Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #45 - 27:1-26)
XXI. 27:1-28:16 GOD MIRACULOUSLY BRINGS PAUL TO ROME
A. 27:1-44 PRESERVED THROUGH SHIPWRECK
1. 27:1-8 PAUL SETS SAIL FOR ROME
a. 27:1 PAUL'S JOURNEY TO ROME PREPARED
Hos de eKRIthe tou a-poPLEIN [636]huMAS eis ten 'I-taLIan,
And when it was determined that we should sail away for :Italy,
pa-reDIdoun [3860] TON te PAUlon KAI ti-nas heTErous desMOtas [1202]
they delivered both :Paul and some other prisoners
he-ka-tonTARche[1543], oNOma-ti IouLIo, SPEIres [4686]Se-baSTES.
to a centurion, Julius by name, of theAugustan band.
b. 27:2 DETAILS OF THE PREPARATION
e-piBANtes [1910] de PLOIo [4143]A-dra-mun-teNO, MELlon-i plein eis tous kaTA ten A-SIan TOpous,
And embarking in a ship of Adramyntium, about to sail unto the places on the coast of :Asia,
aNECHthe-men [321], ONtos sun heMIN AriSTARchou, Ma-keDOnos Thes-sa-lo-niKEos.
we put to sea, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
c. 27:3 THE KINDNESS OF THE ROMAN CENTURION TO PAUL
TEte heTEra kaTECHthe-men [2509]eis SiDOna:
And the next daywe touched at Sidon:
phi-lanTHROpos [5364]te ho IOUli-os toPAUlo chreSAme-nos [5530], ePEtre-psen [2010]
and :Julius treated :Paul kindly and gave himleave
pros tous PHIlous po-reuTHENti e-pi-meLEIas [1958] tuCHEIN [5177].
to go unto his:friends andrefresh himself.
d. 27:4 And putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
ka' 'KEIthen a-nachTHENtes [321], hu-pePLEUsa-menten KUpron, diA to tous aNEmous EInai e-nanTIous.
e. 27:5 ON TO MYRA
TO te PEla-gos to kaTA ten Ki-liKIan kai Pam-phuLIan
And when we had sailed across the sea which is off :Cilicia
di-aPLEUsan-tes [1277], kaTELtha-men [2718] eis MURra, tes LuKIas.
and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, of :Lycia.
f. 27:6 THE CENTURIAN ARRANGES A CHANGE OF SHIP
ka' 'KEI heuRON ho he-ka-tonTARches PLOIon A-le-xanDRInon
And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria
PLEon eis ten I-taLIan; e-neBIba-sen [1688] heMAS eis auTO.
sailing for :Italy; and he put us in it.
g. 27:7-8 ARRIVAL AT CRETE UNDER HEAVY WEATHER CONDITIONS
en hi-kaNAIS de heMErais bra-du-ploOUNtes [1020],
And when we had sailed slowly many days,
kai MOlis [3433] geNOme-noi kaTA ten KNIdon, me pro-seONtos [4330] heMAS tou aNEmou,
and were come with difficulty over against :Cnidus, the wind not further suffering us,
hu-pePLEUsa-men [5284] ten KREten, kaTA SalMOnen; MOlis te pa-ra-leGOme-noi [3881] auTEN
we sailed under the lee of Crete, over against Salmone; 8 and with difficulty coasting along it
ELtho-men eis TOpon tiNA kaLOUme-non KaLOUS LiMEnas [3040]; ho egGUS en POlis, LaSEa.
we came unto a certain place called Fair Havens; nigh unto which was a city, Lasea.
2. 27:9-26 PAUL PROPHESIES DESTRUCTION OF SHIP, BUT SAFETY OF MEN
a. 27:9-10 PAUL ADVISES AGAINST PROCEEDING
Hi-kaNOU de CHROnou di-a-ge-noMEnou [1230], kai ONtos Ede e-pis-phaLOUS [2000] tou ploOS [4144],
And when much time was spent, and the voyage was now dangerous,
diA to kai ten neSTEIan [3521] Ede pa-re-le-luTHEnai, paREnei [3867] ho PAUlos, LEgon auTOIS, ANdres,
because the Fast also was now already gone by, :Paul admonished, 10andsaid to them, Men,
theoRO HOti meTA HUbre-os [5196] kai polLES zeMIas [2209], ou MOnon tou phorTIou [5214]
I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss,
kai tou PLOIou, alLA kai ton psuCHON heMON MELlein Eses-thai ton ploun [4144].
not only of the lading and the ship, but also of our :lives.
b. 27:11 THE CENTURION FAVORS THE CAPTAIN'S COUNSEL OVER AGAINST PAUL'S
But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner
MALlon ePEIthe-to, e tois huPO PAUlou le-goMEnois.
of the ship, than to the things spoken by Paul.
c. 27:12 THEY SEEK A BETTER WINTERING HARBOR IN CRETE
a-neuTHEtou [428] de tou liMEnos [3040] huPARchon-tos pros pa-ra-chei-maSIan [3915],
And because the haven was not commodious to winter in,
hoi PLEIo-nes Ethen-to bouLEN a-nachTHEnai [321] eKEIthen,
the more part advised to put to sea thence,
ei pos DUnain-to ka-tanTEsan-tes [2658] eis PHOIni-ka, pa-ra-cheiMAsai [3914]:
if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there:
liMEna tes KREtes, BLEpon-ta kaTA LIba [3047] kai kaTA CHOron [5566].
a haven of :Crete, looking down the south-west wind and down the north-west wind.
d. 27:13 THEY SET OUT
Hu-poPNEUsan-tos [5285] de NOtou [3558], DOxan-tes tes proTHEse-os [4286] ke-kra-teKEnai [2902],
And when a south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained their purpose,
Aran-tes [142] ASson [788] pa-reLEgon-to ten KREten.
they weighed anchor and sailed along :Crete, close in shore.
e. 27:14-15 GOOD WEATHER YIELDS TO STORM
met' ou poLU de Eba-len [906]kat' auTES Ane-mos tu-pho-niKOS [5189],
But after no long time a tempestuous wind beat down from it,
ho kaLOUme-nos Eu-raKUlon [2148], su-nar-pasTHENtos [4884] de tou PLOIou,
which is called Eurakylon, 15 and when the ship was caught,
kai me du-naMEnon an-toph-thalMEIN [503] to aNEmo, e-piDONtes, a-pheROme-tha [5342].
and could not face the wind, we gave way, and were driven.
f. 27:16-17 THE SEVERE DRIVING OF THE STORM
neSIon [3519] DE ti hu-po-draMONtes [5295] kaLOUme-non KAUda,
And running under the lee of a small island called Cauda,
isCHUsa-men [2480], MOlis [3433], pe-ri-kraTEIS [4031] geNESthai tes SKAphes [4627]:
we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat:
hen Aran-tes, bo-eTHEIais [996] eCHRONto [5530], hu-po-zonNUNtes [5269] to PLOIon;
17and when they had hoisted it up, they used helps, undergirding the ship;
phoBOUmeNOI te me eis ten SURtin ekPEso-sin, chaLAsan-tes [5465] to SKEUos, HOUtos ePHEronTO.
and, fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, andso were driven.
g. 27:18-19 IN DESPERATION - SHIP'S GEAR THROWN OVERBOARD
sphoDROS [4971] de chei-ma-zoMEnon [5492] heMON, te heXES ek-boLEN [1546] e-poiOUNto;
And as we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw overboard;
kai te TRIte auTOchei-res [849] ten skeuEN [4631] tou PLOIou Eri-psan [4496].
19and the third daythey cast out with their own hands the tackling of the ship.
h. 27:20 ALL HOPE DEPARTS IN MIDST OF STORM
MEte de heLIou MEte Astron e-pi-phaiNONton ePI PLEIo-nas heMEras,
And when neither sun nor stars shone upon us for many days,
cheiMO-NOS [5494] te ouk oLIgou e-pi-keiMEnou [2945],
and no small storm lay on,
loiPON pe-ri-eREIto [4014] elPIS PAsa tou SOzes-thai heMAS.
all hope that we should be saved was now taken away.
i. 27:21 PAUL ADMONISHED THEM FOR FORSAKING HIS COUNSEL
PolLES te a-siTIas [776] hu-parCHOUses,
And when they had been long without food,
TOte staTHEIS ho PAUlos en MEso auTON, EIpen, Edei men,
then :Paul stood forth in their midst, and said, O, men,
O, ANdres, pei-tharCHEsanTAS [3980]moi, me aNAges-thai [321]aPO tes KREtes,
you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from :Crete,
kerDE-SAI [2770] te ten HUbrin [5196] TAUten kai ten zeMIan [2209].
and have gotten this :injury and :loss.
j. 27:22 BUT - HE GIVES A STRONG WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
kai ta nun paRAIno [3867] huMAS eu-thuMEIN [2114];
And :now I exhort you to be of good cheer;
a-po-boLE gar psuCHES ou-deMIa Estai ex huMON, plen tou PLOIou.
for no loss of life shall be among you, but of the ship.
k. 27:23-24 HE SHARES THE ANGEL'S GOOD MESSAGE
paREste [3936] GAR moi to nukTI TAUte tou TheOU HOU ei-mi, ho kai laTREUo, AGge-los,
For this :night stood by me an angel of the God whose I am, whom also I serve,
LEgon, Me phoBOU, PAUle; KAIsaRI se dei pa-raSTEnai [3936]:
24saying, Fear not, Paul; you must stand before Caesar:
kai iDOU, keCHAriSTAI [5483] soi ho TheOS PANtas tous PLEon-tas meTA sou.
and lo, :God has granted you all them that sail with you.
l. 27:25 HE ENCOURAGES THEM BY HIS FAITH IN GOD'S MESSAGE
di' HO, eu-thuMEIte [2114], ANdres: piSTEUo gar to TheO,
Therefore, men, be of good cheer: for I believe :God,
HOti HOUtos Estai kath' HON TROpon [5158] leLAleTAI moi.
that it shall be even so as it has been spoken to me.
m. 27:26 But we must be cast upon a certain island.
eis NEson DE ti-na dei heMAS ek-peSEIN [1601].
NOTE: How good God was to Paul to give him a Roman Centurion who so kindly looked after him in hospitality. That does not always happen; but God had such a love for Paul that he was pleased to show him this special favor.
For unbelievers, to have a man like Paul aboard their ship is a special bonus. God revealed to Paul what would happen to the ship and lives aboard if they left their first port of Fair Havens in Crete, and sought a better one to winter in. However, unbelievers are not always open to the Word of the Lord, and in this instance the counsel of Paul was rejected in favor of that of the captain and ship-owner.
Finally in 27:21-26, Paul receives another word of both admonishment and encouragement. This time, all aboard listened to him, broke their fast, and took on new hope.
Throughout Scripture, we find that God blesses unbelievers when a believer is in their number. Joseph in Egyptis a wonderful example of this, and Daniel in Babylon. And when Christian parents understand “Covenant” and “Household and Clan Salvation”, then what blessing can come down even to the 3rdand 4thgeneration of such believers. Jonathan Edwards believed for this, and over 1600 of his descendants to the 4thgeneration were safe in the household of faith!
Disciples are the “Salt of the Earth” and “Lights in the World” - whether unbelievers understand this indirect blessing from them or not. J.A.W.