CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 27:1. Determined.—By Festus. Not as to purpose (Acts 25:12), but as to time, which was late in autumn, A.D. 60, and manner, which was by sea. We.—Last used (Acts 21:15-18). Here including, besides Paul, Luke and Aristarchus of Thessalonica (Acts 27:2; Acts 19:29; Acts 20:4). Luke’s presence on shipboard accounts for the liveliness of the ensuing narration. Certain other—additional, not necessarily different in character (Meyer, Zöckler, Plumptre)—prisoners.—This shows (Lardner, Paley) that it was customary to forward accused persons to Rome to be tried; an inference confirmed by Josephus (Life, § 3). Julius.—Tacitus (Hist., ii. 92, iv. 11) mentions about this time a centurion of this name, Julius Priscus, one of the prætorians, who, seven years afterwards, was promoted by Cæsar Vitellius to be Praetorian Prefect, and who, when his royal patron died a miserable and dishonourable death, declined to survive, and committed suicide by falling on his own sword. Hausrath (Der Apostel Paulus, p. 466) conjectures he may have come to Palestine on some important mission, and been entrusted with command of the prisoners about to be despatched to Rome. Augustus’, or, the Augustan band to which he belonged has been supposed to be
(1) a cohort of soldiers from Sebaste or Samaria (Kuinoel), in support of which is cited the mention by Josephus (Ant., XIX. ix. 2; XX. vi. 1) of a squadron of Sebastene cavalry; or
(2) a bodyguard organised by Nero, and called by him Augustani (Suet., Ner., xx. 25) or Augustiani (Tacit., Ann., xiv. 15), which would harmonise with the preceding statement from Tacitus (Wieseler); or
(3) an auxiliary cohort belonging to Agrippa’s army, and bearing the name Augustan in honour of the emperor, as many other cohorts did (Holtzmann, Ramsay); or
(4) an independent cohort which waited on the procurator, and was styled the Augustan because it corresponded to the emperor’s life guard at Rome (Hackett). That it was identical with the Italian cohort mentioned in Acts 10:1 (Meyer, Ewald) is doubtful (Zöckler).
Acts 27:2. Adramyttium.—Not Hadrumetum in North Africa, but a seaport of Mysia in Asia Minor, situated at the head of a bay of the same name, and on the River Kysos; called to-day Adramiti or Edramit. To this port the ship on which Paul embarked at Sebaste, the harbour of Cæsarea, belonged, and was a coaster homeward bound. It was obviously Julius’s intention either to trans-ship for Italy at the Asian harbour, or from that point to take the land route to Rome (see “Homiletical Analysis”). Meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia.—The best authorities for μέλλοντες read μελλοντι, which was about to sail, not along the coasts, but for the places on the coast of Asia.
Acts 27:3. Sidon—Hebrew, Sîdôn (meaning, perhaps, fisher town); on Assyrian monuments Sidunu—was situated on the Mediterranean coast, not far from Lebanon, and only five miles north of Tyre. In ancient times the most important of the Phœnician towns, it named itself upon its coins “The Mother of Tyre.” The modern town of Saida stands upon the site of the old, from which numerous relics of antiquity have been recovered, the most remarkable being the marble coffin of the Sidonian king, Eschmunazar, B.C. 350–300. (See Riehm’s Handwörterbuch des Biblischen Altertums; art. Sidon.) Refresh himself.—Lit., to meet with, or receive attention from his friends. By obtaining from them that outfit for the voyage which, on account of the official precision of his custody at Cæsarea, he could not there be provided with (Alford, Holtzmann).
Acts 27:4. Cyprus.—See on Acts 4:36.
Acts 27:5. Sea of (better, off, or along) Cilicia and Pamphylia.—On the reverse voyage (Acts 21:3) Cyprus was passed upon the left hand—i.e., the ship sailed south of the island. The neighbourhood of Myra, two or three miles from the coast, is full of magnificent ruins. Its haven was the neighbouring Andraki. In later times it became celebrated as the seat of the supposed bishopric of Nicolans at the time of the council of Nice, A.D. 350.
Acts 27:6. A ship of Alexandria, Probably belonging to the Alexandrian fleet in the Imperial service, (Ramsay).—See “Homiletical Analysis.” That part of her cargo was wheat is obvious (Acts 27:38), though she may have carried other goods (Acts 27:18), which were cast overboard before the cereals were thrown away.
Acts 27:7. Scarce.—Better, with difficulty. The wind not suffering us may mean not suffering the ship to get to Onidus to find shelter in its harbour (Hackett, Hausrath, Holtzmann), or not suffering it to get any quicker over against Cnidus—explaining the preceding clause (Alford, Lechler), or not suffering it to proceed farther (Conybeare and Howson, Revised Version, Spence).
Acts 27:8. Hardly passing it (Crete) should be with difficulty coasting along it. The participle is a nautical term. The harbour of Fair Havens, though mentioned by no ancient writer, was undoubtedly that still known by the same name (Kali) on the south of Crete, a few miles to the east of Cape Matala, beyond which the land suddenly springs towards the north. “The harbour consists of an open roadstead, or rather two roadsteads contiguous to each other, which may account for the plural designation.” The epithet “fair” may have been given to it in joke, on account of its unfavourable character, Acts 27:12 (Zöckler). The town of Lasea, probably mentioned as better known, is still recognisable by “two white pillars, masses of masonry, and other ruins,” which “occur on the spot” (Hackett). Its discovery by “a Scotch yachting party may be classed among the really valuable geographical evidences of the truth of the Bible which have been accumulating of late years” (Spence).
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 27:1-8
Setting Sail; or, from Cœsarea to Fair Havens
I. The passengers.
1. The prisoners.
(1) Foremost among these was Paul, the venerable and weather-beaten missionary of the Cross, who had already, by sea and land, travelled farther, and suffered and laboured more than all the other apostles, singly or together (2 Corinthians 11:23). A veritable king of men, his moral majesty will, before this voyage ends, assert itself, and place him, though now a prisoner, high in rank above all on board ship beside him. The finest qualities of good men are evoked by situations of trial, as the stars shine clearest in the darkest nights.
(2) Along with him voyaged certain other prisoners who, for various offences laid to their charge, some probably as imaginary as those advanced against the apostle, were being despatched to Rome for trial before the emperor’s tribunal. That it was customary so to ship accused persons to the capital Josephus (Life, 3) has shown, by relating how he himself, when a young man, was wrecked in the Adriatic when proceeding to Rome for the purpose of defending “certain priests of his acquaintance, and very excellent persons they were, whom on a small and trifling occasion he (Felix) had put into bonds and sent to Rome to plead their cause before Cæsar.”
2. The centurion.
(1) As to his identity, he was probably the Julius Priscus mentioned by Tacitus as a Prætorian officer, who may have been despatched on some imperial errand to Palestine, and to whom the company of prisoners was entrusted.
(2) As to the Augustan cohort or “troop of the Emperor” (Ramsay) to which he belonged, the different views stated in the “Critical Remarks” are all worthy of consideration, though the likeliest makes him a commander either in Nero’s or the procurator’s body-guard. Never before had Julius been entrusted with so remarkable a prisoner as Paul—a prisoner of Jesus Christ rather than of Cæsar. Had he known that Paul was the servant of a more exalted king than Nero, an officer in a more distinguished army than that of the Augustan band, and journeyed to Rome on a more important mission than that which had brought him to Palestine, he would have hesitated before taking up such a charge as had been thrust upon him. Could he have understood the gospel of which Paul was the bearer, he would have learnt that not Paul, but he, was the real prisoner.
3. The fellow-voyagers. These were certainly two.
(1) Luke, the writer of the Acts, who, in resuming the first person at this point in his narrative, gives his readers to understand that in all that relates to the voyage Romeward he writes as “an eyewitness.” The detailed account which Luke furnishes of this voyage reveals the estimate which Luke had of its importance, in the providence of God, as a link in the chain of events which brought Paul to the capital of the world.
(2) Aristarchus of Thessalonica (Acts 27:2), who had probably been with, or near Paul during his two years’ imprisonment at Cæsarea and may have been now returning home to Macedonia, though the subsequent alteration of plan on the part of Julius (Acts 27:6) led to his being carried on to Rome. It would not be difficult for either Luke or Aristarchus to get a berth on board Paul’s ship. Christ can raise up friends for His people in the darkest hour. Note.—The opinion here expressed is not that of Professor Ramsay (St. Paul, etc., p. 316), who thinks that Luke and Aristarchus would not find it easy to obtain a passage in the corn-ship, and must have accompanied Paul “as slaves, not merely performing the duties of slaves, but actually passing as slaves,” and that in this way “not merely had Paul faithful friends always beside him,” but “his importance in the eyes of the centurion would be much enhanced.” The Professor, however, must surely have a different conception of Paul’s character from the present writer, if he believes that Paul would assent to so much deception on the part either of himself or others.
II. The ships.
1. A ship of Adramyttium. Adramyttium, on the coast of Mysia, and opposite Lesbos, was then a flourishing city; though no antiquities have been found on its site except a few coins. The selection of this vessel, apparently engaged in the coasting trade, was due to the two facts
(1) that direct communication between Cæsarea and Rome was at that time irregular, and
(2) that the ship of Adramyttium was on the eve of sailing (see “Critical Remarks”). At Adramyttium, should they reach it—which they never did—it would most likely be Julius’ purpose to tranship himself and prisoners into another craft going west, across the Ægean, or, to take the overland route described below. How frequently in life are man’s plans overturned! Man proposes, but God disposes.
2. A ship of Alexandria. On reaching Myra, in the south of Lycia—or rather, since Myra stood back two or three miles from the coast, on casting anchor in the port of Myra, Andriace, which has been identified as the bay of Andraki—the centurion, no doubt counting himself fortunate, fell in with a larger vessel, an Alexandrian corn-ship, in those days much esteemed for its size and sea-going qualities, on her way to Italy, to which he forthwith transferred himself and party. At this point Besser well remarks: “Had not another than the chief officer of the imperial troops lifted Paul and his companions into the ship, the whole ship’s company would have come to grief.” By this trans-shipment the number of souls on board, including crew and passengers, was brought up to two hundred and seventy-six—not an unlikely figure when it is remembered that the ship in which Josephus was wrecked contained six hundred persons (Life, § 3). The ship must thus have been about the size of the largest merchant vessels of modern times. (See “Critical Remarks.”) That she was carrying corn from Alexandria receives explanation from the well-known fact that at that time Egypt was the granary of the world. If she left Alexandria about the beginning of August, when grain cargoes from Upper Egypt were usually shipped at that port, she might easily have reached Myra towards the end of the month, or beginning of September, and been found lying in the harbour, detained by contrary winds, when Paul’s ship arrived. The west wind which enabled the Adramyttium vessel to tack along from Cæsarea to Myra might have forced the Alexandrian merchantman to hold due north till she found shelter in Myra (see Conybeare and Howson, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, ii. 337).
III. The voyage.
1. Its destination. Rome (see on Acts 28:16). Both Jehovah and Julius concurred in this. Both were conducting the apostle thitherward, but for different ends. The way thither also God had arranged, not Julius. Julius’ plan was first to sail to Adramyttium, and then proceed to Rome—either by sailing from that port, or by “the overland route, the great Via Egnatia from Neapolis through Philippi, Thessalonica, and the Macedonian towns to Dyrrachium, the port for Brundusium” (Lewin). Jehovah, however, altered that at Myra, and put the centurion, with his company, on board the corn-ship of Alexandria. Then, Julius expected, it may well be assumed, to sail direct to the port of Rome. But again Jehovah interfered. Julius and his fellow-voyagers had to drift about the Mediterranean and be wrecked at Malta before the voyage ended. Again, “Man proposes but God disposes,” and none but God can count on working out the counsel of his own will (Daniel 4:35; Ephesians 1:11).
2. Its stages.
(1) From Cæsarea, or Port Sebastus, which was left in August, A.D. 58, to Sidon. On Cæsarea see Acts 12:19. The latter city, Sidon, upon the Assyrian inscriptions Sidunu, “had anciently one of the finest harbours in the East.” The rival of Tyre (Acts 21:3), it was, in Paul’s day, celebrated for its wealth and commerce. The present-day Saida, built upon the site of the old town, is pleasantly situated at the foot of the snow-capped Lebanon, and is surrounded by a circle of orchards, whose fruit is far-famed (Riehm’s Handwörterbuch des Biblischen Altertums; art. Sidon). Its distance from Cæsarea, sixty-seven miles, with a favourable wind, might easily have been accomplished in a day. The ship having cast anchor in the harbour during the time in which the captain was transacting his business, either putting out or taking in cargo, an operation which occupied some hours, the centurion permitted Paul to go ashore, in company, of course, with a guard, and visit such friends as he had in the town. The narrative, it has been pointed out (Hackett), tacitly assumes that Paul had informed the centurion he had Christian brethren in Sidon, which Luke’s narrative, indeed, in its earlier parts (Acts 11:19, Acts 21:4), renders highly probable. Paul’s object in making their acquaintance may have been to offer them some word of exhortation, but was more likely, as Luke states, to refresh himself, or receive attention from them—i.e., obtain from them a supply of such things as he might need upon the journey (Holtzmann).
(2) From Sidon to Myra. The direct course would have run to the southward of Cyprus, but as the wind continued westerly, the ship steered in a northerly direction, passing Cyprus, not upon the right (Meyer), but upon the left (see “Critical Remarks”), sailing under the lee of the long island, from Salamis to the promontory of Dinaretium, rounding which it headed westward before a land breeze usually prevailing along the coast of Asia Minor, till it had crossed the Sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, and landed at Myra (see above).
(3) From Myra to the Fair Havens. How long the voyagers stayed in the Lycian harbour of Andriace is not reported. Probably not more than a day. Having embarked on board the Alexandrian corn-ship above described, Julius and his company proceeded on their voyage, but so slowly that it took them “many days” to reach Cnidus, distant not more than a hundred and thirty miles from Myra. This slow progress was, doubtless, owing to a contrary wind from the north-west which ordinarily prevails in the Archipelago during the summer months (Pliny says it blows for forty days from the beginning of August), and which, though it permitted the ship to work up to Cnidus with difficulty, nevertheless rendered it impossible for her to proceed farther in that direction. Having, therefore, stood away southward, or rather south-south-west to the easternmost point of Crete, she rounded that island and again commenced a struggle with wind and wave along its southern coast, till the harbour of Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea, was gained (see “Critical Remarks”).
Learn.—
1. How all things are made to wait upon the servants of God. When God’s time was come for Paul to be despatched to Rome, ships were ready to convey him, friends and companions to cheer him, winds and waves to bear him along. “More servants wait on man than he’ll take notice of” (Herbert).
2. How God transforms men’s plans to suit Himself. His own plans never change, but men’s are often changed against their will. Julius’ route was altered, that Paul’s character might be further revealed, that Paul might have Aristarchus’ company to Rome, that a great ship-load of immortal souls might have a better opportunity of hearing the gospel, and that God’s grace and glory might be seen in all.
3. How God conducts His people by devious paths and brings them into port by contrary winds. To few, one might almost say to none, is the voyage of life all smooth and pleasant sailing.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 27:1. Paul’s Voyage to Italy.
I. Determined by Festus.—As to time and manner—the procurator being probably guided in his judgment by the opinion of Agrippa and the presence of Julius, who was about to return to Rome.
II. Carried out by Julius.—The shipmasters were his servants and instruments whom he used for the execution of his plans, which he formed and altered at will.
III. Over-ruled by God.—Along the whole course of the voyage the hand of God can be seen interposing for higher purposes than those of either Festus or Julius. It was more God that was leading Paul to Rome than Festus that was sending him or Julius that was conducting him.
IV. Reported by Luke.—The liveliness of the narration indicates the pen of an eyewitness, which could be no other than that of the good physician who accompanied the apostle (see “Introduction”).
V. Endorsed by Paul.—The second epistle to Timothy, by attesting Paul’s presence in Rome, shows the likelihood at least that this voyage was performed.
Acts 27:3. Paul’s Friends—the Sidonian believers.
I. The ground on which Paul claimed them as friends.—Their Christian discipleship, which meant their common relationship to Jesus Christ, and as a consequence their common membership in God’s house.
II. The service Paul expected to receive at their hands.—Refreshment, a supply of such things as might be needful for the voyage (see James 2:16, and compare 2 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:21).
III. The probability that Paul’s expectations were fulfilled.—Not simply because they were disciples, to whom his name would be well known, but because in all likelihood he had personal acquaintances among them, having recently been at Tyre (Acts 21:3) and at Ptolemais (Acts 21:7). Besides, he may have passed through Sidon when travelling with Barnabas from Antioch to Jerusalem (Acts 11:30; Acts 15:3).
Acts 27:4. Contrary Winds—
I. Frequently occur on the voyage of life.
II. Are seldom agreeable to the voyagers.
III. Always useful, furthering the designs of the chief shipmaster, God.
Acts 27:8. The Fair Havens.
I. Many havens counted fair by man are incommodious to winter in.
II. One haven only is secure against life’s storms—that of heaven.