Acts 27:21-26

27:21 Since many of them had no desire to eat, ¹  Paul ²  stood up ³  among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me ⁴  and not put out to sea ⁵  from Crete, thus avoiding ⁶  this damage and loss. 27:22 And now I advise ⁷  you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship will be lost. ⁸  27:23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong ⁹  and whom I serve ¹⁰  came to me ¹¹  27:24 and said, ¹²  ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before ¹³  Caesar, ¹⁴  and God has graciously granted you the safety ¹⁵  of all who are sailing with you.’ 27:25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God ¹⁶  that it will be just as I have been told. 27:26 But we must ¹⁷  run aground on some island.”

[27:21]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Here τότε (tote) is redundant (pleonastic) according to BDAG 1012-13 s.v. τότε 2; thus it has not been translated.

[27:21]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The infinitive κερδῆσαι (kerdhsai) has been translated as resultative.

[27:22]  ⁷ tn The same verb is used for Paul’s original recommendation in Ac 27:9.

[27:22]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “of whom I am.” The relative clause with its possessive was translated following L&N 15.86 s.v. παρίσταμαι.

[27:23]  ¹⁰ tn Or “worship.”

[27:23]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “before the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[27:24]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn This is another use of δεῖ (dei) to indicate necessity (see also v. 24). Acts 28:1 shows the fulfillment of this.