclonic wind formed by the clash of opposing air masses (v. 14; “hurricane force,” NIV). More specifically, he designated the storm as the dreaded “northeaster,” the deadly winter storm of the Mediterranean known by sailors as the gregale.[2]
27:15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat.
The ship could not maintain course, as most ancient ships were not able to face into a strong wind, so they let the wind drive them in the direction it was blowing. The wind brought them to the leeward side of a small island called Cauda (also known as Clauda) and taking advantage of the wind block they were able to pull in and secure, with some difficulty, the ship’s boat (a smaller vessel used as a lifeboat and tender that was typically towed behind the ship). Luke’s use of ‘we’ suggests the passengers also helped (the boat was probably close to being full of water).
27:17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.
After bringing the boat up onto the ship, the crew used the cable to wrap around the ship’s hull and tighten it to provide additional support (a maritime procedure known as frapping). Fearing that they might run aground on the Syrtis (the name of two shallow gulfs on the north coast of Africa, which had a reputation for causing many ships to go down), they lowered the gear (Greek skeuos, a generic term that can be translated as ‘object’ or ’thing’, since it is not specific, there are a number of potential assumptions, however, the favored idea is that Luke is referring to lowering a drift anchor to slow their progress). The mainsail was likely already down.
27:18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
Being tossed around by the storm and undoubtedly taking on water, they decide to dump the cargo. Then on the next day they threw the ship’s tackle (Greek skeuēn, another generic word, can be translated in a number of ways, generally referring some form of equipment) overboard. Since Luke records that it was thrown overboard with their hands may imply it was heavy, so most believe it was the ship’s spar, the pole that supported the mainsail. Luke further records that neither the sun nor any of the stars were visible for many days, so they had no sense of direction, and due to this ongoing tempest of a storm they were losing hope of ever being saved.
27:21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”
Luke notes that they had been without food for a long time, this could be due to having no more easy-to-eat food available (they do have some food available, see verse 33), but being violently tossed around they may not have been able to eat (needing both hands to hang on). Paul got up and said to everyone that they should have listened to him earlier and not sail from Crete. To some it appears that Paul is touting a classic “I told you so!” But that is not Paul’s intent, he is using that to get everyone’s attention, instead of a chide he wants to encourage. He tells them that there will not be anyone dying during this voyage, but the ship will be damaged. He explains how he knows this, that an angel of the God to whom he belongs and worships appeared and told him that he was to stand before Caesar, and that they will all be saved. Paul closes be saying that they will run aground on some island.
27:27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.
Now after two weeks since the storm first hit them, as they were being driven by the storm across the Adriatic Sea (the portion of the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Greece), the sailors suspected that they were getting close to land. Sailors would have been able to recognize the change in the sound of the water, especially the sound of waves breaking on a shore.
27:28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. 29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.
So the sailors take a series of soundings (Greek bolisantes, a marked line with a weight attached that is lowered in the water to measure depth). When they reached fifteen fathoms (Greek orguias, the distance from one hand to the next when stretched out horizontally, fifteen would be approximately 90 feet), they dropped down four anchors from the stern (rear) of the ship and prayed for daybreak.
27:30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.
The sailors began to lower the smaller boat into the water with the idea of escaping and tried to cover their actions by saying they were putting down anchors from the bow (front), but Paul saw through their ruse and notified the centurion. Paul told him that everyone had to stay onboard for everyone to be saved. To prevent anyone from escaping the soldiers cut the ropes to the boat and let it go.
27:33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”
Paul understanding that through this grueling ordeal that they haven’t eaten much, he encourages everyone to eat. He reminds them that everyone will survive using the familiar Biblical phrase, “For not one of you will lose a hair from his head.” (Acts 27:34b, NET, see also 1 Samuel 14:45; 2 Samuel 14:11; 1 Kings 1:52; Luke 21:18)
27:35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
In the presence of all 276 people on board, Paul not only encouraged everyone with his words, he led by example by taking some bread, gave thanks to God, broke it and ate. When everyone was finished eating, they threw the remaining cargo of wheat into the sea. This would have lightened the ship somewhat so that when they approach land they will be able to go further on shore.
Shipwrecked
27:39 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach.
When it was light enough they could see land but they did not recognize the location. They spotted a bay with a beach and decided to run the ship ashore on that beach. To do so they tossed the anchors to further lighten the ship, loosened the ropes that tied the rudders to the side, and raised the foresail into the wind to propel them into the beach.
27:41 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.
Before they could reach the beach the ship struck a reef and now the bow was firmly attached to the reef as the stern was being beaten and breaking up by the waves.
27:42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
The soldiers were ready to kill the prisoners to prevent them from swimming away escaping custody, as they would be punished if they got free (see Acts 12:19; 16:27). The centurion stopped them, as he wanted to save Paul. He further ordered those who could swim to jump overboard and those that couldn’t swim to find parts of the ship to hang onto to cross onto to get to shore. Everyone was brought safely to land just as God had promised.
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[1] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 519). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 520). Broadman & Holman Publishers.