Acts 27


Paul Sails for Rome

¹When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. ²We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
³The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. ⁴From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. ⁵When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. ⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. ⁷We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. ⁸We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
⁹Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, ¹⁰"Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." ¹¹But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. ¹²Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

The Storm

¹³When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. ¹⁴Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. ¹⁵The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. ¹⁶As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. ¹⁷When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. ¹⁸We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
²¹After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' ²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. ²⁶Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."

Acts 27:1-26

Explanation:

By Sea to Malta (27:1-44)
When we hear of sudden storms on lake or ocean wreaking havoc on recreational sailors, we are reminded that "even today the sea represents a place of peril, of human vulnerability, the place where would-be sailors are at the mercy of the elements" (Willimon 1988:183). This first-century account of a sea voyage pits the death-dealing opposition of the storm (27:14-20, 27-32, 39-44) against God's gracious providence surrounding and working through wise, courageous, encouraging, nurturing Paul (27:21-26, 33-38). As that gracious providence prevails for Paul and all 275 with him, we who are Christians may ask, "Am I the same source of preservation for those around me?"



Caesarea to Crete; the Storm (27:1-26)

During the apostle Paul's "ministry in chains" he has successfully maneuvered around mob attack, scourging, plot and ambush (21:32-33; 22:22-25; 23:10, 12-34; 25:3-12). Just when he appears to be "home free," granted safe passage to Rome, Paul faces his greatest challenge: a storm at sea. Will natural forces do what human opponents have been unable to do--thwart God's gracious purposes for Paul to preach the gospel in Rome (19:21; 23:11)?

Prologue--Journey to Fair Haven (27:1-8)

As Paul embarks on his journey to Rome, Luke reminds us of his prisoner status. Paul is handed over along with other prisoners into centurion Julius's custody (compare Lk 23:25). Julius chooses a homeward-bound coasting vessel that is about to call at ports on the western coast of the province of Asia until it came to its home port, Adramyttium, located south of Troas, east of Assos and facing the island of Lesbos. Paul's traveling companions include at least Luke and the Macedonian Christian Aristarchus (Acts 19:29; 20:4; Col 4:10, 14; Philem 24).

Borne along by the Syrian coastal current--the Nile water that runs north--the ship, moving at a speed of three knots, covers the sixty-nine nautical miles to Sidon in twenty-three hours. Sidon, mother city of the Phoenicians, with its double harbor, figures prominently in Luke's Gospel as a model of repentant Gentile receptivity to the teaching of Jesus (Lk 6:17; 10:13-14; compare 4:26). It was probably evangelized during the Hellenistic Jewish Christian dispersion after Stephen's death. There were a number of times during Paul's earlier ministry when he may have visited the church there (Acts 11:19, 30; 12:25; 15:3). Through the kindness of the centurion Paul is freed, probably under guard, to visit friends in the city. They provide for his needs, which, as I. Howard Marshall (1980:404) conjectures, may have included conversation, a meal and some gifts to help on the journey.

In contrast to Jesus' suffering, Paul knows relief both from a centurion who shows kindness and from the companionship of friends on board and along the way. The importance of the support of Christian friends should not be underestimated.

On the next leg of the journey, as they strike out to the west, the travelers encounter adverse weather. Contrary winds from the west block their progress. Since their square-rigged vessel does not readily tack into the wind and make headway in a zigzag fashion, the crew chooses to use the island of Cyprus as a shield, sailing on its lee, its northern side which faced away from the wind. They may also want to take advantage of the westward two-mile-per-hour current along the southern coast of Asia Minor, as well as the land breezes that at night flow down the valleys perpendicular to the sea (see Heliodorus Aethiopica 4.16.10). So as Luke narrates, We . . . sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, [and] landed at Myra in Lycia. Myra, on the western third of Asia Minor's south coast, was a chief port of the imperial grain service, a regular port of call for grain vessels taking the northerly route from Alexandria to Rome. Archaeological remains of the grain storage facilities attest to its importance.

The Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, on which the centurion books passage for himself and his prisoners, is probably a vessel in the imperial grain fleet. Since the main time for the Alexandria-to-Rome run was in late spring and early summer, the ship's presence at Myra in early fall probably indicates it is on a second run that the owners are trying to squeeze in before winter (Casson 1971:298).

On this portion of the trip--Myra to Fair Havens, Crete--the same contrary winds from the west accost them. After many days they only succeed in making Cnidus, a port at the western end of a long promontory of southwest Asia Minor which stretches out into the Adriatic. As they leave Cnidus and enter the open sea, the northerly winds of the Adriatic blow against them, preventing them from maintaining their westward course. So they drop under the lee of Crete, sailing along its southern coast, again using an island as a shield. Even so, keeping close to the coast and making westward progress is difficult. The ship barely makes Fair Havens, a harbor at the midpoint of Crete's south coast, twelve miles east of Cape Matala and five miles from Lasea.

Rejecting an Apostolic Warning (27:9-12)

The ancients divided the navigational year on the Mediterranean into four periods (Hesiod Works and Days 663-68; Vegetius Military Institutions of the Romans 4.39; compare Genesis Rabbah 6:5b, "The crossing of the Great Sea too: Thus saith the Lord, who giveth a way in the sea [Is 43:16]--from Pentecost until the Festival [Tabernacles]"--mid-May to mid-October). Optimum sea travel could be expected during the summer months, May 15 to September 15. Dangerous times for sailing were September 16 to November 10 and March 11 to May 14. Sea travel on the Mediterranean ceased between November 11 and March 10.

As the ship lies in port at Fair Havens, it is already the dangerous period--after the Fast, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which occurred in the fall, the tenth day of Tishri. In A.D. 59 this would have been October 5 (Marshall 1980:406).

Paul's warning is well founded (v. 10). Vegetius described the dangers of "winter sailing" as scant daylight, long nights, dense cloud cover, poor visibility and the double raging of winds, showers and snows (Military Institutions of the Romans 4.39). The dangerous period saw the beginning of such conditions.

As the centurion, the ship's captain (NIV pilot) and the ship's owner or his representative confer, the majority, possibly including most of the rest of the crew, reject Paul's counsel and decide to risk a forty mile-journey out in open sea around Cape Matala to Phoenix. Fair Havens's harbor was open to the east, leaving ships unprotected against winter winds (Earle 1982). Phoenix, at the west of the promontory Cape Mouros, was better suited for a wintering ship. The present Phoinika Bay fits the description, for it has an inlet that faces southwest, and there are traces of a inlet, now marred by silting and an earthquake, that faced northwest (Finegan 1981:196). Paul's cautionary word is the first of a number of initiatives in which the apostle demonstrates that he is indeed his "brother's keeper."

The Storm's Fury (27:13-20)

A gentle south wind comes up, like those common during the summer sailing season, and the officers and crew judge, though wrongly (12:9; 17:18; 26:9), that they have gained their purpose. They weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete some three or four miles to Cape Matala. It is probably as they round the cape that they meet a wind of hurricane force, called the "Northeaster," blowing down from 8,056-foot Mount Ida. The strong cold wind that blows across the Mediterranean in the winter from a general northeasterly direction is caused by a depression ("low") over Libya which induces a strong flow of air from Greece (Finegan 1981:197).

The storm so seizes the ship that the crew is unable to head the vessel into the wind and position it so that the waves will not strike it broadside and break it apart. Though in the main they had to give way to the wind, lower the sails and allow themselves to be driven, they did not do so totally. A small sail on the mast was used to tack and make headway into the wind. Otherwise the ship would have been broken apart by the waves (Haenchen 1971:701).

When people reject the wisdom gained from observing God's natural order, foolish decisions are likely to follow. As one mountaineer said as he turned back from the challenge of climbing an Alaskan peak because his equipment was inadequate for the icy conditions, "There are old mountaineers, bold mountaineers, but no old, bold mountaineers" (Robinson 1993).

The crew takes at least four steps to cope with the storm (Acts 27:16-19). First, under the protection of the lee, the south coast, of a small island called Cauda some twenty-three miles west of Cape Matala, they hoist and secure on deck the dinghy (NIV's lifeboat limits its uses) they are towing. They do this not only to rescue a waterlogged boat from the battering of the waves but also to prevent the rough seas from smashing it against the stern of the ship (Lake and Cadbury 1979:332). Second, they "frap" the ship, under girding it with cables running vertically under its center hull, four or five turns. This strengthens the hull against the continual pounding of the waves.

Third, they lowered the sea anchor. This was a broad piece of wood held vertical by a weight below and an empty barrel on top. It would slow the ship's movement from crest to crest and help keep it on course (Haenchen 1971:703). The lowering of the mainyard with its sail and the setting of a storm sail may also be included in this lowering (compare Lucian Toxaris: Or, Friendship 19). If some sort of course westward could be maintained, they could avoid the sandbars of Syrtis. One hundred miles off the Libyan coast and three hundred miles in circumference, this area has deep waters with shallows; "the result is, at the ebb and the flow of the tides, that sailors sometimes fall into the shallows and stick there, and that the safe escape of a boat is rare" (Strabo Geography 17.3.20). So ancient sailors sailing along the North African coast kept a safe distance and took precautions not to be "driven by winds into these gulfs" (Strabo Geography 17.3.20).

Fourth, if we may understand verses 18 and 18 as dealing with the same gear, it is probably the mainyard spar, as long as the deck, and the accompanying gear and tackle that, after a failed first attempt, they succeed in throwing overboard on the third day (Clark 1975:145; NIV's cargo in v. 18 must then be differently understood). Thus lightening the ship by removing movable gear and tackle from the deck, the crew hopes to avoid further storm-induced damage to the ship's structure.

These herculean efforts to secure the ship, its course and their safety still left these sea voyagers at the mercy of the elements. The cloud cover and darkness of the storm meant they didn't know where they were for many days. The sun and the stars--in ancient times the only means of navigation on the open sea--were out of sight. Besides all this, the storm continued raging. Finally all hope was being abandoned (imperfect passive) that they would be saved (compare Lk 23:35, 37, 39).

When do we abandon hope? When we do not know where we are but do have the terrible knowledge that we may not get out alive. And such is the condition of many people today, disoriented in emotional, relational, social or physical storms.

The Apostle's Encouragement (27:21-26)

The men had gone a long time without food. Asitia indicates this is voluntary. Is it anxiety, seasickness or the inedibility of the foodstuffs (because the storm spoiled them or made cooking impossible)?

Paul stands up in their midst (not as NIV, before them) and says, in essence, "Cheer up! The outcome will be positive." He reviews the counsel he gave at Fair Havens (27:10), not so much to say "I told you so" (contrast Longenecker 1981:561) as to partly establish why he should be believed now. Indeed, he frames what they should have done using his favorite verb for divine necessity (edei; compare Lk 24:44; Acts 23:11; 27:26). This may point to the revelatory quality of his prior warning (see note at v. 10). Paul, then, "urges" (same word translated "warned" in v. 9) them, Keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

Paul immediately proceeds to give his source of information. His allegiance and his piety are devoted to the one true God (compare Lk 1:74; 2:37; Acts 24:14). That God has sent his angel "this very night" (NIV last night). He "approached me" (NIV stood beside me; compare 9:39) and gave this message of encouragement, which reaffirms a divine promise and announces a gracious gift. As at Corinth, the angel urged Paul to "stop being afraid" (18:9). He reiterated the divine necessity (dei) of standing trial before Caesar (23:11). He announced the good news: God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you (the perfect tense, has . . . given, communicates certainty). Luke does not explicitly say that this is in answer to Paul's intercession (contrast Marshall [1980:410], who cites Gen 18:23-33 as a parallel). All we can be sure of is that God is determined that Paul not perish at sea, and has further decided to preserve all those with him.

Paul's application of the angel's message to his fellow travelers is a call to keep up their courage. He also states that they will run aground on some island. He bases his call on his own faith that God's deed will match this prophetic word.

Paul models for us the stance of one who is convinced that God's gracious purposes cannot be thwarted, even when outward circumstances call that conviction into question. It is not that he is simply a practical man in a critical emergency--"keeping his head when all about him are losing theirs" (contrast Bruce 1988:475). Rather, it is precisely because he is an "impractical" holy man, a Christian apostle who receives messages from angels, that he can be an encouragement in the fury of the storm. His strength comes from beyond the storm: he "believes God," that he can accomplish what he has promised. Such faith is the foundation for a life of encouragement.

Acts 27


The Shipwreck

²⁷On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. ²⁸They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. ²⁹Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. ³⁰In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. ³¹Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." ³²So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.
³³Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food--you haven't eaten anything. ³⁴Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." ³⁵After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. ³⁷Altogether there were 276 of us on board. ³⁸When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.
³⁹When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. ⁴⁰Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. ⁴¹But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.
⁴²The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.

Acts 27:27-44

Explanation:

The Shipwreck (27:27-44)

Eric Liddell, "the Flying Scotsman," won the four-hundred-meter race at the 1924 Paris Olympics in world-record time. But his real heroics occurred twenty years later, in the Weihsien concentration camp in China. This missionary's faith and energy encouraged many of the eighteen hundred trapped in the camp's squalid conditions. "Uncle Eric" to children separated from their parents, he "organized activities, served as a teacher and a guardian for youth, and fulfilled the role of pastor until a brain tumor claimed his life in February 1945" (Williamson 1991:127).

Many centuries and many miles away on the dark, storm-tossed Mediterranean, Paul too determined to make a difference to those around him. His example helps us understand what it is to proclaim by one's life the salvation blessings found in Christ alone.

Warning: Conserve Skilled Human Resources (27:27-32)

Two weeks, or 324 hours, have passed since Cauda. If the ship has been driven across the Adriatic Sea at a rate of one and one-half knots, it has covered 482 nautical miles. On a course of a very shallow curve, the ship would find itself at Malta, 474 nautical miles from Crete (Haenchen 1971:705; Smith 1978:124-28). About midnight, whether from the waves' change of motion into a running swell or the sound of surf crashing against Point Koura, a quarter of a mile away, the sailors sensed they were approaching land. Luke actually speaks from the point of view of the seafarers, who see the boat as stationary, and says, "The land was approaching."

The sailors test their sense that land is near by casting a lead line over board to take depth soundings. The "lead had a hollow on the underside which, filled with tallow or grease, brought up samples of the bottom" (Casson 1971:246; Herodotus History 2.5). Their unit of measure is "fathom," the distance between fingertips when the arms are extended--approximately six feet (E. F. Harrison 1986:420). Probably no more than thirty minutes later (Smith 1978:130-31), a second sounding finds that the sea floor is thirty feet closer.

The sailors take immediate action to halt the ship's drift toward a coast that they cannot make out in the dark. They hurl four anchors from the ship's stern, probably by casting a cable with two anchors attached from each side of the stern. This would not only halt the ship's progress but also position its bow facing the shore to prevent the waves from making damaging broadside blows.

The vessel is now poised for its approach at daybreak. The sailors have done all they know to do. Now all that is left is to keep on wishing for daylight (NIV prayed for daylight). Though God is sovereign, human beings still have responsibility. These sailors met theirs, and we must meet ours, especially in adverse circumstances that can tempt us to despairing passivity.

So important is the crew to the survival of all that when some seek to escape, under the pretext of using the dinghy to position anchors from the bow, Paul draws this to the attention of the centurion and his men: Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved. Luke may be playing on his leitmotif of salvation here, speaking of physical rescue but intending to point beyond it (compare Acts 4:9, 12; 16:30-31). The word of promise is "God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you" (27:24). If the sailors jump ship, this promise cannot be fulfilled for them or for the passengers.

The assurance of physical salvation through belief in the divine message to Paul and the commitment to remain with him is an acted parable of the essentials of spiritual salvation: believing the gospel message and solidarity with the gospel messenger (14:3-4; 16:14-15, 32-34; 17:2-4, 34; 18:8). Impulsively or wisely, the soldiers cut the ropes so that the dinghy falls away. The passengers' and crew's fate will now be the same.

Encouragement to Gather Strength (27:33-38)

Each successive appearance of Paul in the voyage narrative moves him more to the center. As the key to the physical survival of all on board, he encourages these who because of constant suspense (anxious expectation; compare Lk 21:26) have not gone to the galley to prepare a meal for a fortnight (they may have nibbled, however, on their own supplies--Williams 1985:438). He urges them to gather strength for the final push to shore by taking a meal. Again he uses salvation terminology: You need it to survive (literally, "This is for your salvation"). His reassurance comes in the form of a proverbial saying present in the Old Testament and Jesus' teaching: Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head (1 Sam 14:45; 2 Sam 14:11; 1 Kings 1:52; Lk 21:18). So certain is physical rescue under divine providence that not even a hair--the most easily detachable part of the human body--will be lost in the process.

Paul matches words with actions: he took some bread and gave thanks to God. . . . Then he broke it and began to eat. We should not doubt that Luke wants us to understand that Paul eats here with Eucharistic intent (Lk 22:15-20; 24:30-31, 35; Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7, 11). Originally the words of institution probably bracketed everyday meals of the believers, so the sanctifying giving of thanks and inaugural breaking of bread took on a kerygmatic significance in combination with Jesus' words, "This is my body given for you." Paul could have done this here, but to what effect? This is the climax of this acted parable, in which physical salvation by divine providence, mediated by the wisdom and guidance of God's apostle, points to the spiritual salvation of which this apostle is also a messenger. To those who "just don't get it," Paul is simply being prudent--eating food in thankfulness and confidence. But to those who hear the Lord's death proclaimed until he comes, Paul's Eucharistic example leads to the open secret of the apostle's life: faith in Christ's saving work.

The ship's company are encouraged. They turn away from their anxious, despairing vigil (27:20) and regain sufficient heart to take food. Indeed, all 276 on board eat their fill (Lk 9:17) and then set about final preparations for approaching the shore. The precious cargo of grain, which has served as ballast in the storm, would now prevent them from running aground as high on the shore as possible. So they begin to jettison it. The effect of Paul's encouragement and Eucharistic example demonstrates the power of one who has determined to be "salt and light," as well as a witness, to those around him.

A Saving Presence--the Prophecy Fulfilled (27:39-44)

At daybreak the crew makes a decision based on their observations. They "tried to recognize" the land (conative imperfect; Williams 1985:441). All they can make out is a bay with a sandy beach, but they hope that here they can "beach the ship." That is their plan, if they "might be able" to pull it off (dynainto: the optative mood of personal wish shows the level of uncertainty under which they continue to labor; compare 27:12-13).

They "cut loose the anchors," or simply let the anchor ropes fall into the sea (Haenchen 1971:707). They untie the ropes that held the rudders. These two large paddles, secured during the storm, are now lowered into place on each side of the ship at the stern to provide steerage (Casson 1971:228). They hoist the foresail to the wind; this sail sloped forward almost like a bowsprit and also provided steerage (Lake and Cadbury 1979:338). Then the crew "began to head" for the beach (inceptive imperfect; Kistemaker 1990:941).

At the entrance to the bay they unexpectedly struck a sandbar; today the shoal is thirty-nine feet below the surface, but then it probably stood in only thirteen feet of water. The ship effectively ran aground, for the bow stuck fast and would not move. The rocks of Malta disintegrate into extremely minute particles of sand and clay when acted upon by currents or by surface agitation. They form a tenacious deposit of clay (Smith 1978:144). The combination of the bay floor's composition and the direction of the wind made this sandbar the ship's final resting place. But the sea was not through with the ship. The pounding of the surf gradually broke up the stern (continuous imperfect). Paul's prophecy was coming true: only the ship will be destroyed (27:22).

The soldiers knew that they could pay with their lives for any prisoners who escaped when all abandoned ship for land. So they planned to kill the prisoners. But the centurion had other plans (compare previous Roman protection: 21:33-36; 23:10, 23; 25:1-12). To spare [diasosai] Paul, he thwarted their plan and ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. In a very real sense Paul was a "saving presence," for saving him automatically meant saving the other prisoners. Thus as a mediator of physical preservation, Paul again becomes a living parable of spiritual salvation, which is just as certain when persons take refuge in the name Paul preaches (16:31). Whether swimming, floating on planks (which may have been used to hold the grain cargo in place) or riding on the backs of swimmers, everyone reached land in safety.

The comforting prophetic word had been fulfilled to the last letter (27:22, 34). The strongest of natural forces threatening Paul's existence had been unable to thwart God's providential purposes for him. Solidarity with Paul meant physical life. For those considering the claims of Christ, the question is, If God's messenger can be so salubrious to old salts, what can his message do for me?