Acts 27:27

27:27 When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven ¹  across the Adriatic Sea, ²  about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land. ³ 

James 3:4

3:4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs.

[27:27]  ¹ 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]  ² sn The Adriatic Sea. They were now somewhere between Crete and Malta.

[27:27]  ³ 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.