Acts 27:33
in Acts 27Right up to daybreak, Paul kept urging them all to eat: “Today is your fourteenth day in constant suspense, without taking any food.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take some food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing.
KJV
And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.
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This verse in Acts 27
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And while the day was coming on - At daybreak. It was before they had sufficient light to discern what they should do. To take meat - Food. The word “meat” was formerly used to denote “food” of any kind. That ye have tarried - That you have remained or been fasting. Having taken nothing - No regular meal.
This site's exposition
kept urging them all to eat
on Acts 27:33-38
Paul urged them to eat after fourteen days without food, since not a single hair of your head will be lost. He took bread and gave thanks to God, a Jewish grace before pagan sailors and soldiers.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Let us examine by what formula the memorable mysteries of the godly figure have significance: the multitude was ordered to be fed from the flesh of a lamb at that time when the lights of the first month shone forth, on the day proceeding from …
And how, say you, did they go without food, having taken nothing? How did they bear it? Their fear possessed them, and did not let them fall into a desire of food, being, as they were, at the point of extreme jeopardy; but they had no care for food. Moreover, the place is a trying one, for it was in the Adriatic, and then their long abstinence. They were in the midst of death. It was now the fourteenth day that they were going without food, having taken nothing.
"And when it began to be light, Paul besought," etc. After fourteen days of storm, Paul besought them to take food, since it was clear that, of two hundred seventy-six men, not even a hair of their heads had been lost. To encourage others by …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And as the day was about to dawn, Paul urged everyone to take some food. In this passage, the most beautiful sense of allegory is laid open, as Paul urged those he promised would be saved from the wreck to take food. And because they …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
4 ), I forget to eat my bread. It is a sin to starve the body, and to deny it its necessary supports; he is an unnatural man indeed that hateth his own flesh, and does not nourish and cherish it; and it is a sore evil under the sun to have a sufficiency of the good things of this life, and not to have power to use them, Eccl. vi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And while the day was coming on,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
while day was coming on--"until it should be day"; that is, in the interval between the cutting off of the boat and the approach of day, which all were "anxiously looking for" (Ac 27:29).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
While the day was coining on - It was then apparently about day-break. This day is the fourteenth day that ye have - continued fasting - Ye have not had one regular meal for these fourteen days past. Indeed we may take it for granted that, during the whole of the storm, very little was eaten by any man: for what appetite could men have for food, who every moment had death before their eyes?
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἄχρι | achri | Until | G891 → | 48 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| οὗ | hou | that | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἡμέρα | hemera | day | G2250 → | 389 times |
| ἤμελλεν | emellen | was about | G3195 → | 109 times |
| γίνεσθαι, | ginesthai | to come, | G1096 → | 667 times |
| παρεκάλει | parekalei | was urging | G3870 → | 108 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Παῦλος | paulos | Paul | G3972 → | 158 times |
| ἅπαντας | hapantas | all | G537 → | 33 times |
| μεταλαβεῖν | metalabein | to partake | G3335 → | 7 times |
| τροφῆς | trophes | of food | G5160 → | 16 times |
| λέγων· | legon | saying; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην | tessareskaidekaten | [the] fourteenth | G5065 → | |
| σήμερον | semeron | today | G4594 → | 41 times |
| ἡμέραν | hemeran | [is] day | G2250 → | 389 times |
| προσδοκῶντες | prosdokontes | watching | G4328 → | 16 times |
| ἄσιτοι | asitoi | without eating | G777 → | |
| διατελεῖτε | diateleite | you continue | G1300 → | |
| μηθὲν | methen | nothing | G3367 → | 90 times |
| προσλαβόμενοι. | proslabomenoi | having taken. | G4355 → | 12 times |
ἌχριUntil
achriG891 →48 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
οὗthat
houG3739 →1405 times
ἡμέραday
hemeraG2250 →389 times
ἤμελλενwas about
emellenG3195 →109 times
γίνεσθαι,to come,
ginesthaiG1096 →667 times
παρεκάλειwas urging
parekaleiG3870 →108 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
ΠαῦλοςPaul
paulosG3972 →158 times
ἅπανταςall
hapantasG537 →33 times
μεταλαβεῖνto partake
metalabeinG3335 →7 times
τροφῆςof food
trophesG5160 →16 times
λέγων·saying;
legonG3004 →1325 times
τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην[the] fourteenth
tessareskaidekatenG5065 →
σήμερονtoday
semeronG4594 →41 times
ἡμέραν[is] day
hemeranG2250 →389 times
προσδοκῶντεςwatching
prosdokontesG4328 →16 times
ἄσιτοιwithout eating
asitoiG777 →
διατελεῖτεyou continue
diateleiteG1300 →
μηθὲνnothing
methenG3367 →90 times
προσλαβόμενοι.having taken.
proslabomenoiG4355 →12 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
On this verse
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About Acts

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Arator, ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2; Bede, Commentary on Acts; Cassiodorus, Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 53; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.
