Mariners (Sailors)

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerning1 Kings 9:272 Chronicles 8:18Isaiah 42:10Ezekiel 27:27
• Perils ofPsalms 107:23–30Jonah 1:5Acts 27:17–44
• Cowardice ofActs 27:30
• See Ship
• See Commerce

The passages, in Bible order (8)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 8 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. 1 Kings 9:27

   And Hiram sent his servants, men who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 9:272 voices

   “Knowledge of the sea - For which the Tyrians were famous. He sent also ships to join with Solomon's, not from Tyre, the city of Phoenicia; but from an island in the Red-sea, called Tyre, because it was a colony of the Tyrians, as Strabo notes.

   “And Hiram sent in his navy his servants,.... And, according to 2Ch 8:18, ships also but how he could send them from Tyre, which lay in the Mediterranean sea, to the above ports in the Red sea, without going a great way round, is not easy to conceive. Perhaps, as Gussetins conjectures (c), Hiram had a port in the Red sea for building and sending out ships, for the sake of his eastern navigation, and from thence he sent them to Solomon's ports in the same sea; but if what R.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 9:27→

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2. 2 Chronicles 8:18

   So Hiram sent him ships captained by his servants, along with crews of experienced sailors. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and acquired from there 450 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

   ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 8:182 voices

   “Knowledge of the sea - Skilful sailors. Solomon probably bore the expenses and his friend, the Tyrian king, furnished him with expert sailors; for the Jews, at no period of their history, had any skill in maritime affairs, their navigation being confined to the lakes of their own country, from which they could never acquire any nautical skill. The Tyrians, on the contrary, lived on and in the sea.

   “Huram sent him . . . ships--either sent him ship-men, able seamen, overland; or, taking the word "sent" in a looser sense, supplied him, that is, built him ships--namely, in docks at Eloth (compare 1Ki 9:26, 27). This navy of Solomon was manned by Tyrians, for Solomon had no seamen capable of performing distant expeditions.

   Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 8:18→

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3. Psalms 107:23–30

   Others went out to sea in ships, conducting trade on the mighty waters.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 107:23–302 voices

   “They that go down to the sea in ships. Navigation was so little practised among the Israelites that mariners were invested with a high mystery, and their craft was looked upon as one of singular daring degree of and peril. Tales of the sea thrilled all hearts with awe, and he who had been to Ophir or to Tarshish and had returned alive was looked upon as a man of renown, an ancient mariner to be listened to with reverent attention.

   “They that go down to the sea in ships,.... This is the fourth instance of persons in distress crying to the Lord for help, and, having it, are laid under obligation to praise him; the case of seafaring men: so the Targum introduces it, "mariners that go down to the sea in ships;'' the same form of expression as here is used in Isa 42:

   Everything gathered on Psalms 107:23–30→

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4. Isaiah 42:10

   Sing to the LORD a new song—His praise from the ends of the earth—you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who dwell in them.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 42:102 voices

   “Ye that go down to the sea - This seems not to belong to this place; it does not well consist with what follows, “and the fullness thereof.” They that go down upon the sea means navigators, sailors, traders, such as do business in great waters; an idea much too confined for the prophet, who means the sea in general, as it is used by the Hebrews, for the distant nations, the islands, the dwellers on the sea-coasts all over the world.

   “The new song shall be sung when the Lord shall reign in Jerusalem, and all "nations shall flow unto it" (Isa 2:2; 14:3). ye that go down to the sea--whose conversion will be the means of diffusing the Gospel to distant lands. all . . . therein--all the living creatures that fill the sea (Ps 96:11) [MAURER].

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 42:10→

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5. Ezekiel 27:27

   Your wealth, wares, and merchandise, your sailors, captains, and shipwrights, your merchants and all the warriors within you, with all the other people on board, will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your downfall.

   ›Commentary on Ezekiel 27:271 voice

   “All who have been enumerated as sharing in, and constituting, the glory of Tyre are now recounted as partakers in her wreck.

   Everything gathered on Ezekiel 27:27→

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6. Jonah 1:5

   The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

   ›Commentary on Jonah 1:52 voices

   “How different was Jesus' sleep on the Sea of Galilee! Guilty Jonah's indifference to fear contrasts with the unoffending mariners' alarm. The original therefore is in the nominative absolute: "But as for Jonah, he," &c.

   “Then the mariners were afraid,.... Perceiving that the storm was not an ordinary, but a supernatural one; and that the ship and all in it were in extreme danger, and no probability of being saved. This shows that the storm must be very violent, to frighten such men who were used to the sea, and to storms, and were naturally bold and intrepid. The word used signifies "salters", so called from the salt sea they used, as they are by us "mariners", from "mare", the "sea"; though R.

   Everything gathered on Jonah 1:5→

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7. Acts 27:17–44

   After hoisting it up, the crew used ropes to undergird the ship. And fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and were driven along.

   ›Commentary on Acts 27:17–442 voices

   They were being carried under control with a newly lowered sail. Another translation places it thus: "Fearing that they might fall into the Syrtic, they loosened the ropes and thus were being carried."

   “Which when they had taken up - When they had raised up the boat into the ship, so as to secure it. They used helps - They used ropes, cables, stays, or chains, for the purpose of securing the ship. The danger was that the ship would be destroyed, and they therefore made use of such aids as would prevent its loss. Undergirding the ship - The ancients were accustomed to pass cables or strong ropes around a vessel to keep the planks from springing or starting by the action of the sea. This is now called “frapping” a vessel.

   Everything gathered on Acts 27:17–44→

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8. Acts 27:30

   Meanwhile, the sailors attempted to escape from the ship. Pretending to lower anchors from the bow, they let the lifeboat down into the sea.

   ›Commentary on Acts 27:301 voice

   “The shipmen - The sailors - let down the boat. Having lowered the boat from the deck into the sea, they pretended that it was necessary to carry some anchors ahead, to keep her from being carried in a dangerous direction by the tide, but with the real design to make for shore, and so leave the prisoners and the passengers to their fate. This was timely noticed by the pious and prudent apostle; who, while simply depending on the promise of God, was watching for the safety and comfort of all.

   Everything gathered on Acts 27:30→

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