So, Paul is finally on his way to Rome. In Acts 27:1 he is put in the custody of a centurion named Julius of the Imperial Regiment, a sort of special forces group tasked with protecting merchant ships, delivering prisoners and resolving volatile situations in the provinces. It is said by some historians that Julius and Paul became close friends because of the miraculous events that occurred during this trip.
All of Acts 27 describes the journey from Caesarea to Melita (present day Malta, a small island south of Sicily). First, they sailed north, up the coast of Syria, then west past Cyprus and along the southern coast of Asia where they changed ships in Myra, a city in Lycia, a province in southern Asia (verses 1-6).
And this is where the trouble starts. Verse 7 says they made little progress, the winds were contrary and they could not hold their course. With some difficulty, they finally made it to Fair Havens on the south side of the island of Crete (verse 8). Then Luke tells us what the problem is. This is an expanded translation of verse 9, “But the season (for safe sailing) was now past, since so much time had been lost (getting to Fair Havens from Myra). The time for the fast (referring to the Day of Atonement, about the 1st of October) had past by (meaning the stormy season was about to begin).”
In verse 10 Paul warns them it would be dangerous to continue. But the centurion believed the master of the ship, who thought it was safe to continue to Phenice on the south and west part of the island, as it was a more suitable place to spend the winter (verses 11-12). And when they saw that the wind blew softy to the south, they supposed they could reach their destination (verse 13).
This is verse 14 and 15, “But not long after they had set sail a violent wind of hurricane force called Euroclydon swept down from the island. And when the ship was caught up in it and unable to head against the wind, we let her drift and were driven (into the open sea away from the island).” Above where I have “violent” wind the KJV has “tempestuous” wind, from tuphonikos, a typhoon-like wind or hurricane that could drive a ship in any direction. “Euroclydon” is a half-Greek, half-Latin term sailors used to describe the strong northeasterly winds that often came this time of the year.
In verse 16 the reference to the “boat” (skaphe, skiff or small life boat) is mentioned because it was usually pulled behind the ship. Now, because the storm was so violent, it was thought advisable to bring it on board the ship. Then verse 17 describes the process of wrapping large ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it against the strain of being tossed by the large waves. They took down the mainsail and it was common under extreme conditions to remove the beam that held the sail to further relieve the pressure on the deck and hull. Here Luke explains they were fearful that they might be driven all the way to the northern coast of Africa, where there were dangerous shoals consisting of quicksand. If a ship ran aground on these shoals, it was certain death for all aboard.
In the next verse they began tossing some of the freight overboard to lighten the ship. Then the ships “tackling” (skeue, furnishings), including furniture, equipment and baggage was thrown overboard, as well (verse 19). And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued to rage, they lost all hope (verse 20).
Then Paul says in the next several verses (I’ll abbreviate), “You should have listened to me, but don’t worry everyone will live, only the ship will be lost. An angel of the God that I serve told me not to be afraid, that I must stand before Caesar and He has given me all that sail with me. So be of good cheer, I believe it will happen exactly that way; only we will be stranded on an island. (Verses 21-26)
As we follow the narrative, verse 27 says the ship was driven up and down the Adriatic, the part of the Mediterranean that lies between Greece and Italy and extends down into the main body of the sea (in other words, they were at the mercy of the storm and being driven in different directions, as described above being characteristic of a hurricane). Then, after fourteen days, some of the ship’s crew thought they were nearing some land. So, they measured the depth of the water and found it to be 120 feet deep. Then after going a little further, they measured again and it was 90 feet deep.
Now they were afraid they would run aground, possibly against the rocks (as they didn’t know where they were), so they cast out four anchors and waited for daylight (verse 29). And, you might ask, why four anchors? Everything on these ships had to be done manually. They couldn’t have one large anchor, it would be impossible to lift and throw over the side. So, they had several smaller anchors.
In the next 3 verses (30-32) some of the crew tried to abandon ship by pretending (the KJV has “under colour” from prophasis, here, under pretense) to lower the lifeboat and cast anchors from the bow of the ship. But Paul knew what they planned and told the centurion, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you will not survive.” So, the soldiers cut the ropes and let the lifeboat drift away. By now, the centurion and soldiers had begun to trust Paul. And the reason Paul told the centurion he would not survive unless the ship’s crew remained on board is the fact they would be needed to do what was necessary to guide the ship to shore when the time came (the soldiers were trained killers, they knew nothing of sailing a large ship).
Paul then urges everyone to eat something, as they had been fasting for fourteen days, since they had first been taken by the storm (verse 33). Now, there’s no reason to assume this was a voluntary fast with spiritual implications, given the fact there were Romans, Jews and probably Greeks on board. They simply didn’t want to eat or couldn’t eat due to the violence of the storm and fear the ship could be overwhelmed at any moment and they would perish.
So, Paul encourages everyone to eat some food. He knows they’re going to need some strength for what is about to happen, and he tells everyone that not one hair will fall from the head of any one of them. He takes some bread, gives thanks for it and begins to eat. Then they were all encouraged and began to eat with him. The next verse says there were 276 people on the ship. And after they had eaten, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the wheat overboard (this may have been a cargo ship hauling wheat from Egypt to Rome, depending on the size of the ship they could carry from 75 to 165 tons of cargo). (Verses 34-38)
When morning came they saw the land, but didn’t know where they were. But, they saw a small bay (the KJV has “creek”, from kolpos, usually a gulf or bay), and determined to head for it and run the ship aground. They cut the ropes to the anchors and let them drop into the sea, untied the ropes that held the rudders to the sides of the ship, and hoisted the foresail (the KJV says “mainsail”, but this is from artemon, referring to a small sail attached to the bow). (Verses 39-40) It’s interesting that there are about 50 nautical terms in this chapter not found anywhere else in the New Testament.
The ship hit a crosscurrent and went straight into the bay and ran aground on the beach. The prow (front) of the ship stuck fast, but the stern (back) began to break up from the heavy waves. The soldiers wanted to kill all the prisoners; so none of them could escape (for reasons previously discussed, their own lives were at risk if any prisoner escaped). But Julius was determined to save Paul’s life and commanded those who could swim to jump into the water and get to land. The rest were to get to shore by holding on to pieces of the ship. So, everyone on board made it safely to land. (Verses 41-44)