The Voyage to Rome and Shipwreck (27:1–44)

Throughout this chapter and part of the next, Luke tells the story of Paul’s harrowing voyage to Rome. While Paul’s boat skirted the south shore of Crete, it is caught suddenly by a violent northeast wind and driven out to sea. After two weeks of an unrelenting storm and when all on board have lost hope, the boat is shipwrecked on the island of Malta.

Luke relates the account in significant detail and in an engaging way that keeps the reader in constant suspense. Because of the divine promise that Paul will appear before Caesar, the question in the minds of the readers is not if Paul will make it to Rome, but how he will do so given the overwhelming odds against him. How will the divine plan be fulfilled when it seems that everything is working against it?510

Paul and some other prisoners (27:1). No indication is given as to how many prisoners there are or the nature of the crimes for which they are incarcerated. Paul is included with them as just another prisoner.

The Imperial Regiment (27:1). The literal reading here is “the Sebastos [or Augustus] cohort.” Archaeologists have discovered two inscriptions, one in Latin and one in Greek, that refer to a cohort of this title in the Roman army stationed at Syria (including Judea) in the first century.511 Nothing more is known about Julius than what is in this text.

We boarded a ship from Adramyttium (27:2). There were no cruise ships or passenger vessels in the first century. It was common for people to travel on cargo vessels. This particular ship comes from a city on the west coast of Asia Minor, about thirty-five miles north of Pergamum and thirty-seven miles due east of Assos (see the map on Acts 20). This is a small privately owned cargo vessel presumably on its way back to its home port. The centurion’s intent is to book passage on a vessel that will take them to one of the major ports of south Asia Minor, where they can board a larger grain vessel heading to Rome.

Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica (27:2). On Aristarchus, see comments on 20:4. He was among the delegates accompanying Paul with the collection for the Jerusalem believers. Apparently he is the only one of the group who remains with Paul in Caesarea for the two years of his imprisonment and will continue to minister to Paul through his own Roman imprisonment. The text does not say that Aristarchus is also a prisoner at this time, but for some unknown reason (but probably related to his commitment to the gospel) he will be imprisoned in Rome (Col. 4:10).

We landed at Sidon (27:3). Sidon was one of the principal cities of Phoenicia, but now part of the province of Syria under Roman rule. It was located about seventy miles north of Caesarea.

SIDON

In kindness to Paul (27:3). Literally, Julius shows philanthrōpia to Paul. This is the word from which is derived the English “philanthropy,” but here simply means “benevolence” or “kindness.” This was an esteemed virtue in the Hellenistic world; the word refers frequently in moral exhortation to “civilized” behavior.512

Allowed him to go to his friends (27:3). These “friends” are Christians in the city. Some from the first wave of Jewish-Christian missionaries scattered by the persecution in Jerusalem came to Phoenicia and planted churches (11:19). Paul may have already met many of these believers as he passed through the city on one of his trips to Jerusalem (11:30; 12:25; 15:3).513

Passed to the lee of Cyprus (27:4). This refers to the side of Cyprus where ships were most protected from the autumnal prevailing winds. Because Luke mentions passing by the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, the boat probably traveled north of Cyprus. This was the opposite side of Cyprus Paul passed when he traveled from Miletus to Jerusalem (21:3).

We landed at Myra in Lycia (27:5). Myra was one of the key cities of the territory of Lycia in southern Asia Minor. It was about forty miles east of the other Lycian city, Patara, where Paul had docked in his voyage from Miletus to Jerusalem with the collection (21:1). The city of Myra was actually three and a half miles inland on a plateau.514 It was served by a port called Andriace, where the boat would have docked. Myra has yet to be excavated, but many Roman ruins are still visible, including the eleven thousand-seat theater and an immense granary built during the reign of Hadrian (A.D. 117–38). Myra was due north of Alexandria, Egypt, and a key stopping point for the grain vessels that traveled on to Rome.

MYRA IN LYCIA

The theater.

Depending on the precise route the Adramyttium vessel took, the boat covered a distance of 450 to 500 miles from Sidon to Myra. According to a tradition preserved in the western form of the text, the voyage took a total of fifteen days.

PORT CITY OF ANDRIACE

An Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy (27:6). The centurion is able to locate an Alexandrian grain vessel heading for Rome without any difficulty. With a population of over a million people, Rome was greatly dependent on the regular shipment of grain from Egypt.

MODEL OF AN EGYPTIAN MERCHANT VESSEL

Arriving off Cnidus (27:7). The port of Cnidus lay at the tip of a long peninsula at the southwestern portion of Asia Minor (in the territory of Caria) that extended between the islands of Cos and Rhodes. This was about a 150-mile trip from Myra. In his voyage to Jerusalem from Miletus, Paul’s boat would have passed within visual distance of this city (see 21:1). The ancient geographer Strabo provides a helpful description of this port city:

Then to Cnidus, with two harbours, one of which can be closed, can receive triremes, and is a naval station for twenty ships. Off it lies an island which is appoximately seven stadia in circuit, rises high, is theatre-like, is connected by moles with the mainland, and in a way makes Cnidus a double city, for a large part of its people live on the island, which shelters both harbors.515

PAUL’S VOYAGE FROM CAESAREA TO CRETE

When the wind did not allow us to hold our course (27:7). A westward voyage on a sailboat in the Mediterranean took considerably longer than the same trip eastward because of adverse winds through the entire trip. An eastward voyage that might take ten days could take between fifty and seventy days when traveling westward. The difficulty and length was compounded all the more when traveling in the winter.516

We sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone (27:7). The boat journeys southwest toward the island of Crete, where the crew attempts to round the eastern cape. Salmone is a promontory on the easternmost side of the island (today it is called Cape Sideros). Because of the strong northwest winds, the crew of the boat seeks protection by sailing along the southern side of the island. Interestingly, the name “Salmone” is of Phoenician origin and describes a refuge from exposure to the wind.517

Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea (27:8). This small port was roughly halfway around the island east of Cape Littinos. The ancient village of Lasea has also been identified. It lay about five miles east of Fair Havens.

Sailing had already become dangerous (27:9). According to ancient sources, sea travel was particularly risky in the fall from September 14 to November 11 and considered extremely dangerous from November 11 to March 10.518 Visibility (mists and fogs) as well as the constant threat of severe winter storms rendered this period an inadvisable time to travel by sea.

FAIR HAVENS, CRETE

It is not suprising, however, to find a grain vessel traveling during this dangerous period. Suetonius notes that because of regular shortages of grain in Rome, the emperor Claudius “took all possible steps to import grain, even during the winter months—insuring merchants against the loss of their ships in stormy weather (which guaranteed them a good return on their ventures).”519

By now it was after the Fast (27:9). This is another way of referring to the Jewish Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). A number of passages in Jewish literature connect the day with fasting. The Mishnah, for example, stipulates, “On the Day of Atonement, eating, drinking … are forbidden.”520 The date of this festival was on Tishri 10 on the Jewish lunar calendar. In A.D. 59, the observance would have fallen on October 5.521 The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (Booths or Succoth) fell shortly after this on Tishri 15. Since Luke does not mention the Festival of Tabernacles, it is likely then that the boat arrives in Fair Havens sometime in the five-day period of October 10–15, A.D. 59.522

Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous (27:10). Paul asserts this warning not as a prophetic insight from the Spirit, but as a common-sense observation based on his personal experience at sea (2 Cor. 11:25–26) and his knowledge that sea travel is typically avoided from this time on because of the inherent dangers. Because of the Lord’s providential care, there will be no loss of life, as Paul assumes.

PAUL’S VOYAGE FROM CRETE TO MALTA

The pilot and … the owner of the ship (27:11). The kybernētēs is the “steersman”—essentially, the captain of the ship. The nauklēros may be the owner of the ship but may also be a representative of the owner and thus concerned about the financial interest of the voyage.523 The grain vessels are privately owned and the shipowners are free agents. They take advantage of “a healthy private enterprise system conferring great rewards on speculators and adventurous transporters.”524 Both of these men disagree with Paul and decide to press further on.

Hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there (27:12). The owner and the captain of the ship apparently consult others about whether to seek a better port in Crete to spend the winter. The group decision is not to take the risk to travel on to Rome, but simply to coast westward along the southern shore of Crete another fifty miles or so to a better harbor. The precise location of this harbor in Crete remains uncertain. Most scholars think it was near the modern coastal village of Loutro.

A wind of hurricane force, called the “northeaster” (27:14). The conditions are fine for reaching Phoenix as long as the gentle wind blows from the south, but this abruptly changes. A violent wind from the northeast blows across the island, down from Mount Ida, and howls from the shore south out to the sea. Luke describes this wind as typhōnikos, a Greek word from which is derived our English “typhoon.” Ancient sailors named this dangerous wind Euraquilo, a name with which Luke shows his familiarity. Euraquilo is actually a bilingual compound formed from a shortened form of the Greek euronotos (east wind) and the Latin Aquila (north wind).

Although at one time critical scholars claimed that this hybrid word is found nowhere else and took it as a sign of Luke’s literary creativity, the term has been discovered on a Latin inscription found in the city of Thugga in proconsular Africa.525 It appears on a wind-rose inscribed on a pavement that bears the names of the wind in each direction. Beginning with the north and moving clockwise it reads: septentrio (north wind), aquilo (north wind; apparently slightly northeast), euroaquilo (northeast wind), vulturnus, eurus (east wind), etc.526

Today this wind is called a “Gregale” and can approach hurricane force and endanger shipping. In 1555 it is reported to have caused waves that drowned six hundred persons in the city of Valletta, the principal port city of the island of Malta.527

A small island called Cauda (27:16). Caught by the violent wind, the ship is driven south. This island of Cauda is located about twenty-three miles south of Phoenix. Today it is called Gaudos and is the most southerly Greek island. The ancient island did possess a city and a harbor, but there is little chance of this vessel making it.

ISLAND OF CAUDA

Modern Gavdos.

Make the lifeboat secure (27:16). The lifeboat was normally towed behind the ship. Since towing a boat is dangerous in a storm, the sailors pull the rope and bring the little boat on board. The difficulty in doing so is probably caused by the dinghy taking on water.528

They passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together (27:17). There are a variety of views as to what this bracing procedure involves, but the most likely explanation is a practice called “frapping.” Heavy ropes or cables were passed under the bow of the ship and secured transversely on either side. The object of this procedure was to keep the planks of the ship tight against the “ribs” (the inner wooden beams that formed the skeleton of the boat). This gave the ship extra protection in the fury of the storm.529

The sandbars of Syrtis (27:17). These are “the notoriously dangerous shoals and shallows of the Libyan continental shelf of North Africa from Cyrenaica through Tripolitania to Tunisia: the Greater Syrtis to the southeast and the Lesser off Gabés to the southwest.”530 The Syrtes are 375 miles away from the island of Cauda. Sailors’ fears of Syrtis are well summed up by Dio Chrysostom: “Those who have once sailed into it find egress impossible; for shoals, cross-currents, and long sand-bars extending a great distance out make the sea utterly impassable or troublesome.”531 Luke’s mention of their fear of these treacherous shoals at this point demonstrates that the crew knows it is in for a long, harrowing voyage.

Lowered the sea anchor (27:17). Luke literally says that they lower the “vessel” (skeuos). The NIV interprets this to be an anchor, but it probably refers to the sails (the same word was used for the sheet lowered from heaven in 10:11).532 All the sails are taken down and only a storm-sail is kept up, which is necessary to keep the boat steady.533

STONE ANCHOR

Finally gave up all hope of being saved (27:20). With the storm showing no sign of diminishing, the sailors and passengers begin fearing the worst possible outcome. They think they may have missed Sicily and will never make it to the North African (Tunisian) coast alive.

STORMY SEAS

Waves crashing on the breakwater at Caesarea Maritima.

The men had gone a long time without food (27:21). In such a storm, anxiety and seasickness would surely eliminate any appetite.

An angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me (27:23). After days of being tossed around at sea and at the point when all on board are at the point of despair, God intervenes not to stop the storm, but to communicate a message of encouragement and hope to Paul through a divine emissary. The angel specifically tells Paul that the ship will be destroyed, but not one person will die. In communicating the content of this appearance to the passengers, Paul tailors his remarks to be understood by a group of people not familiar with Christianity or Judaism. Greeks and Romans believed in divine intermediaries, however, and would probably not have been skeptical about what Paul was saying. Paul makes it clear that it is not a messenger of Zeus (or any other deity from the pantheon of Gentile gods), but the God he serves.

You must stand trial before Caesar (27:24). This is a new revelation to Paul. When Jesus spoke to him previously in Jerusalem, he simply assured him that he would survive to testify about him in Rome (23:11).

On the fourteenth night (27:27). In a detailed and careful study done over a hundred years ago about this voyage on the basis of interviews with experienced Mediterranean sailors, J. Smith calculated that in a gale such as this, the boat would have averaged about one-and-a-half miles per hour. Given the distance of 476 miles from Cauda to Malta on the course the storm-driven boat would likely have taken, Paul’s boat would have been within a few miles of the island on the fourteenth night.534

The Adriatic Sea (27:27). Literally, “the sea of Adria.” Today the Adriatic Sea refers specifically to the long narrow body of water that extends between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula. In the Roman period that was distinguished as the Gulf of Adria whereas the Sea of Adria extended much further south and from Crete to Sicily.535

They took soundings (27:28). It must be remembered that there were no sonar or acoustical instruments available to ancient sailors. The “sounding” referred to here was a depth measurement taken by a hand line. A series of lead weights were attached to the end of the line separated by measured intervals. Archaeologists have discovered some of these weights. The bottom of the weight was hollowed out so that it could be filled with tallow or grease. When lowered and drug on the floor of the sea, the grease would pick up rocks and debris.536 The use of this kind of line is well illustrated by a passage from Herodotus:

The nature of the land of Egypt is such that when a ship is approaching it and is yet one day’s sail from the shore, if a man try the sounding, he will bring up mud even at a depth of eleven fathoms. This shows that the outpouring of land goes that far.537

They dropped four anchors from the stern (27:29). The four anchors would have slowed the speed of the ship enough to keep it from careening perilously onto the rocks of the shore. Normally a ship was anchored from the bow. Anchoring it from the stern (the rear) would enable it to continue its forward progress until it reached shore.538

An attempt to escape from the ship (27:30). Knowing the extreme danger of being on board a vessel speeding toward the rock shore in ferocious winds and high, choppy surf, the crew decides to abandon ship and take their chances on board the dinghy. The apostle Paul, however, foils their plans by informing the Roman military personnel. The action of the soldiers in cutting the lines holding the dinghy would certainly have occasioned a great deal of tension and bitter emotions of the crew toward the soldiers and Paul.

Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat (27:33). Paul’s appeal would surely help to restore some measure of calm to the passengers, who are waiting impatiently for dawn and the impending prospect of making it to shore.

Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head (27:34). Paul reiterates here the assurance given to him by the angel of God (27:22) by means of a Jewish/Old Testament idiom. The expression is illustrated in the remarks made by Saul to his men regarding Jonathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground.”539 This is a way of stressing the certainty that no person would die.

Gave thanks to God in front of them all (27:35). Paul boldly prays and gives thanks to the one true God in the presence of worshipers of numerous other deities. It was typical Jewish custom to give thanks to God before a meal. In spite of some of the language of this passage (“took some bread … broke it”), this is not a celebration of the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper. Paul is encouraging everyone on board (273 non-Christians) to eat for nourishment and strength; this is not a time of Christian community reflecting on the death of Christ.

276 of us on board (27:37). This is by no means an unrealistic number of people to be aboard an Alexandrian grain vessel. Josephus claims that there were six hundred people aboard a ship he was on that was shipwrecked in the Sea of Adria.540

Throwing the grain into the sea (27:38). The explicit mention of grain as the cargo here confirms the impression that this was indeed an Alexandrian grain vessel. Their intent would have been that by lightening the ship, the vessel would travel farther up the beach before it grounded. This would enhance their chances of making it safely to shore. The grain would have been stored in the hull in sacks, not poured in loosely.541

They saw a bay with a sandy beach (27:39). A sandy beach, as opposed to a rocky set of cliffs, is the perfect place to land the boat. The crew now does everything they can to reach the beach.

Untied the ropes that held the rudders (27:40). Two large paddles were attached on each side of the stern in ancient ships. When it was necessary to anchor the boat from the stern, these paddles were lifted out of the water and secured by ropes.542

Struck a sandbar (27:41). “Sandbar” is an interpretation of the Greek word dithalassos, which literally means, “between two seas” or “where two seas meet.” That this is a sandy shoal is probably the correct interpretation. Some have suggested that this wording points to a precise identification of the location on Malta where the ship went aground, namely, in a place that is today known as “St. Paul’s Bay.” This bay is located on the northwestern portion of the island. A small island called Salmonetta is only a hundred yards off the mainland. The channel separating the mainland from the island may have been the place “between two seas.”543 Because of the proximity of Salmonetta to the mainland, it is conceivable that the sailors think the island is simply a promontory from the mainland. By the time they realize there is a narrow and shallow waterway separating the two, it is too late to change directions.

Archaeologists undertaking surveys of the waters around Malta have discovered eight shipwrecks of Roman era boats.544 In recent years, a British expedition has been searching for Paul’s ship.545

The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners (27:42). According to the Code of Justinian, a Roman guard who allowed a prisoner to escape could face the same penalty awaiting the accused prisoner.546 Most of the soldiers do not want to take any risk with the prisoners they are responsible for. Some of these prisoners may have been accused of capital offenses. In the panic of the moment, little thought apparently seems to be given to the potential punishment a soldier might face for killing a Roman citizen.