Acts 27:34 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

This is for your health. — Better, safety, or preservation. The Greek word is not that commonly translated “health,” and the translators seem to have used it in the wider sense which it had in older English. So, for example, in Wiclif’s version, “the knowledge of salvation” in Luke 1:77 appears as “the science of health.” Wiclif has “health” here also, and is followed by all the chief English versions, except the Geneva, which has “safe-guard.” What St. Paul means is that the preservation of his fellow-passengers depended on their keeping up their strength. The gracious assurance that followed was, as before, not independent of their co-operation.