And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.
And falling into a place where two seas met, х topon (G5117) dithalasson (G1337)] - literally, 'a place And falling into a place where two seas met, х topon (G5117) dithalasson (G1337)] - literally, 'a place of two seas;' a place 'which had sea on both sides.' The word is used both for an isthmus and a strait. Mr. Smith thinks that here it refers to the channel (not more than a hundred yards broad) which separates the small island of Salmone from Malta, forming a communication between the sea inside the bay, and that outside.
They ran the ship aground ('ashore'): and the fore part stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken, [ elueto ( G3089 )] - rather, 'was breaking;' that is, was fast going to pieces,
With the violence of the waves. [Lachmann and Tischendorf leave out toon (G3588 ) kumatoon ( G2949), ending the verse with hupo tees (G3588) bias (G970 ). For this there is the authority of 'Aleph (') A B. But all other manuscript and all the versions have the Received Text; and Meyer is probably right in conjecturing that the omission most likely arose from the transcriber's eye having passed from the toon ( G3588) before kumatoon ( G2949 ) to the toon (G3588 ) which begins the next verse.] 'The rocks of Malta (says Mr. Smith) disintegrate into extremely minute particles of sand and clay, which, when acted upon by the currents or surface agitation, form a deposit of tenacious clay; but in still waters, where these causes do not act, mud is formed; but it is only in creeks, where there are no currents, and at such a depth as to be undisturbed by the waves, that the mud occurs. A ship, therefore, impelled by the force of a gale into a creek with such a bottom, would strike a bottom of mud graduating into tenacious clay, into which the fore part would fix itself and be held fast, while the stern was exposed to the force of the waves.'