An Outline Of Acts 27

On the road to Rome, part 1: Caesarea to Crete

Text, Acts 27:1-12, KJV: 1 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. 2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. 3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. 4 And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5 And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein. 7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; 8 And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. 9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, 10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. 11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. 12 And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west.

--Luke was clearly with Paul and others on this voyage; note the "we" in many verses. Some have observed that Luke uses a number of nautical terms not found anywhere else in the Scriptures (see Dr. A. T. Robertson’s notes and comments on this chapter, at https://godrules.net/library/robert/robertact27.htm, and The Pulpit Commentary https://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/acts/27.htm for two such references).

--Paul was under the care of a Roman centurion named Julius. Paul was fortunate, indeed blessed, to be protected by honorable men such as Lysias and Julius. There were other prisoners under the custody of Julius but nothing more is said about them until later in the chapter.

--The first part of the voyage seemed to be on a rather small craft compared to a “ship of Alexandria” which could hold 276 people in relative comfort plus various other cargoes.

--Julius gave Paul some liberty to visit friends in Sidon. He had previously stopped at Tyre on his journey to Jerusalem two years before, or longer, and found disciples there. Here in Sidon, he found other friends and they refreshed his spirit. Praise the Lord for good friends.

--Luke kept a record of each stop or “port of call”, as some refer to the various harbors a ship would visit.

--At Myra, Paul and the others were transferred to a “ship of Alexandria”, most likely a large, ocean-going vessel. Wikipedia has an on-line article about various types of Roman ships at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ships_of_ancient_Rome

--Some (Robertson, et al.) believe “the fast” referred to the Jewish observance of the Day of Atonement, sometime between mid-September and mid-October (the Jewish calendar was based on the moon or lunar cycles, compared to solar calendars). Whedon stated the “fast” was the first or great day of atonement and placed the date as his September 23 (https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/whedon-s-commentary-on-the-bible/494239); earlier, Thomas Coke estimated the date as September 25, also mentioning the dangerous winds and waves affecting the Mediterranean (https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/thomas-coke-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/120348).

--Paul warned the leaders about the risk in sailing at this late date but Julius, the centurion, believed the “master and owner”, or, perhaps, the captain and the owner, that they could find a better harbor. Crete was about 150 miles across; “Fair Havens” was about the middle of the southern shore, and Phoenix was about 40-50 miles further west along the shore (https://bibleatlas.org/full/crete.htm). On paper, it didn’t look like too much of a challenge or problem, but they were about to find out otherwise.

On the road to Rome, part 2: The Storm at Sea

Text, Acts 27:13- 26, KJV: 13 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. 14 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. 15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. 16 And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: 17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. 18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; 19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.