Acts 27:39-41

Paul is Shipwrecked

27:39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed ¹  a bay ²  with a beach, ³  where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 27:40 So they slipped ⁴  the anchors ⁵  and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the linkage ⁶  that bound the steering oars ⁷  together. Then they hoisted ⁸  the foresail ⁹  to the wind and steered toward ¹⁰  the beach. 27:41 But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents ¹¹  and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force ¹²  of the waves.

[27:39]  ¹ tn Or “observed,” “saw.”

[27:39]  ² tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).

[27:39]  ³ sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.

[27:40]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn The term is used of a ship’s anchor. (BDAG 12 s.v. ἄγκυρα a).

[27:40]  ⁶ tn Grk “bands”; possibly “ropes.”

[27:40]  ⁷ tn Or “rudders.”

[27:40]  ⁸ tn Grk “hoisting…they.” The participle ἐπάραντες (eparante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:40]  ⁹ tn Grk “sail”; probably a reference to the foresail.

[27:40]  ¹⁰ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “violence” (BDAG 175 s.v. βία a).