CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 27:9. Sailing meant the further prosecution of the voyage. The fast signified the Great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29 ff; Leviticus 23:26 ff.; Jos., Ant., XIV. xvi. 4), which the Jews celebrated on the 10th Tisri—i.e., about the beginning of October, after which season, according to Philo, no prudent man thought of putting to sea. “The Greeks and Romans considered the period of safe navigation as closing in October and recommencing about the middle of March” (Hackett). Accordingly Paul admonished, or exhorted them—i.e., the shipmaster, shipowner, and Julius (Acts 27:11)—to remain in “The Fair Havens.”
Acts 27:10. Hurt.—ὅβρις, not to be taken in a moral sense as meaning “presumption” (Ewald, Meyer), a meaning unsuitable for Acts 27:21, but in a physical sense, as signifying violence—as, e.g., of the waves (Zöckler, Holtzmann), a significance the word has in Josephus (Ant., III. vi. 4, ἀπὸ τῶν ὅμβρων ὕβρις) and in 2 Corinthians 12:10. Compare nisi ventis debes ludibrium (Hor., Odes, I. xiv. 15). Loss expressed what would result from the “violence.”
Acts 27:11. The master of the ship corresponded to our steersman or captain; the owner was the person to whom the ship belonged. Ramsay says the owners of private merchant ships were called ἕμποροι, as distinguished from ναύκληροι, who were captains of the Imperial fleet (St. Paul, etc., p. 324).
Acts 27:12. The more part showed that the situation had become critical, and that a general consultation had been held. Phenice, rather Phœnix, was a haven situated on the south of Crete, a little to the west of Fair Havens. Strabo (10:475) mentions a harbour with this name on the south of Crete, and Ptolemy (Acts 3:17), a town called Phœnix, with a port which he names Phœnicus. Smith, whom Alford, Conybeare and Howson, and Plumptre, follow, Zöckler, and Hertzberg in Riehm’s Handwörterbuch, identify the port with the modern Lutro, which, as seen from the sea, lieth towards the south-west (λίψ, Latin Africus) and the north-west (χῶρος = Caurus), lit., looking down the south-west and the north-west winds—i.e., looking north-east and south-east (R.V.). Hackett, Lechler, Zöckler, and Holtzmann, regard this interpretation as incorrect, and understand Luke to say that the haven looked towards the south-west and the north-west, while the lands encompassing it were directed towards the north and the south.
Acts 27:13. Loosing thence.—Better, having weighed anchor. Close by Crete meant close in to the shore, nearer (ἅσσον) than usual.
Acts 27:14. Euroclydon, or Euraquilo (according to the Sinaitic text), was an east-north-east wind of great violence—lit., a typhonic wind—a hurricane, which either struck against it, the ship (A.V., Hackett, Lechler, Winer, Zöckler), not the island (Kuinoel, De Wette, Meyer), or burled itself down from it—viz., Crete, the island (Alford, Howson, Humphrey, Wordsworth, Plumptre, Spence, Holtzmann).
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 27:9-14
Caught in a Storm; or, from Fair Havens to Crete
I. The advice proffered by Paul.—
1. The purport of it. Whether “Julius the centurion and the captain and the pilot and other naval officers, met in council,” at which Paul, through the courtesy of Julius, was invited to assist (Lewin), can only be conjectured. In any case, whether asked or volunteered, Paul’s counsel was, not to quit the shelter of the Fair Havens, incommodious though it was, but to spend the winter there. Though not exactly stated in the narrative, from the considerations urged by Paul it may be reasonably inferred that this was the tenor of his admonition.
2. The reason of it. The apostle apprehended, not from supernatural guidance, but from the exercise of his own judgment, looking to the lateness of the season—the Fast or Great Day of Atonement, which fell about the beginning of October, being past—that to proceed further with the voyage would only result in disaster to the vessel, and probably in loss of life to the crew and passengers. It is noticeable that Paul says “Our lives,” since no angel had as yet given him assurance of his personal safety (contrast Acts 27:23).
3. The rejection of it. Though his advice was disregarded, the event showed that he was right at least in recommending the voyage to be arrested and the ship laid up for the winter months. His fear lest life should be lost likewise proved so far correct that only a merciful Providence prevented it from being realised.
II. The mistake committed by the centurion.—He “gave more heed to the master and the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul.” This was—
1. Perhaps natural. Considering that Paul was a landsman, whereas the master (pilot, steersman, or captain) was an experienced mariner, and the owner of the vessel possessed at least some knowledge of nautical affairs, humanly speaking, Julius with whom, as the highest officer on board, the ultimate decision lay (Ramsay), could hardly be blamed for listening to their words rather than to those of Paul. Julius, however, overlooked two things—
(1) that experts are not always correct in their judgments, while non-experts are not always wrong, and
(2) that Paul, besides being no common man, had had considerable experience in sailing on Mediterranean waters, having once narrowly escaped from drowning, after shipwreck, by drifting about on a spar—hardly swimming (Ramsay)—for a night and a day (2 Corinthians 11:25-26), and so was better qualified than most people to pronounce an opinion on the advisability of risking a winter voyage. Yet the centurion’s mistake was—
2. Certainly serious. It led to all the future misfortunes that befell the large ship and its crew. To proceed at the late season which had then arrived was a false step, and, like other false steps, when once taken could not be retrieved.
III. The course recommended by the crew and passengers.—
1. The tenor of it. To put to sea at once and make for the harbour of Phœnix, on the south of Crete. If the Alexandrian sailors knew of the existence of such a harbour, recent geographical discovery has shown the accuracy of their information. It was long held that no spot on the south shore of Crete answered the description of Phœnix furnished by Luke; but “at length the point was entirely settled and made clear by the publication of the charts of our British surveying officers. There is no difficulty now in identifying Phœnix with Lutro in the narrowest part of the island of Crete. It is a place of admirable shelter, with deep water close under the rocks and precisely protected from south-west and north-west winds as was said in the discussion at Fair Havens” (Spence).
2. The arguments for it.
(1) That Fair Havens was not a suitable harbour to winter in. This appears to have been the case. The anchorage there, while affording shelter from the northwest gales, was open to those from other points of the compass.
(2) That Phœnix was better adapted for winter quarters. This also accorded with fact. According to Luke’s narrative Phœnix looked toward the south-west and the north-west, which the best expositors explain as meaning that its two openings looked down the directions of these winds, or, in other words, that it faced the north-east and south-east (see “Critical Remarks.”) “Lutro,” with which Phœnix has been identified, “is an admirable harbour. You open it like a box; unexpectedly the rocks stand apart, and the town appears within.… There are fifteen fathoms in the middle of the harbour, diminishing gradually to two close to the village” (Conybeare and Howson, 2:343).
3. The adoption of it. The majority having recommended that Phœnix should be made for, the captain, favoured by a change of wind from strong north-west to soft south-east, weighed anchor and sailed along close in shore, so little apprehensive of danger that the ship’s boat was left towing astern (Acts 27:16).
4. The mistake of it. The treacherous character of the wind which had decoyed them forth from the Fair Havens soon revealed itself. Suddenly it reverted to its old quarter and swept down with hurricane fury upon the ill-fated corn-ship. Whether named Euroclydon or Euraquilo, the wind belonged to the typhonic order, an east-north-easter fierce and strong, “a sudden eddying squall,” before which the vessel could not stand.
“Colder and colder blew the wind
A gale from the north-east.
The snow fell hissing in the brine,
And the billows frothed like yeast.
“Down came the storm, and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable’s length.”
Longfellow.
“Every one,” writes Ramsay (St. Paul, etc., p. 327), “who has any experience of sailing on lakes or bays overhung by mountains, can appreciate the epithet ‘typhonic’ which Luke uses”—adding that a ship captain when relating an experience of his own in Cretan waters, said, “The wind comes down from those mountains fit to blow the ship out of the water.” Turning her back to the gale Paul’s ship ran before the wind.
Learn—
1. The danger of either always trusting to experts or always following the majority. In this case the sailors and passengers were wrong, and Paul right.
2. The almightiness of God, as seen in the elements of nature. Wind and wave are only instruments in God’s hand, and vehicles of His power.
3. The wisdom of always acting with prudent foresight. Boast not thyself of to-morrow. Hurricanes may succeed south winds.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 27:9. Dangerous Voyages.—Such are those which are undertaken—
I. At unsuitable times.
II. Over stormy seas.
III. Against advice from the experienced.
IV. With overweening confidence in one’s own ability.
V. In defiance of almost certain risks.—Many such voyages of a moral kind are made by souls.
Acts 27:10-14. The Counsel of the Good.
I. Is often despised by the world.—
1. Because it proceeds from the good.
2. Because it is unpleasant, and contrary to the world’s wishes.
II. May sometimes appear to be uncalled for.—This probably was felt to be the case with Paul’s advice to the captain and owner, which was—
1. Not asked, and may have looked officious.
2. Not probable, as emanating from a landsman and a prisoner.
III. Can seldom be neglected with impunity.—Before the voyage was over, all on board must have wished they had hearkened to the apostle.
Acts 27:12. The Vote of the Majority.
I. As a general rule it is wise that the majority should prevail.—On this principle only can social government or co-operative action proceed. To set aside the will of the majority where all have equal rights, in favour of the wish of the minority is of the essence of tyranny and oppression.
II. There are times when the majority should bow to the minority.—As, for instance, when the subject in debate is one upon which the minority is better informed or more likely to be able to give a right decision. To refuse to do so is not intelligence, but stupidity, not principle, but stubbornness.
III. The vote of the majority has not unfrequently been wrong.—Instances might be quoted from almost every department of life—business, politics, religion.
Acts 27:14. The Storms of Life.—Are most—
I. Unexpected in their coming.
II. Severe in their operation.
III. Long in their continuance.
IV. Disastrous in their effects.