Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Acts 27

• About the title: Danger! Us! = Dangerous!

The Voyage to Rome Begins

• TIMELINE:
  • Paul stands trial before Felix ~58-59 AD.
  • ~2 years after his trial with Felix, Paul is taken to Italy ~60-61 AD.
  • 64 AD Great fires of Rome.
  • The Apostle Paul spent a total of three years imprisoned in Rome, across two separate periods before his death.
  • Paul was beheaded ~67-68 AD.
  • Nero committed a forcible suicide ~68 AD when he was declared an enemy of the state.
  • The Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70 AD.
  • Mt. Vesuvius erupts in 79 AD. Some believed it was God’s judgment for destroying God’s temple in Jerusalem. Felix’s son and wife, Drusilla, are victims of the volcanic ashes, 20 years after Paul begged Felix to become a believer. (Acts 24:24 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.) Felix is an example of someone who puts off making a decision until he fades into history as someone who loved money and power, taking bribes wherever he could.
    
• Traditional accounts suggest Paul was beheaded around 67–68 AD during the Neronian persecutions. If the execution occurred in the spring of 68 AD, it happened the same year Emperor Nero died by suicide on June 9, 68 AD. However, historical dates remain debated.
  https://drivethruhistory.com/the-execution-of-paul/

Acts 27:¹ And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment.

Acts 27:² So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

Acts 27:³ And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care.

Acts 27:⁴ When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

Acts 27:⁵ And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.

Acts 27:⁶ There the centurion (Julius) found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

Acts 27:⁷ When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone.

Acts 27:⁸ Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

Paul’s Warning Ignored

Acts 27:⁹ Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast (The Day of Atonement) was already over, Paul advised them,

• The Jewish Feast of Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, the last of the ten days of the High Holy Days, occurring late September or early October.

Acts 27:¹⁰ saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”

Acts 27:¹¹ Nevertheless, the centurion (Julius) was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul.

Acts 27:¹² And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.

In the Tempest

Acts 27:¹³ When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete.

Acts 27:¹⁴ But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon (A southeast wind that stirs up broad waves; Euraquilon, a northeaster).

Acts 27:¹⁵ So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive (be driven).

Acts 27:¹⁶ And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda (Cauda), we secured the skiff with difficulty.

Acts 27:¹⁷ When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis (Syrtes) Sands, they struck sail and so were driven.

Acts 27:¹⁸ And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship.

Acts 27:¹⁹ On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.

Acts 27:²⁰ Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

Acts 27:²¹ But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.

Acts 27:²² And now I urge you to take heart (courage), for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

Acts 27:²³ For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve,

Acts 27:²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail (on this trip) with you.’

Acts 27:²⁵ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.

Acts 27:²⁶ However, we must run aground on a certain island.”

Acts 27:²⁷ Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land.

Acts 27:²⁸ And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

Acts 27:²⁹ Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed (or: wished) for day to come.

Acts 27:³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow,

Acts 27:³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”

• To stay in this boat is to listen and follow the message of Paul.

Acts 27:³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

• Skiff: a flat-bottomed boat made for coastal, inland waters.
• Ropes: Holding on to the things of the flesh.

Acts 27:³³ And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing.

Acts 27:³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.”

Acts 27:³⁵ And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat.

Acts 27:³⁶ Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves.

Acts 27:³⁷ And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six (276) persons on the ship.

Acts 27:³⁸ So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.

Shipwrecked on Malta

Acts 27:³⁹ When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible.

Acts 27:⁴⁰ And they let go (cast off) the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore.

• Anchors hold back. There is now nothing to hold the ship back.
• Rudder Ropes: Rudder ropes (or “lines”) are the cords, cables, or ropes used to manually steer a boat or raise/lower a vessel’s rudder.

Acts 27:⁴¹ But striking a place (a reef) where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

• A prow refers to the pointy, forward-most section of a ship’s bow that sits above the waterline and cuts through the water.
• The bow is the entire front end of the boat.
• The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat. It is the opposite of the bow (the front) and is typically where the engines, propellers, and steering controls (including the rudder) are located. It is the exact same place Jesus slept before He calmed the storm.

Acts 27:⁴² And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.

Acts 27:⁴³ But the centurion (Julius), wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land,

Acts 27:⁴⁴ and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land (were delivered).

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