Acts 27:17

27:17 After the crew ¹  had hoisted it aboard, ²  they used supports ³  to undergird the ship. Fearing they would run aground ⁴  on the Syrtis, ⁵  they lowered the sea anchor, ⁶  thus letting themselves be driven along.

[27:17]  ¹ tn Grk “After hoisting it up, they…”; the referent (the ship’s crew) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:17]  ² tn The participle ἄραντες (arantes) has been taken temporally.

[27:17]  ³ tn Possibly “ropes” or “cables”; Grk “helps” (a word of uncertain meaning; probably a nautical technical term, BDAG 180 s.v. βοήθεια 2).

[27:17]  ⁴ tn BDAG 308 s.v. ἐκπίπτω 2 states, “drift off course, run aground, nautical term εἴς τι on someth….on the Syrtis 27:17.”

[27:17]  ⁵ tn That is, on the sandbars and shallows of the Syrtis.

[27:17]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “mainsail.” The meaning of this word is uncertain. BDAG 927 s.v. σκεῦος 1 has “τὸ σκεῦος Ac 27:17 seems to be the kedge or driving anchor” while C. Maurer (TDNT 7:362) notes, “The meaning in Ac. 27:17: χαλάσαντες τὸ σκεῦος, is uncertain. Prob. the ref. is not so much to taking down the sails as to throwing the draganchor overboard to lessen the speed of the ship.” In spite of this L&N 6.1 states, “In Ac 27:17, for example, the reference of σκεῦος is generally understood to be the mainsail.” A reference to the sail is highly unlikely because in a storm of the force described in Ac 27:14, the sail would have been taken down and reefed immediately, to prevent its being ripped to shreds or torn away by the gale.