Acts 27:13

27:12-20 Those who launch forth on the ocean of this world, with a fair gale, know not what storms they may meet with; and therefore must not easily take it for granted that they have obtained their purpose. Let us never expect to be quite safe till we enter heaven. They saw neither sun nor stars for many days. Thus melancholy sometimes is the condition of the people of God as to their spiritual matters; they walk in darkness, and have no light. See what the wealth of this world is: though coveted as a blessing, the time may come when it will be a burden; not only too heavy to be carried safely, but heavy enough to sink him that has it. The children of this world can be prodigal of their goods for the saving their lives, yet are sparing of them in works of piety and charity, and in suffering for Christ. Any man will rather make shipwreck of his goods than of his life; but many rather make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, than of their goods. The means the sailors used did not succeed; but when sinners give up all hope of saving themselves, they are prepared to understand God's word, and to trust in his mercy through Jesus Christ.

Acts 27:13-15 . And when the south wind blew softly — Ordinarily a wind very mild, and at that time not high; supposing they had obtained their purpose — And would soon arrive at the harbour they wished to reach; loosing, they sailed close by Crete — That is, sailed along the shore of the island, not being afraid to be driven upon it by that side wind. But not long after there arose against it — Against the ship; a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon — This expression comes from ευρος and κλυδων , an eastern storm, as the word signifies. A kind of tempest this which is called by those who now frequent those seas, a Levanter. It was a kind of hurricane, not carrying them any one way, but tossing them backward and forward: for these furious winds blow in all directions, from the north-east to the south-east. And when the ship was caught — Συναρπασθεντος , was violently hurried away; and would not bear up against the wind — Or face it, as the word αντοφθαλμειν signifies; we let her drive — Gave her up to the wind, to be driven before it.

Acts 27:13 . Δόξαντες , having supposed ) as the south wind blew in their favour.— ἄραντες ) having moved . Where there is motion, there the mass is raised from the support beneath on which it rests. Thence αἴρειν , to move , by a Metonymy of the consequent for the antecedent.— ἆσσον ) nearer . The comparative contracted from ἐγγὺς , which Herodotus also uses everywhere, and Josephus, l. i. Ant. c. 20. See Beza, E. Schmidt, and Raphelius. It is not in this place the name of a town, otherwise unknown, that they were seeking [as if ἆσσον were a town]; for it was Phenice which they had sought.[151] [151] Rec. Text accents it, ἄσσον . Vulg. makes it a town: cum sustulissent de Asso.—E. and T.

Verse 13. - They weighed anchor and for loosing thence, they , A.V.; along Crete, close in shore for close by Crete , A.V. Blew softly ; ὑποπνεύσαντος , only here in the New Testament, and not found elsewhere. Supposing that they had obtained their purpose . A south wind would be quite favorable for sailing east or east by north, from Fair Havens to Phoenix. They not unreasonably, therefore, thought they could effect their purpose of wintering at Phoenix. And so they at once weighed anchor ; ἄραντες , without an objective case following, "having lifted up," understand τὰς ἀγκύρας , as in Julius Pollux, quoted by Smith. It was the nautical phrase. Sailed along ( παρελέγοντο ); see ver. 8, note. Close in shore ( ᾶσσον , comparative of ἄγχι , nearer, meaning "very near "). For the earlier part of their voyage they would be obliged to keep very near the shore, to enable them to weather Cape Matala, which lay a little to the south of west from Fair Havens. Some take ᾶσσον as the name of a town on the coast, but the grammar of the sentence makes this impossible. Acts 27:13

Acts 27:13 . But when gentler south wind had set in ( ὑποπνεύσ ., Arist. probl . viii. 6; Heliodor. iii. 3)—this was the motive of the following δόξαντες . As, namely, Fair Havens , where they were, and also Phoenix farther to the west, whither they wished to go, lay on the south coast of the island, the south wind was favourable for carrying out their resolution, because it kept them near to the coast and did not allow them to drift down into the southern sea. κεκρατηκέναι ] to have become masters of their purpose , that is, to be able safely to accomplish it. Examples in Raphel, Polyb . ἄραντες ] namely, the anchor , which is understood of itself in nautical language: they weighed anchor . See Bos, Ellips. , ed. Schaefer, p. 14 f. ἆσσον παρελέγ . τ . Κρήτ .] they sailed closer (than could previously, Acts 27:8 , be done) along the coast of Crete . ἆσσον , nearer , the comparative of ἄχρι , is not only found in poetry from the time of Homer, but also in prose; Herod, iii. 52, iv. 5; Joseph. Antt. i. 20. 1, al . The Vulgate, which Erasmus follows, has: cum sustulissent de Asson , so that thus ΑΣΣΟΝ is connected with ἄραντες and regarded as the name of a city of Crete ( Ἄσος in Steph. Byz., Asus in Plin. H. N. iv. 12); hence also Elz., Mill., Scholz have Ἄσσον (as a proper name). But as this translation is at variance with the words as they stand, Luther, Castalio, Calovius, and several older expositors have taken Ἄσσον as the accusative of direction: cum sustulissent Assum .

But, even if the little town had really been situated on the coast (which does not agree with Plin. l.c. ), the expression would have been extremely harsh, as ἅραντες does not express the notion of direction; and not only so, but also the mere accusative of direction without a preposition is only poetical (Kühner, II. p. 204), and is foreign to the N.T.

13 . the south wind blew softly ] The storm appeared to have in some degree abated, and the change of wind must have been very complete, for (see Acts 27:7-8 ) they had previously sailed under the lee of Crete to get shelter from the north wind. loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete ] ( R. V. “They weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close in shore).” The word for “close in shore” is asson , and it has been by some taken for a proper name and endeavours been made to discover traces of some place so named in Crete. But though the translation “when they had loosed from Assos” is as old as the Vulgate, there can be little doubt that the Greek word is really the comparative degree of an adverb signifying “near.” So it literally means “nearer,” and is probably used to indicate that the coasting voyage now being made was one in which the coast was hugged more closely than usual. This is intended by R. V. “close in shore.”

(13) And when the south wind blew softly. —There was a change at once in the force and the direction of the wind. With a gentle and favourable breeze from the south, the pilot and the owner thought that all was smooth sailing, and the ship left the Fair Havens and made across the bay, a distance of thirty-four miles, for Phænice. They still, however, hugged the coast, as afraid to venture too far into the open sea. The Greek adverb asson, which is rightly rendered “close” in the Authorised version, has been mistaken, in the Vulgate and some other versions, for the accusative case of Assos, as though it were a proper name, and the words have been variously rendered “when they had left Assos,” or “when they had made for Asses,” or “when they had come in sight of Assos.” The island Assos, however, lay far to the north (see Note on Acts 20:13 ), and there is no evidence of the existence of any town of that name in Crete. Of the English versions, Wiclif and the Rhemish follow the Vulgate, “when they had removed” (W.), or “parted” (Rh.), “from Assos”; Tyndale and Cranmer, following Luther, “they loosed unto Asson.” The Geneva translation was the first to give the true meaning, and is following by the Authorised version. The tense of the Greek verb for “they sailed close,” implies that they were in the act of doing this when the storm burst upon them, as in the next verse.