Acts 27:28

And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms - implying that they were rapidly drifting onto some shore....

21-29 They did not hearken to the apostle when he warned them of their danger; yet if they acknowledge their folly, and repent of it, he will speak comfort and relief to them when in danger. Most people bring themselves into trouble, because they do not know when they are well off; they come to harm and loss by aiming to mend their condition, often against advice. Observe the solemn profession Paul made of relation to God. No storms or tempests can hinder God's favour to his people, for he is a Help always at hand. It is a comfort to the faithful servants of God when in difficulties, that as long as the Lord has any work for them to do, their lives shall be prolonged. If Paul had thrust himself needlessly into bad company, he might justly have been cast away with them; but God calling him into it, they are preserved with him. They are given thee; there is no greater satisfaction to a go...

Verse Acts 27:28. _AND SOUNDED_] βολισαντες, _Heaving the lead_. _TWENTY FATHOMS_] οργυιας εικοσι, About _forty yards_ in depth. The οργυια is thus defined by the Etymologicon: Σημαινει την εκτασιν των χειρων, συν τῳ πλατει του Ϛηθους· _It signifies the_ _extent of the arms, together with the breadth of the breast_. This is exactly the quantum of our _fathom_....

AND SOUNDED - To sound is to make use of a line and lead to ascertain the depth of water. TWENTY FATHOMS - A fathom is six feet, or the distance from the extremity of the middle finger on one hand to the extremity of the other, when the arms are extended. The depth, therefore, was about 120 feet. FIFTEEN FATHOMS - They knew, therefore, that they were drawing near to shore....

EXPOSITION ACTS 27:1 For, for _into, _A.V.;_ to a centurion named Julius of the Augustan band _for unto _one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus_'_ band, _A.V. THAT WE SHOULD SAIL. Observe the "we," denoting that Luke was of the party. Connecting it with the "we" of Acts 21:17, the inference is obvious that Luke was with Paul through the whole of these two eventful years, and that it is to this presence that we owe the detailed circumstantial narrative of Acts 21-28., as well as, perhaps, the composition of St. Luke's Gospel, for which the two years at Caesarea afforded an admirable opportunity. THE AUGUSTAN BAND; or, _cohort _(σπεῖρα); as...

AND SOUNDED,.... Or let down their plummet, or sounding line; which was a line with a piece of lead at the end of it, which they let down into the water, and by that means found what depth it was, by which they could judge whether they were near land or not. The sounding line, with the ancients, was called by different names; sometimes bolis, and this is the name it has here, βολισαντες, "they let down the bolis": and the bolis is, by some, described thus; it is a brazen or leaden vessel, with a chain, which mariners fill with grease, and let down into the sea, to try whether the places are rocky where a ship may stand, or sandy where the ship is in danger of being lost: it is also called "catapirates", which is thus described by Isidore; "catapirates" is a line with a piece of lead, by which the depth of the sea is tried. Herodotus makes mention of it under this name, and observes, tha...

Paul had advised the captain not to set sail for a while, Acts 27:11. _Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things, which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete._ He is very unwise who trusts the winds, and equally so is he who sets his confidence upon any earthly thing, for fickle as the wind that blows are all things beneath the moon, Acts 27:14. But not long after ther

FATHOMS One fathom is between 6 and 7 feet....

CHAPTER 27 _ 1. From Caesarea to Fair Havens (Acts 27:1)._ 2. The Unheeded Warning. The Storm. Paul's Vision and Assurance of Safety (Acts 27:9). 3. The Shipwreck (Acts 27:27). Much has been written on this Chapter. The voyage of the Apostle Paul to Rome and the shipwreck is often explained as being typical of the stormy voyage of the professing church, her adversities and shipwreck. However, such an application needs caution. it is easy to make fanciful and far-fetched allegorical applications. Besides church history other lessons have been drawn from this narrative. A recent commentator claims that the keynote to the interpretation is given in...

LANDING ON MALTA.Adria was not then what is now called the Adriatic, but was a general name for the sea between Malta, Italy, Greece, and Crete. After a fortnight's tossing on this sea there were signs that some land was approaching. This took place at night when nothing could be seen; distant breakers probably were heard. The surmise was confirmed by the use of the lead, and lest she should go upon the rocks in the dark, the ship was anchored, but in such a way that her bow pointed to the shore. When day broke they would know what kind of a shore it was. The crew may not have wished to desert the ship (Acts 27:30), but the safety of the party required that they should remain _on_ board, and on Paul's initiative, the soldiers secured that they should do so. The exact translation of the first clause of Acts 27:33