Acts 27:13-15

27:13 When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought ¹  they could carry out ²  their purpose, so they weighed anchor ³  and sailed close along the coast ⁴  of Crete. 27:14 Not long after this, a hurricane-force ⁵  wind called the northeaster ⁶  blew down from the island. ⁷  27:15 When the ship was caught in it ⁸  and could not head into ⁹  the wind, we gave way to it and were driven ¹⁰  along.

[27:13]  ¹ tn Grk “thinking.” The participle δόξαντες (doxante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:13]  ² tn Or “accomplish.” L&N 68.29, for κρατέω, has “to be able to complete or finish, presumably despite difficulties – ‘to accomplish, to do successfully, to carry out.’ …‘thinking that they could carry out their purpose’ Ac 27:13.”

[27:13]  ³ tn Or “departed.”

[27:13]  ⁴ tn L&N 54.8, “παραλέγομαι: (a technical, nautical term) to sail along beside some object – ‘to sail along the coast, to sail along the shore.’…‘they sailed along the coast of Crete’ Ac 27:13.” With the addition of the adverb ἆσσον (asson) this becomes “sailed close along the coast of Crete.”

[27:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “a wind like a typhoon.” That is, a very violent wind like a typhoon or hurricane (BDAG 1021 s.v. τυφωνικός).

[27:14]  ⁶ sn Or called Euraquilo (the actual name of the wind, a sailor’s term which was a combination of Greek and Latin). According to Strabo (Geography 1.2.21), this was a violent northern wind.

[27:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “from it”; the referent (the island) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:15]  ⁸ tn Or “was forced off course.” Grk “The ship being caught in it.” The genitive absolute construction with the participle συναρπασθέντος (sunarpasqento") has been taken temporally; it could also be translated as causal (“Because the ship was caught in it”).

[27:15]  ⁹ tn BDAG 91 s.v. ἀντοφθαλμέω states, “Metaph. of a ship τοῦ πλοίου μὴ δυναμένοι ἀ. τῷ ἀνέμῳ since the ship was not able to face the wind, i.e. with its bow headed against the forces of the waves Ac 27:15.”

[27:15]  ¹⁰ sn Caught in the violent wind, the ship was driven along. They were now out of control, at the mercy of the wind and sea.