Acts_27

Acts

Chapter 27
{Verses 1-13 itinerary of Paul's first leg of his trip to Rome - from Caesarea to Malta}

1~~ And when he {Festus} determined {a political decision} that we should depart by ship into Italy, they took from prison and brought Paul and certain other prisoners {Paul, Luke and others} unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.

{Note: This is the wrong time of the year to sail to Rome and Festus instructed them to take the most dangerous route. Apparently he did not want Paul, Paul's letter of indictment, or Julius and the other soldiers in the group to survive the trip. Determined was ' krino' which is a political decision. Boulami would have been used for a sound decision.}

2~~And having gone aboard a ship of Adramyttium {poor ships made here - a coaster and a leaky tub}, being about to sail along the coast of Asia we put to sea . . . and one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us {the third believer and part of Paul's traveling team}.

3~~And the next day we touched at Sidon {1 day - 70 miles}. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, having permitted him to go face to face with his friends and there to receive refreshment {not only food and drink but fellowship to strengthen Paul}.

{Note: Julius was picked by Festus to get rid of him yet he was a great pick for Paul. This man recognized Paul's integrity and put him on his honor to have liberty and return.}

4~~And when we had put to sea from thence {Sidon}, we sailed under Cyprus {on the 'leeward side' of the island protected from the storm}, because the winds were contrary {a NorthWest storm was coming through}.

5~~And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.

6~~And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy {this was a large grain ship that was forced up to Myra by the storm}; and he moved us {bags and passengers} therein.

7~~And when we had beat our way into the wind {tacking back and forth in the winds of the storm} many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not permitting us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone {again on the leeward side protected from the storm}.

8~~And, passing it with difficulty, came unto a place which is called The Fair Havens . . . near there was the city of Lasea.

{Verses 9-10 Paul's application of common sense to the situation}
9~~Now when much time had elapsed, and sailing had now become hazardous, because the fast was now already past {the Day of Atonement - October 10th}, Paul began to advise them from the immediate source of his wisdom.

{Note: The Mediterranean Sea was not normally sailed from October through March because of the storms.}

10~~ And he {Paul} said unto them, "Gentlemen, I observe from past experience and observation that this voyage is about to be associated with disaster {Greek word used is for people disaster} and much damage {to things} . . . not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives."

{Note: The word for observe is not the Greek word for divine guidance. Paul had already been in three shipwrecks we know from II Corinthians 11:25, which had already been written. He did not desire to be in another one.}

11~~Nevertheless the centurion kept on being persuaded by the master even the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.

{Note: Under Roman law, if a Roman officer was on board a ship, the ship was considered Rome and he was in charge NOT the captain of the ship as it would be today. The centurion made the decision thinking that the captain would not unduly risk his life, ship and livelihood since he was also the owner of the ship!}

12~~And because the haven was not commodious to winter in {not a pleasant place}, the majority gave counsel to put to sea also, if {4th class condition} by any means they might attain to Phoenix, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lies toward the south west and north west.

13~~And when the south wind, having been blowing softly {storm replaced with winds from the south and nice weather}, assuming that they had obtained their purpose, setting sail . . . they sailed close by Crete {hugging the coast}.

{Note: their shore boat was not brought on board but was tied to the stern, wrong kind of sail and the hull was not frapped until the storm hit (reinforce the hull with ropes and chains to hold it together. They are not ready for the second storm and the captain proves what a good sailor he is at that time.}

14~~But not long after there was suddenly hurled against it {the ship} a tempestuous wind {'tuphonikos' from which we get 'Typhoon', a violent circular motion storm}, called Euroclydon {Latin word for East with Latin word for North - a northeaster we would say}.

15~~And when the ship was seized by violent force {hit broadside}, and, giving way, we were carried along.

16~~And running under the lee of a small island which is called Clauda, we were able with difficulty to secure the skiff {shore boat or lifeboat if you will}.

{Note: they were dragging their shore boat when the storm hit them unexpectedly. To host up the boat would have been very difficult - filled with water etc. So is a tribute to the seamanship of the crew here.}

17~~ And, when they had hoisted up {the small boat}, they used helps {machines designed to frap a ship or support the hull to hold the timbers from springing loose}, under-girding {frapping} the ship; and, having a constant fear lest they should move aground into the sandbars {off the coast of North Africa and far enough out that ships get stuck on them, break apart in a storm and all drown}, they changed sails {reduce to smaller strong storm sail - trying to go west, parallel with sandbars}, and so were driven.

18~~And we being exceedingly tossed with the violent storm {a tempest}, the next day they lightened the ship {removed things from topside}.

{Verses 19-20 'Give-up-itis' - Desperation then depression}
19~~And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling {necessary gear} of the ship.

{Note: Ship must be leaking badly so the captain is taking drastic means to save his ship and crew by throwing out things necessary to run the ship in normal times - all the weight they can has to go - an extremely critical situation. Desperation.}

20~~ And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared {11 days of complete darkness}, and not a little storm {great storm} lay on us . . . all hope that we should be in the process of receiving salvation was then taken away.

{Note: Depression now begins to set in. They had done all that could humanly be done.}

{Paul's I told you so verse - to take authority in order to save them}
21~~But having existed a long time without food
{reason - they gave up under the pressure}
Paul stood up {taking a stand}
in the midst of them, and said,
"NOBLE MEN,
you should have obeyed me when I spoke with authority
and not have set sail from Crete,
and to have avoided this harm and loss."

22~~"And now I exhort {strongly advise} you to keep on being courageous. For there shall be no casting off of souls {dying} out from the source of you all, but of the ship {it will be lost}."

{Note: Courage means to remain calm and think clearly in a time of extreme pressure.}

23~~"For there stood by me this night the angel of God, Whose {God's} I keep on being, and Whom {God} I keep on serving."

Note: 'Whose I am' . . . is analogous to Phase I - Salvation - faith in Christ. 'Whom I keep on serving' is analogous to Phase II where we must put our faith in the Word.}

24~~Saying, "Fear not, Paul. It is necessary for you to be brought before Caesar {Nero} and, lo, God has given you all them that sail with you {they will all survive}."

25~~ "Wherefore, men, be courageous {objective courage}. For I keep on believing God, that it shall be even as it has been communicated to me."

26~~"Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island {Malta}."

27~~But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were tossed around up and down in Adria, about midnight the ship-men suspected that they drew near to some land.

28~~And sounded and found it twenty fathoms and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms {shallower water - nearing land - 90 feet here}.

{Note: To 'sound' is to drop a weight to find how deep the water was.}

29~~Then fearing {fear of the unknown} lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and kept on praying/wishing for the day to come.

{Note: They anchored from the stern because in the stern was where the rutters were. If you anchor there, if you need to move, you can get your bow in the correct direction and go - when dealing with these primitive ships of the day. Next, we only know of three believers on board. They prayed. The unbelievers wished!}

30~~And as the ship-men sought to escape out of the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under the pretense that they would have cast anchors out of the fore-ship {bow}.

{Note: With anchors to the rear and now also in the bow, the sailors were going to lower the skiff (or life-boat) and make for shore deserting the ship and passengers to doom. The anchors would stabilize the ship temporarily to lower the boat, but then one hit broadside from a large storm wave and the ship would go down.}

31~~Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "If these {fleeing sailors} do NOT remain in the ship, you cannot be saved."

32~~Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the skiff, and let her fall off. {Bye bye lifeboat}

33~~And now until day was about to come, Paul kept on encouraging them all to take food, saying, "This day is the fourteenth day that you have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing."

34~~"Wherefore I exhort you {an order couched sweetly} to share some food {between his bits!}. For this is for your health. For there shall not an hair from the head of any of you perish."

35~~And having already started to eat, he gave thanks to God in presence of them all. And when he had distributed {pieces} it, he began to continue his eating.

36~Then were they all having become {something they were not} of great courage, and they also seized for their own face some food.

37~~And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen {276} souls.

38~~And having eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.

39~~And when it was day, they knew not the land but they discovered a certain bay with a beach, into which they were determined, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.

40~~And having taken up from around the stanchions the anchors and the anchors having been committed unto the sea {dropped anchors into sea}, and at the same time having loosened the rudder bands {released the rudders to steer}, and having hoisted up the storm sail to the wind, they made toward shore {with full and sure control}.

41~~But having encountered a place where two seas met {a sand bar because of the currents}, the ship ran aground . . . and on the one hand, the bow stuck fast and remained immovable . . . but on the other hand, the stern began to break up under the violent force of the waves.

42~~And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

{Note: The guards of Roman prisoners were always punished and could even be killed for losing prisoners so they decided the safest thing to do would be to just kill them so they could not escape.}

43~~But the centurion, deciding to save Paul, restrained them from their purpose having strongly commanded that they who could swim should throw themselves first into the sea and get to land.

44~~ And {commanded} the rest {the non-swimmers grab something that floats} . . . some on boards . . . and some on broken pieces of the ship . . . and so it came to pass that they all escaped safely to land.

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