Bible Commentaries
Acts 27

Verses 1-44

1 The writer of Acts, probably Luke, seems to have become the apostle's constant companion from this time. In his latest epistle from Rome Paul speaks of him as his fellow laborer (Philemon 1:24) and later laments that he alone remained with him (2 Timothy 4:11).

1 This Julius has been identified with .Julius Priscus who afterwards became prefect of the

Prretorian guards when Vitellius was emperor.

1 There seems to have been no regular service either for passengers or freight on the Mediterranean in ancient times. Travelers were entirely dependent on passing merchant vessels and often sailed in a number of ships before reaching their destination. Paul took three different vessels in his last voyage to Jerusalem from Macedonia. Even emperors used this casual means of transportation. Hence the centurion took a ship to Asia, with the idea of transferring to another vessel as soon as he found one which would carry them toward Rome. Such a ship proved to be in Myra, one of the ports at which they called. And in this they pursued their journey to Italy.

2 Aristarchus is probably that same Aristarchus who was seized by the Ephesian mob when they could not find Paul (Acts 19:29) who returned to Asia with him on his last voyage to

Jerusalem (Acts 20:4). He was his fellow laborer in Rome (Philemon 1:24) and seems to have been imprisoned with him (Colossians 4:10).

4 The direct course to the coasts of Asia would be south and west of Cyprus. This was the course on his second and third missionary journeys. They worked their way to windward by taking advantage of a current between Cyprus and Cilicia.

6 The Alexandrian ship was somewhat out of her course in this harbor unless it had business there also, but the prevailing west wind would account for this. Egyptian vessels were amongst the largest of that day, and as this one was engaged in the transMediterranean traffic it must have been of considerable size.

7 Cnidus had an excellent and sheltered harbor, to which, doubtless, they would have gone for the winter if the wind had allowed it.

11 Anciently the steersman, or helmsman, or pilot, was captain of the ship, but his duties in larger vessels corresponds to our navigator. The man who chartered the ship traveled as his own supercargo, and was as much interested in the safety of his lading as the navigator was in his ship. Hence his counsel was sought. One lost his ship and the other his cargo for rejecting Paul's advice. The souls on board (including these two men) were given to Paul, and he lost none of them, even though their action endangered all.

12 Ideal Harbors, was not, as its name implies, a sheltered enclosure, but rather an open roadstead. Hence the majority of those on board thought best to reject the Jewish prisoner's advice and seek better winter quarters.

12 "Looking" must be taken from the sailor's standpoint, which is usually the opposite of a landsman's. Phoenix faced east rather than west.

13 As the south wind came up they probably lost all confidence in the pessimistic Jew who had warned them of danger ahead.

14 This typhoon or hurricane was so violent that the vessel could not keep its course, but was carried off in another direction. Had it not been so strong they could have luffed to the wind and used it to carry them to Phoenix.

16 Cauda is usually called Clauda, but as this reading is corrected in Sinaiticus, and the modern name omits the "1," we have made it Cauda.

16 It was customary, in ancient times, to drag a small boat in the water behind the ship. So long as the vessel was being driven by the gale this was safe, but when its speed was temporarily reduced there was great danger of the boat pounding the vessel to pieces or being itself broken up. Hence they held it off, and then hoisted it on board.

17 "Lowering the gear" in order to keep from running into the Syrtis, on the north African coast, must have consisted in lying-to, or setting a small canvas to bring the vessel up as near the wind as possible. This would stop her progress and change her course.

23 That Paul, a mere prisoner, should have presumed to give advice at all shows how quickly he obtained recognition. Now that all wished that he had been heeded, he easily assumes the leadership. They deserve to be lost, and the vessel and its cargo are lost, through rejecting Paul's words. Yet, notwithstanding their disobedience, he is graciously granted the souls of all who are sailing with him. We cannot believe that this shipwreck is merely an interesting adventure in Paul's career without any bearing on the subject of the book of Acts. We have seen how this account gives us only what concerns the kingdom testimony, leaving out important incidents in his life which have no bearing on it. This shipwreck is not mentioned in his later epistles. Hence it must have a close connection with the fortunes of the kingdom. We take it as a parable of Paul's closing kingdom ministry and the fortunes of those who are associated with him in it. They are in the ship and sustained by it just as the nations, under Paul's early ministries are in the kingdom and find their sustenance at Israel's board. But the kingdom is fast going to pieces, Israel as a nation is nearing its end, and now the question is, what is to become of the believers among the nations to whom Paul had preached? Will they be swallowed up in Israel's downfall? The answer is pictured in the salvation of all who sail with Paul and the Loss of the ship with its cargo. The nations lose everything connected with the kingdom but are safely carried through the catastrophe. They lose all earthly hopes, but gain the higher heavenly place accorded them in Paul's epistles from Rome.

27 Those on board ship have the sensation that land is nearing them when the ship approaches a shore and sailors speak of it in this way. Experienced sailors know when they are near land, even if it is invisible, by the distant roar of the breakers and other indications. The danger now lay in striking something in the dark so that they should not be able to reach the shore and save themselves.

34 It is practically impossible to prepare meals in such a storm as they had encountered and the constant toil and apprehension would take away all desire for food. But now that land was near they doubtless remembered Paul's predictions and were more than willing to listen to him as he cheered and encouraged them. We hear no more of the navigator and the owner of the cargo, and even the centurion obeys Paul, who acknowledges his thankfulness to God before all and gives them an example of faith by taking his fill of food.

38 The lighter they could make the ship the better chance they had of beaching her near the shore. To do this it was necessary also to control her course, so they hoisted a sail to the wind and unlashed the rudders, which had probably been securely fastened, as steering was impossible. Unlike modern vessels, the ships of that day had two rudders, which they would now use to steer the ship for the beach.

41 It would seem that some current carried them into a channel, or the place "where two seas met," and hindered them from reaching the beach they were headed for. They ran aground in the channel itself.

41 Every detail of this description fits perfectly with the environs of what is now called St. Paul's bay on the northern coast of Malta. The depth of the sea, a channel made by the island of Salmonetta, and the evidences of a beach at the mouth or the Westara creek, all identify this as the probable location.

42 As a Roman guard was ordinarily responsible for his prisoners with his own life, we can better understand the inhuman suggestion of the centurion's soldiers. Once again Paul becomes the saviour of the prisoners even as he had been used but a few hours before to prevent the sailors' desertion and thus saved the lives of the very soldiers who now wished to despatch him. The centurion was too just to kill the one to whom he and the rest owed their very lives.

1 There was an island in the Adriatic called Melida or Melita, which some suppose was the scene of the shipwreck. It is in the gulf of Venice. The ancient Adria, however, included more than the present Adriatic, and was applied to all of the Mediterranean between Sicily and Greece. The modern condition of Malta is no index of what it was in those days. "Barbarians" (for which we have no English equivalent) was applied by the Greeks to any who did not speak Greek, and their conduct makes it clear that they were far from being barbarous or savage, There are no vipers in Malta today, but venomous reptiles always disappear with the increase of population. The Venetian Melita could not possibly be reached with the wind blowing so as to drive them toward the Syrtis quicksand and there is no reason to think that it changed. They would pass innumerable islands on the way as if by a miracle. And their subsequent journey would have been overland or by a different route from Melita.