27:39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed 1 a bay 2 with a beach, 3 where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 27:40 So they slipped 4 the anchors 5 and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the linkage 6 that bound the steering oars 7 together. Then they hoisted 8 the foresail 9 to the wind and steered toward 10 the beach. 27:41 But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents 11 and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force 12 of the waves.
1 tn Or “observed,” “saw.”
2 tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).
3 sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.
4 tn That is, released. Grk “slipping…leaving.” The participles περιελόντες (perielonte") and εἴων (eiwn) have been translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.
5 tn The term is used of a ship’s anchor. (BDAG 12 s.v. ἄγκυρα a).
6 tn Grk “bands”; possibly “ropes.”
7 tn Or “rudders.”
8 tn Grk “hoisting…they.” The participle ἐπάραντες (eparante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
9 tn Grk “sail”; probably a reference to the foresail.
10 tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατέχω 7 states, “hold course, nautical t.t., intr….κατεῖχον εἰς τὸν αἰγιαλόν they headed for the beach Ac 27:40.”
7 tn Grk “fell upon a place of two seas.” The most common explanation for this term is that it refers to a reef or sandbar with the sea on both sides, as noted in BDAG 245 s.v. διθάλασσος: the “τόπος δ. Ac 27:41 is a semantic unit signifying a point (of land jutting out with water on both sides).” However, Greek had terms for a “sandbank” (θῖς [qis], ταινία [tainia]), a “reef” (ἑρμα [Jerma]), “strait” (στενόν [stenon]), “promontory” (ἀρωτήρον [arwthron]), and other nautical hazards, none of which are used by the author here. NEB here translates τόπον διθάλασσον (topon diqalasson) as “cross-currents,” a proposal close to that advanced by J. M. Gilchrist, “The Historicity of Paul’s Shipwreck,” JSNT 61 (1996): 29-51, who suggests the meaning is “a patch of cross-seas,” where the waves are set at an angle to the wind, a particular hazard for sailors. Thus the term most likely refers to some sort of adverse sea conditions rather than a topographical feature like a reef or sandbar.
8 tn Or “violence” (BDAG 175 s.v. βία a).