Acts 27:15
in Acts 27Unable to head into the wind, the ship was caught up. So we gave way and let ourselves be driven along.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven.
KJV
And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.
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This verse in Acts 27
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIt should be known that to say "face the wind" of a ship is not to be taken in the literal sense. For that expression applies only to a person. Therefore one must not constantly interpret Scripture literally. [AMMONIUS]
This site's exposition
gentle south wind began to blow
on Acts 27:13-17
Soon after a gentle south wind, a cyclone called the Northeaster swept down from Crete's mountains, and the ship was driven. The crew used ropes to undergird the ship and lowered the sea anchor, and Luke's vocabulary is the working sailor's.
This site's exposition
Unable to head into the wind
Luke's verb means to look the wind in the eye, and Adam Clarke explains that sailors in a squall turn the bow into the wind. This ship was helpless against the gale, so she ran before it. Oecumenius calls the phrase a figure borrowed from the human face.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Mark then the providential ordering of the events: first indeed, "when the south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained their purpose," they loosed the vessel, and came forth; then when the wind bore down upon them, they gave way to it driving them, and were with difficulty saved.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, etc. Another Translation more clearly states: And when the ship was caught, they could not face the wind, and yielded the ship to the wind, and began to gather the sails. Then we …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And when the ship was caught,.... By the wind, snatched up by it, and forcibly carried away: and could not bear up into the wind; and against it, or look it in the face, as the word signifies; could not ply to windward, the wind being so high and the sea so strong: we let her drive; about the sea, at pleasure, it being in vain to attempt to get her forward against the wind, or to direct her course.
It was God that commanded this wind to rise, designing to bring glory to himself, and reputation to Paul, out of it; stormy winds being brought out of his treasuries ( Ps. cxxxv. 7 ), they fulfil his word, Ps. cxlviii. (2.) The ship was exceedingly tossed (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And when the ship was caught - Συναρπασθεντος δε του πλοιου. The ship was violently hurried away before this strong levanter; so that it was impossible for her, αντοφθαλμειν, to face the wind, to turn her prow to it, so as to shake it out, as I have heard sailors say, and have seen them successfully perform in violent tempests and squalls. We let her drive - We were obliged to let her go right before this tempestuous wind, whithersoever it might drive her.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The ship was caught - By the wind. It came suddenly upon them as a tempest. Could not bear up ... - Could not resist its violence, or the helmsman could not direct the ship. It was seized by the wind, and driven with such violence, that it became unmanageable. We let her drive - We suffered the ship to be borne along by the wind without attempting to control it.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| συναρπασθέντος | sunarpasthentos | When was being seized | G4884 → | 4 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πλοίου | ploiou | ship | G4143 → | 67 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| δυναμένου | dunamenou | being able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| ἀντοφθαλμεῖν | antophthalmein | to face | G503 → | |
| τῷ | to | to the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀνέμῳ | anemo | wind | G417 → | 31 times |
| ἐπιδόντες | epidontes | having given way | G1929 → | |
| ἐφερόμεθα. | epherometha | we were driven along. | G5342 → | 66 times |
συναρπασθέντοςWhen was being seized
sunarpasthentosG4884 →4 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
πλοίουship
ploiouG4143 →67 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
δυναμένουbeing able
dunamenouG1410 →207 times
ἀντοφθαλμεῖνto face
antophthalmeinG503 →
τῷto the
toG3588 →19766 times
ἀνέμῳwind
anemoG417 →31 times
ἐπιδόντεςhaving given way
epidontesG1929 →
ἐφερόμεθα.we were driven along.
epheromethaG5342 →66 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 3:4Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.
it leads to
- Matthew 8:24
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was engulfed by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping.
- Acts 27:14–38
But it was not long before a cyclone called the Northeaster swept down across the island.
- Psalms 107:25–27
For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.
- Jonah 1:4
Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.
- Matthew 8:24
Through
Acts 27:27On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea. About midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:17
For in a single hour such fabulous wealth has been destroyed!” Every shipmaster, passenger, and sailor, and all who make their living from the sea, will stand at a distance
- 1 Kings 9:27
And Hiram sent his servants, men who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.
- 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.
- Jonah 1:6
The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
- Revelation 18:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
On this verse
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About Acts
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; James Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 53; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts.