Acts 27:34
in Acts 27So for your own preservation, I urge you to eat something, because not a single hair of your head will be lost.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore I beseech you to take some food: for this is for your safety: for there shall not a hair perish from the head of any of you.
KJV
Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
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This verse in Acts 27
Commentary
10 notes on this verse"Therefore I insist you to take food." Paul urges them to partake of food, and he himself partakes first, persuading not by words but by deed.
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.
This site's exposition
for your own preservation
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown point to the union of verse 31: confidence in God's pledge, joined to care for the bodily needs of all aboard. John Chrysostom explains the fourteen days without food by fear, which had taken away all appetite. The promised rescue still required them to eat.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"For this," he says, "is for your survival," that is, to eat, in case you perish through hunger. For they had no concern for food, since the danger was not about those present. From where then did it reveal to them that the number had …
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.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Wherefore I pray you to take some meat,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A hair fall from the head - A proverbial expression for, ye shall neither lose your lives nor suffer any hurt in your bodies, if ye follow my advice.
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
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I pray you to take some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not a hair fall from . . . any of you--On this beautiful union of confidence in the divine pledge and care for the whole ship's health and safety see on Ac 27:31.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Not a hair fall from the head ... - A proverbial expression, denoting “that they would be preserved safe; that none of them would be lost, and that “in their persons they should not experience the least damage,” 1Ki 1:52; 1Sa 14:45.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| διὸ | dio | Therefore | G1352 → | 53 times |
| παρακαλῶ | parakalo | I exhort | G3870 → | 108 times |
| ὑμᾶς | humas | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| μεταλαβεῖν | metalabein | to partake | G3335 → | 7 times |
| τροφῆς· | trophes | of food; | G5160 → | 16 times |
| τοῦτο | touto | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| γὰρ | gar | indeed | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| πρὸς | pros | for | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὑμετέρας | humeteras | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| σωτηρίας | soterias | preservation | G4991 → | 49 times |
| ὑπάρχει· | huparchei | is; | G5225 → | 60 times |
| οὐδενὸς | oudenos | not [one] | G3762 → | 232 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| θρὶξ | thrix | a hair | G2359 → | |
| ἀπὸ | apo | of | G575 → | 640 times |
| τῆς | tes | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κεφαλῆς | kephales | head | G2776 → | 75 times |
| ἀπολεῖται.¶ | apoleitai | will perish. | G622 → |
διὸTherefore
dioG1352 →53 times
παρακαλῶI exhort
parakaloG3870 →108 times
ὑμᾶςyou
humasG4771 →2973 times
μεταλαβεῖνto partake
metalabeinG3335 →7 times
τροφῆς·of food;
trophesG5160 →16 times
τοῦτοthis
toutoG3778 →1381 times
γὰρindeed
garG1063 →1039 times
πρὸςfor
prosG4314 →700 times
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
ὑμετέραςof you
humeterasG4771 →2973 times
σωτηρίαςpreservation
soteriasG4991 →49 times
ὑπάρχει·is;
huparcheiG5225 →60 times
οὐδενὸςnot [one]
oudenosG3762 →232 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ὑμῶνof you
humonG4771 →2973 times
θρὶξa hair
thrixG2359 →
ἀπὸof
apoG575 →640 times
τῆςthe
tesG3588 →19766 times
κεφαλῆςhead
kephalesG2776 →75 times
ἀπολεῖται.¶will perish.
apoleitaiG622 →
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
Matthew 10:30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 14:45
But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die—he who accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Luke 12:7
And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 14:11
“Please,” she replied, “may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!” “As surely as the LORD…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Luke 21:18
Yet not even a hair of your head will perish.
- 1 Samuel 14:45
Through
1 Timothy 5:23Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
it leads to
- Psalms 104:15
wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
- Proverbs 31:4–7
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,
- 1 Timothy 4:4
For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Psalms 104:15
Through
Luke 21:18Yet not even a hair of your head will perish.
it leads to
- Matthew 10:30
And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
- Matthew 10:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
On this verse
On this chapter
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); 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; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.