Chapter 27

Acts 27:1–3. When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan cohort. Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to sail to the places along Asia, we put to sea, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius, treating Paul kindly, allowed him to go to his friends and to receive their care. “Aristarchus being with us.” Aristarchus is present rightly and usefully, and accompanies him for some distance, since he is to report in Macedonia all that concerns Paul. As for, “Julius treating Paul kindly”: for it was only natural to support him, worn down as he was by the chains, by fear, and by being led and carried about. And observe how the writer does not even conceal this—that Paul needed to be cared for.

Acts 27:4–8. Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. And having sailed across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came down to Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and put us on board it. Sailing slowly for many days, and having barely come off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. And coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasaea. “An Alexandrian ship,” he says, “sailing to Italy.” It is likely that these too set off for Asia to report what had happened to Paul, just as Aristarchus did for Macedonia.

Acts 27:9–10. When much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them, saying: Men, I perceive that this voyage will be with hardship and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives. “The Fast had already gone by.” I take it that he here means the Fast of the Jews. For he set out long after Pentecost, so that he reached the regions of Crete almost at the very onset of winter. But that he might not seem to be prophesying, but rather to be speaking from conjecture, he says, “I perceive”; for they would not have accepted it at once, even had he said it as a prophet.

Acts 27:11–13. But the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the shipowner than by what Paul said. And because the harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority gave counsel to put to sea from there too, in hopes that they might somehow reach Phoenix and winter there, a harbor of Crete looking toward the southwest and the northwest. And when a south wind blew gently, supposing they had gained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed close along Crete. “He was more persuaded by the shipowner.” The evangelist says that the centurion did this thinking that one ought rather to listen to those experienced in sailing than to a passenger inexperienced in seamanship. So then it was an error of judgment, not of fortune.

Acts 27:14–17. But not long after, a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon struck down from it. And when the ship was caught up and could not face the wind, we gave way and were driven along. Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were barely able to secure the ship’s boat. After hoisting it up, they used supports, undergirding the ship, and, fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the sail and so were driven along. One must not demand strict literal precision of Scripture. For “to face,” properly speaking, fits a person and not a ship.

Acts 27:18–21. And as we were violently storm-tossed, the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard, and on the third day with our own hands we threw out the ship’s tackle. And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm lay upon us, all hope of our being saved was at last taken away. And after long abstinence from food, Paul then stood in their midst and said: Men, you ought to have listened to me and not put to sea from Crete, and so have spared yourselves this injury and loss. That is, the sails. For when the wind is fierce this is done, since the stern is being battered.

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

Acts 27:23–33. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve, saying: Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you. Therefore take courage, men; for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. But we must run aground on some island. When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that some land was drawing near them. And taking soundings they found twenty fathoms; and going a little farther and sounding again, they found fifteen fathoms. Fearing lest we should run aground on rocky places, they cast four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. And when the sailors were trying to flee from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, under pretext of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers: Unless these men remain in the ship, you cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and let it fall away. And while the day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take food, saying: This is the fourteenth day that you continue waiting without food, having taken nothing. “And now I urge you to take courage.” After so great a storm, he does not address them by way of reproach, but wishing that for the future at least he might be believed; and he sets forth what has happened as a witness to the truth of what he is going to say. And he foretells two things: that the ship will be lost, but those aboard will be saved, and that they must run aground on an island—things that came not of conjecture but of prophecy. “Behold, God has granted you all who sail with you.” See: were it not for Paul, all in the ship would have perished. So that what Homer said is false. Homer says that it is impossible to escape the appointed fate, which at one’s very birth fixes the hour of a person’s death. But behold: if all had been fated to perish, then by ordinary reckoning Paul too should have perished, having stayed so many days at sea without food. Indeed, the false saying declared: “Fate no man has escaped, neither the brave” (that is, the valiant) “nor the coward.” But Scripture says the very opposite, namely: “A righteous man is delivered from trouble, and the wicked falls into it in his stead” (Prov. 11:8). So then God granted the lives to Paul, while the ship perished with all that was in it. Thus the impious are saved this time for the sake of the righteous man. Yet there is also a time when the impious one perishes before his hour through his own wickedness, as Ecclesiastes says: “Do not be greatly impious, and do not be foolish; why should you die before your time?” (7:17). “Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat.” By God’s design Paul is at first disbelieved, so that after the test of events he might be believed—which indeed happened. Observe, then, how the centurion trusts Paul, so far as to let the boat be lost; but the sailors did not yet believe, and only later are persuaded, for this sort of men is hard to convince.

Acts 27:34–39. Therefore I urge you to take some food; this is for your preservation, for not a hair will fall from the head of any of you. And having said this, and taken bread, he gave thanks to God before them all, and breaking it, began to eat. Then all became cheerful and themselves also took food. We were in all on the ship two hundred and seventy-six souls. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing the wheat into the sea. When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, onto which they planned, if they could, to drive the ship. That Paul began to eat was so that he might not perish of hunger; and that he gave thanks to God was for what had happened. “And taking bread, he gave thanks to God.” The order of the Eucharist teaches us to say the same thing: “We give you thanks, O God, that you have counted us worthy to live until now, though we remained without food. Therefore, sending up glory to you, we break the bread to partake of nourishment.”

Acts 27:40–44. And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the lashings of the rudders; and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the shore. But falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the bow, having stuck fast, remained immovable, while the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves. And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim out and escape. But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and get to land, and the rest to follow, some on planks and some on various pieces from the ship. And so it came about that all were brought safely to land. They loosened the lashings when day had come; and the ship is broken up in the daytime, so that those aboard might not be undone by fear, and that they might also see the prophecy fulfilled in deed. It should be noted that one person kills another by his own will, fate not preventing the murder from happening. For behold, having resolved to do it, the soldiers came to the deed of murder of their own accord; and having heard the centurion, again of their own will they desisted. They could have refused to obey him, since they were many and strong; but the will and self-determined choice both does what it wishes and does not do what it does not wish.