‘And when they had been long without food, then Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, “Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have received this injury and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.” '
Such had been the efforts required, and the desperate strivings of all on board, that none had had time to eat properly. It was just a matter of fighting on, holding on and waiting for the end, and taking what they could. Then Paul fought his way through the howling wind, and finding a convenient place yelled, presumably to the shipmaster, the captain, and the centurion, but also to any within hearing, that had they listened to him this would not have happened. They should have listened to what God had shown him. He was saying this, not in order to gloat (there was little to gloat about), but in order to give them confidence in what he was going to say next. If he had been right once he could be right again. So then he assured them that they could cheer themselves with this thought, that although the ship would be lost, not a man would perish.