Acts 27:20-44

27:20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent ¹  storm continued to batter us, ²  we finally abandoned all hope of being saved. ³ 

27:21 Since many of them had no desire to eat, ⁴  Paul ⁵  stood up ⁶  among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me ⁷  and not put out to sea ⁸  from Crete, thus avoiding ⁹  this damage and loss. 27:22 And now I advise ¹⁰  you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship will be lost. ¹¹  27:23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong ¹²  and whom I serve ¹³  came to me ¹⁴  27:24 and said, ¹⁵  ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before ¹⁶  Caesar, ¹⁷  and God has graciously granted you the safety ¹⁸  of all who are sailing with you.’ 27:25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God ¹⁹  that it will be just as I have been told. 27:26 But we must ²⁰  run aground on some island.”

27:27 When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven ²¹  across the Adriatic Sea, ²²  about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land. ²³  27:28 They took soundings ²⁴  and found the water was twenty fathoms ²⁵  deep; when they had sailed a little farther ²⁶  they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms ²⁷  deep. 27:29 Because they were afraid ²⁸  that we would run aground on the rocky coast, ²⁹  they threw out ³⁰  four anchors from the stern and wished ³¹  for day to appear. ³²  27:30 Then when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship’s boat into the sea, pretending ³³  that they were going to put out anchors from the bow, 27:31 Paul said to the centurion ³⁴  and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you ³⁵  cannot be saved.” 27:32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes ³⁶  of the ship’s boat and let it drift away. ³⁷ 

27:33 As day was about to dawn, ³⁸  Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have been in suspense ³⁹  and have gone ⁴⁰  without food; you have eaten nothing. ⁴¹  27:34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is important ⁴²  for your survival. ⁴³  For not one of you will lose a hair from his head.” 27:35 After he said this, Paul ⁴⁴  took bread ⁴⁵  and gave thanks to God in front of them all, ⁴⁶  broke ⁴⁷  it, and began to eat. 27:36 So all of them were encouraged and took food themselves. 27:37 (We were in all two hundred seventy-six ⁴⁸  persons on the ship.) ⁴⁹  27:38 When they had eaten enough to be satisfied, ⁵⁰  they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat ⁵¹  into the sea.

Paul is Shipwrecked

27:39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed ⁵²  a bay ⁵³  with a beach, ⁵⁴  where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 27:40 So they slipped ⁵⁵  the anchors ⁵⁶  and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the linkage ⁵⁷  that bound the steering oars ⁵⁸  together. Then they hoisted ⁵⁹  the foresail ⁶⁰  to the wind and steered toward ⁶¹  the beach. 27:41 But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents ⁶²  and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force ⁶³  of the waves. 27:42 Now the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners ⁶⁴  so that none of them would escape by swimming away. ⁶⁵  27:43 But the centurion, ⁶⁶  wanting to save Paul’s life, ⁶⁷  prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, ⁶⁸  27:44 and the rest were to follow, ⁶⁹  some on planks ⁷⁰  and some on pieces of the ship. ⁷¹  And in this way ⁷²  all were brought safely to land.

[27:20]  ¹ tn Grk “no small storm” = a very great storm.

[27:20]  ² tn Grk “no small storm pressing on us.” The genitive absolute construction with the participle ἐπικειμένου (epikeimenou) has been translated as parallel to the previous genitive absolute construction (which was translated as temporal). BDAG 373 s.v. ἐπίκειμαι 2.b states, “of impersonal force confront χειμῶνος ἐπικειμένου since a storm lay upon us Ac 27:20.” L&N 14.2, “‘the stormy weather did not abate in the least’ or ‘the violent storm continued’ Ac 27:20.” To this last was added the idea of “battering” from the notion of “pressing upon” inherent in ἐπίκειμαι (epikeimai).

[27:20]  ³ tn Grk “finally all hope that we would be saved was abandoned.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one to simplify the translation. This represents a clearly secular use of the term σῴζω (swzw) in that it refers to deliverance from the storm. At this point those on board the ship gave up hope of survival.

[27:21]  ⁴ tn Or “Since they had no desire to eat for a long time.” The genitive absolute construction with the participle ὑπαρχούσης (Juparcoush") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle. It could also be translated temporally (“When many of them had no desire to eat”). The translation of πολλῆς (pollhs) as a substantized adjective referring to the people on board the ship (“many of them”) rather than a period of time (“for a long time”; so most modern versions) follows BDAG 143 s.v. ἀσιτία, which has “πολλῆς ἀ. ὑπαρχούσης since almost nobody wanted to eat because of anxiety or seasickness…Ac 27:21.” This detail indicates how turbulent things were on board the ship.

[27:21]  ⁵ tn Here τότε (tote) is redundant (pleonastic) according to BDAG 1012-13 s.v. τότε 2; thus it has not been translated.

[27:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “standing up…said.” The participle σταθείς (staqeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:21]  ⁷ tn L&N 36.12 has “πειθαρχήσαντάς μοι μὴ ἀνάγεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς Κρήτης ‘you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete’ Ac 27:21.”

[27:21]  ⁸ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[27:21]  ⁹ tn The infinitive κερδῆσαι (kerdhsai) has been translated as resultative.

[27:22]  ¹⁰ tn The same verb is used for Paul’s original recommendation in Ac 27:9.

[27:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “except the ship.” Here “but” is used to translate the improper preposition πλήν (plhn; see BDAG 826 s.v. πλήν 2) since an exception like this, where two different categories of objects are involved (people and a ship), is more naturally expressed in contemporary English with an adversative (“but”). The words “will be lost” are also supplied for clarity.

[27:23]  ¹² tn Grk “of whom I am.” The relative clause with its possessive was translated following L&N 15.86 s.v. παρίσταμαι.

[27:23]  ¹³ tn Or “worship.”

[27:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “stood by me.” BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 2.a.α states, “approach, come τινί (to) someone…Ac 9:39; 27:23.”

[27:24]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “came to me saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:24]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 2.a.α states, “Also as a t.t. of legal usage appear before, come before…Καίσαρι σε δεῖ παραστῆναι you must stand before the Emperor (as judge) Ac 27:24.” See Acts 23:11. Luke uses the verb δεῖ (dei) to describe what must occur.

[27:24]  ¹⁷ tn Or “before the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[27:24]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “God has graciously granted you all who are sailing with you.” The words “the safety of” have been supplied to clarify the meaning of the verb κεχάρισται (kecaristai) in this context.

[27:25]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 817 s.v. πιστεύω 1.c states, “w. pers. and thing added π. τινί τι believe someone with regard to someth….W. dat. of pers. and ὅτι foll…. πιστεύετέ μοι ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί J 14:11a. Cp. 4:21; Ac 27:25.”

[27:26]  ²⁰ tn This is another use of δεῖ (dei) to indicate necessity (see also v. 24). Acts 28:1 shows the fulfillment of this.

[27:27]  ²¹ tn Here “being driven” has been used to translate διαφέρω (diaferw) rather than “drifting,” because it is clear from the attempt to drop anchors in v. 29 that the ship is still being driven by the gale. “Drifting” implies lack of control, but not necessarily rapid movement.

[27:27]  ²² sn The Adriatic Sea. They were now somewhere between Crete and Malta.

[27:27]  ²³ tn Grk “suspected that some land was approaching them.” BDAG 876 s.v. προσάγω 2.a states, “lit. ὑπενόουν προσάγειν τινά αὐτοῖς χώραν they suspected that land was near (lit. ‘approaching them’) Ac 27:27.” Current English idiom would speak of the ship approaching land rather than land approaching the ship.

[27:28]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Heaving the lead, they found.” The participle βολίσαντες (bolisante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. See also BDAG 180 s.v. βολίζω. Although the term is used twice in this verse (and thus is technically not a NT hapax legomenon), it occurs nowhere else in the NT.

[27:28]  ²⁵ sn A fathom is about 6 feet or just under 2 meters (originally the length of a man’s outstretched arms). This was a nautical technical term for measuring the depth of water. Here it was about 120 ft (36 m).

[27:28]  ²⁶ tn L&N 15.12, “βραχὺ δὲ διαστήσαντες ‘when they had gone a little farther’ Ac 27:28.”

[27:28]  ²⁷ sn Here the depth was about 90 ft (27 m).

[27:29]  ²⁸ tn Grk “fearing.” The participle φοβούμενοι (foboumenoi) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[27:29]  ²⁹ tn Grk “against a rough [rocky] place.” L&N 79.84 has “φοβούμενοί τε μή που κατὰ τραχεῖς τόποις ἐκπέσωμεν ‘we were afraid that we would run aground on the rocky coast’ Ac 27:29.”

[27:29]  ³⁰ tn Grk “throwing out…they.” The participle ῥίψαντες (rJiyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:29]  ³¹ tn BDAG 417 s.v. εὔχομαι 2 states, “wish…τὶ for someth.…Foll. by acc. and inf….Ac 27:29.” The other possible meaning for this term, “pray,” is given in BDAG 417 s.v. 1 and employed by a number of translations (NAB, NRSV, NIV). If this meaning is adopted here, then “prayed for day to come” must be understood metaphorically to mean “prayed that they would live to see the day,” or “prayed that it would soon be day.”

[27:29]  ³² tn Grk “and wished for day to come about.”

[27:30]  ³³ tn BDAG 889 s.v. πρόφασις 2 states, “προφάσει ὡς under the pretext that, pretending that…Ac 27:30.” In other words, some of the sailors gave up hope that such efforts would work and instead attempted to escape while pretending to help.

[27:31]  ³⁴ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:31]  ³⁵ sn The pronoun you is plural in Greek.

[27:32]  ³⁶ sn The soldiers cut the ropes. The centurion and the soldiers were now following Paul’s advice by cutting the ropes to prevent the sailors from escaping.

[27:32]  ³⁷ tn Or “let it fall away.” According to BDAG 308 s.v. ἐκπίπτω 1 and 2 the meaning of the verb in this verse could be either “fall away” or “drift away.” Either meaning is acceptable, and the choice between them depends almost entirely on how one reconstructs the scene. Since cutting the boat loose would in any case result in it drifting away (whether capsized or not), the meaning “drift away” as a nautical technical term has been used here.

[27:33]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 160 s.v. ἄχρι 1.b.α has “ἄ. οὗ ἡμέρα ἤμελλεν γίνεσθαι until the day began to dawn 27:33.”

[27:33]  ³⁹ tn Or “have waited anxiously.” Grk “waiting anxiously.” The participle προσδοκῶντες (prosdokwnte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:33]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “continued.”

[27:33]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “having eaten nothing.” The participle προσλαβόμενοι (proslabomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb (with subject “you” supplied) due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:34]  ⁴² tn Or “necessary.” BDAG 873-74 s.v. πρός 1 has “πρ. τῆς σωτηρίας in the interest of safety Ac 27:34”; L&N 27.18 has “‘therefore, I urge you to take some food, for this is important for your deliverance’ or ‘…for your survival’ Ac 27:34.”

[27:34]  ⁴³ tn Or “deliverance” (‘salvation’ in a nontheological sense).

[27:35]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:35]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “taking bread, gave thanks.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:35]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “before them all,” but here this could be misunderstood to indicate a temporal sequence.

[27:35]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “and breaking it, he began.” The participle κλάσας (klasas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:37]  ⁴⁸ tc One early ms (B) and an early version (sa) read “about seventy-six.” For discussion of how this variant probably arose, see F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles, 465.

[27:37]  ⁴⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[27:38]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “When they had eaten their fill.”

[27:38]  ⁵¹ tn Or “grain.”

[27:39]  ⁵² tn Or “observed,” “saw.”

[27:39]  ⁵³ tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).

[27:39]  ⁵⁴ sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.

[27:40]  ⁵⁵ 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.

[27:40]  ⁵⁶ tn The term is used of a ship’s anchor. (BDAG 12 s.v. ἄγκυρα a).

[27:40]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “bands”; possibly “ropes.”

[27:40]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “rudders.”

[27:40]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “hoisting…they.” The participle ἐπάραντες (eparante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:40]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “sail”; probably a reference to the foresail.

[27:40]  ⁶¹ 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.”

[27:41]  ⁶² 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.

[27:41]  ⁶³ tn Or “violence” (BDAG 175 s.v. βία a).

[27:42]  ⁶⁴ sn The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners. The issue here was not cruelty, but that the soldiers would be legally responsible if any prisoners escaped and would suffer punishment themselves. So they were planning to do this as an act of self-preservation. See Acts 16:27 for a similar incident.

[27:42]  ⁶⁵ tn The participle ἐκκολυμβήσας (ekkolumbhsa") has been taken instrumentally.

[27:43]  ⁶⁶ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:43]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “wanting to rescue Paul.”

[27:43]  ⁶⁸ tn BDAG 347 s.v. I. ἔξειμι has “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν get to land Ac 27:43.”

[27:44]  ⁶⁹ tn The words “were to follow” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. They must be supplied to clarify the sense in contemporary English.

[27:44]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “boards” according to BDAG 913 s.v. σανίς.

[27:44]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “on pieces from the ship”; that is, pieces of wreckage from the ship.

[27:44]  ⁷² tn Grk “And in this way it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.