Acts

27:1-44

5. The gospel reaches Rome, 21:1-44

xii] The storm at sea

Luke now records Paul's journey, under guard, from Caesarea to Rome. The "we" passages indicate that Luke is present for the journey and so he is able to record in detail the route taken. This is particularly the case with his record of the storm at sea and the amazing survival of all the ship's crew and passengers.

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?

When the clouds unfold their wings of strife

When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain

Will you anchor drift or firm remain?

We have an anchor that keeps the soul

Steadfast and sure while the billows roll

Fastened to the Rock which cannot move

Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love.

Priscilla Owens

i] Context: See 21:1-16.

ii] Background:

iii] Structure: The storm at sea:

iv] Interpretation:

v] Homiletics: The Stanwell Park Mission Church

The storm at sea, 27:1-44. i] From Caesarea to Crete, v1-8. Paul is one of a number of prisoners heading for Rome under the authority of a centurion by the name of Julius, an officer in the Augustan cohort, a mainly Syrian unit. Luke indicates that he is himself a member of the party, along with a Macedonian by the name of Aristarchus. They set sail from Caesarea in a coastal trader whose home port is Adramyttium, a port north of Ephesus. Their first port of call is Sidon where Paul catches up with some "friends". Setting off again, westerly winds make for difficult sailing, so they point to the east of Cyprus (protection from the wind) and use the evening breeze (warm air off a land mass) to continue their journey past Cyprus to the coast of Cilicia and along the coast to Pamphylia, docking at Myra in Lycia.

The party then gains passage on an Alexandrian vessel, most likely carrying grain for Rome. Obviously, this is a larger vessel designed for the open sea. They set sail, but with winter setting in, westerly winds are dominant and this calls for constant tacking as they struggle to point to the east. On reaching Crete, they sail to the lee (south east) and reach the harbour of Fair Havens. The problem they face is that with winter approaching, westerly squalls are on the way, and the harbour is somewhat open to the elements.

tou apoplein (apoplew) pres. inf. "that we sail" - [but/and when it was decided] the to sail off [into italy]. In the NT, the genitive articular infinitive is usually either final or epexegetic, but as Zerwick #386 notes, sometimes Luke uses this construction for either a subject-infinitive, or object-infinitive. Most translations take the construction here as an object-infinitive / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what was decided; "As it was decided that we should sail to Italy", Berkeley.

ekatontarch/ (hV ou) dat. "to a centurion" - [they were handing over both paul and certain others prisoners] to a centurion. Dative of indirect object. Note the te ... kai correlating construction, "both .... and".

onomati (a atoV) dat. "named [Julius]" - by name [julius]. The dative is adverbial, reference / respect; "with respect to his name, Julius".

speirhV (a) gen. "regiment" - of [imperial] military unit, cohort. The genitive is adjectival, possessive, "belonging to", or source, "from".

An Aristarchus is mention in 19:29, 20:4, Col.4:10, and Philemon 24. Bruce Gk. suggests that he may just be on his way home to Thessalonica.

epibanteV (epibainw) aor. part. "we boarded" - [but/and] having embarked. The participle is sometimes dealt with as if adverbial, "Embarking ......, we set sail", but probably just attendant circumstance, as NIV; "We embarked in a ship of Adramyttium ......., and put out to sea", REB.

ploiw/ (on) dat. "a ship" - in a [adramyttium] boat. Dative of direct object after the epi prefix participle "setting foot in, embarking"; "on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium", Barclay.

mellonti (mellw) dat. pres. part. "[about] to sail" - being about [to sail]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "ship, boat"; "which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia", ESV. The participle is completed by the complementary infinitive plein, "to sail".

kata + acc. "[for ports] along [the coast of the province of Asia]" - [into the places = ports] according to = along [the coast of asia, we set sail]. Here with a spatial sense, "along / toward, up to / through". Culy reminds us that the placement of this prepositional phrase between topouV, "places" and its article touV, indicates that it is adjectival, modifying / limiting "places = ports", so prompting the translation "bound for Asian ports", Phillips.

ontoV (eimi) pres. part. "-" - [aristarchus, a macedonian of = from thessalonica] being. The genitive participle, with its genitive subject, "Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica", forms a genitive absolute construction. Here it serves only to indicate that the subject of this clause, "Aristarchus", is different from the subject of the main clause, "we". The genitive "a Macedonian", stands in apposition to "Aristarchus", and the genitive Asian, "Asia", is adjectival, idiomatic, source.

sun + dat. "with" - with [us]. Expressing association / accompaniment.

A Roman prisoner was allowed to receive the assistance of family and friends, but Luke indicates that Julius went above and beyond by acting filanqrwpwV (adv.), "kindly, considerately, humanely", allowing Paul epimeleiaV tucein, "to obtain care = to have his needs attended to". The use of filouV, "friends", does not necessarily mean "brothers", ie., members of a local Christian community. We all have unbelieving friends.

th/ ... eJtera/ dat. adj. "the next day" - [and] on the next [we were led into sidon]. The adjective serves as a substantive, the dative being adverbial, temporal; "On the following day we put in at Sidon", Phillips.

crhsamenoV (craomai) aor. mid. part. "allowed" - [and julius] having used = treated [kindly paul, allowed him / commanded]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to allow, permit / order, command"; "Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends", ESV.

poreuqenti (poreuomai) dat. aor. mid./pas. part. "to go" - having gone [toward the friends]. This participle is somewhat tricky, particularly as it is dative. It is usually translated as attendant circumstance, expressing action accompanying the infinitive "to obtain", so "allowed him to go to his friends and to obtain care"; "Julius treated Paul with thoughtful kindness and allowed him to visit his friends and (to) enjoy their care", Weymouth. Classified this way, the dative would be the result of attraction to the assumed dative of direct object "him" after the epi prefix verb "to give permission to / to command". Yet, it seems more likely that the participle serves as a substantive, dative of direct object after the epi prefix verb "to permit, command" / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what Julius instructed Paul to do, namely, "Julius treated Paul kindly and ordered that he go to his friends"

tucein (tugcanw) aor. inf. "so they might provide" - to obtain [care]. If we take the participle "having gone" as a substantive, then it is likely that this infinitive is adverbial, final, expressing purpose / hypothetical result, "in order that / so that he may obtain their care", as NIV. The verb tugcanw, "to obtain", takes a genitive of direct object / persons, as here.

Luke tells us that the ship uJpepleusamen, "sailed under the shelter of / passed to the lee of [Cyprus]", ie., they hugged the coast of Cyprus, sailing north east, protecting themselves from the prevailing westerly winds which were on the increase as winter approached.

kakeiqen adv. "from there" - from there. Used here as an adverb of place.

anacqenteV (anagw) aor. pas. part. "we put out to sea" - having raised sail [we went = sailed under cyprus]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to go = sail under".

dia to + inf. "because" - because [the winds to be opposed]. This construction serves to introduce a causal clause explaining why they sailed to the lee of Cyprus.

From the east coast of Cyrus they tacked northwest to Cilicia and then along the coast of Pamphylia to the port of Myra in Lycia; see map above.

diapleusanteV (diapleuw) aor. part. "when we had sailed across" - [and] sailing across [the depths = open sea]. The NIV treats the participle as adverbial, temporal, but possibly just attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the verb "to go down"; "and then (te) we sailed across the open sea ........ and came down to Myra ..."

kata + acc. "off the coast of" - according to = toward [cilicia and pamphylia, we came down into the port of myra]. Spatial use of the preposition, probably used here to express direction, "toward, up to". They are sailing down to Myra, because the coast-line runs southwest from Pamphylia to Lycia, and for safety, they are hugging the coast. It's interesting to note that ancient maps of the Mediterranean have a northward perspective, as today.

LukiaV (a) gen. "in Lycia" - of lycia. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic / location; "the port of Myra located in the province of Lycia".

In the past, grain ships from Egypt tended not to sail in the dangerous winter months. This caused food shortages in Rome. Claudius overcame the problem by indemnifying the ship and its cargo, and as well, he offered a special subsidy for those willing to make the voyage.

kakei adv. "There" - there. Adverbial use of the conjunction, local.

euJrwn (euJriskw) aor. part. "found" - [the centurion] having found. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to put upon = put on board"; "the centurion found ...... and put us on board".

pleon (plew) pres. part. "sailing" - [an alexandrian ship] sailing [into italy, he put upon = he put on board us into it]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "Alexandrian ship"; "which was sailing for Italy".

Cindus was a regular port of call for grain ships from Alexandria, and so having left the port of Myra, they hugged the coast, heading for Cindus. The ship was making heavy weather of the journey, which probably means they were facing a strong north-westerly headwind. It's not quite clear whether they reached Cindus, or chose to give up and head on a southward tack to Crete. Either way, they ended up at Salmone, a promontory on the the north-western tip of the island where they found some protection from the worst of the prevailing winds.

braduploouteV (braduploew) pres. part. "we made slow headway" - [but/and] sailing slowly [in many day]. The main verb of this clause is uJpoplew, "to sail under the shelter of", with this participle, and genomenoi, "having become", most likely adverbial, temporal; "After sailing slowly for many days and only with difficulty having come toward Cindus, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, toward Salmone".

en + dat. "for" - in [many days]. Adverbial use of the preposition, possibly a modal sense is in mind, making a point about the manner of their sailing, rather than temporal, given that en is not normally used to express extent of time; "We ran into bad weather and found it impossible to stay on course", Peterson. Barrett notes that Luke often uses en to refer to an imprecise interval, so here "a fair number of days".

kata + acc. "[arriving] off [Cindus]" - [and hardly = with difficulty having become] according to = toward [cindus]. Spatial use of the preposition, probably direction, "toward, up to". "It was with considerable difficulty that we made Cindus", Cassirer, but "arrival at" seems an unlikely sense for kata, so more likely "with considerable difficulty we sailed toward Cindus"

uJpepleusamen (uJpoplew) gen. aor. part. "we sailed to the lee of [Crete]" - [we sailed under the shelter of crete, the wind not] allowing to go further [us]. The genitive participle and its genitive subject "the wind", forms a genitive absolute construction, best treated as causal. The construction is necessitated by a change in subject from "we" to "wind"; "because the wind did not allow us to go further".

With difficulty, they sailed westward, hugging the southern coast of Crete, until they reached the bay of Fair Havens, today called Kaloi Limenes. Although protected, to some degree, from the prevailing north-westerly winds, the bay is open to sea and so not really a suitable port for wintering.

paralegomenoi (paralegomai) pres. part. "we moved along [the coast]" - [and] we sailed along [it (Crete) hardly = with difficulty, we came into a certain place]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to come"; "Then we struggled westward along the southern coast of Crete and came to a bay called Fair Havens".

koloumenon (kalew) pres. mid. part. "called" - being called [fair havens]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting the noun tina, "a [certain] place", "which is called Fair Havens".

w|/ dat. pro. "-" - [near] which [was the town lasea]. Normally the adverb egguV, "near", takes a genitive complement, but as Barrett notes, Luke again uses a dative, as in 9:38.

ii] Safety found in Fair Havens, v9-12. It was now late autumn, October AD 58/60. The nhsteian, "fast", that Luke refers to is obviously the Day of Atonement, 10th Tishri, held late September to early October, and this was now past. It was not safe to sail on the Mediterranean from November through to March and so danger awaited them if they tried to sail to the port Phoenix in Crete to safely wait out winter.

diagenomenou (diaginomai) gen. aor. part. "had been lost" - [but/and sufficient = much time] having passed in time [and a voyage being unsafe]. Along with the genitive participle oJntoV, "being", and its genitive subject "voyage", this genitive participle and its genitive subject "much time", forms a genitive absolute construction. Both constructions are best treated as causal, "because much time had passed and because the voyage was dangerous".

dia to + inf. "because" - because [the fast already and = also to have passed, paul was advising]. This construction, dia + the accusative articular infinitive, introduces a causal clause explaining why the voyage is now dangerous. The use of the imperfect tense of the verb parainew, "to advise, exhort" is possibly tendential / conative, ie., attempted action, so Zerwick.

However we define Paul's premonition (a prophecy or common sense), his words are timely, although ignored.

legwn (legw) "-" - saying [to them]. Redundant attendant circumstance participle serving to introduce direct speech. See legonteV, 19:28. The pronoun autoiV, "to them", serves as a dative of indirect object.

oJti "that" - [men, i see] that [the voyage]. Introducing an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what Paul believes is going to happen.

esesqai (eimi) fut. inf. "[is going] to be" - [to be about] to be. Complementary infinitive completing the infinitive mellein, "to be about". The use here of the infinitive of the verb mellw is best understood as an anacoluthon (irregular syntax). In the Greek text, the distance between the recitative oJti, and "to be about", has prompted an unnecessary recitative infinitive to again introduce what Paul believes is going to happen, namely, "I perceive that the voyage (that it) will be attended with danger and heavy loss", Weymouth. It is possible that a causal sense for oJti was intended; "I perceive that, because of the nature of this voyage, it will be attended with danger ..."

meta + gen. "-" - with [injury = hardship and much loss]. Expressing accompaniment / association; "attended with". "This voyage is likely to result in damage and considerable loss", Phillips.

tou fortiou (on) gen. "[to ship and] cargo" - [not only a loss] of the cargo [and of the ship]. The genitive is adjectival, classified by Culy and Kellum as verbal, objective, as NIV, but it may also be classified as descriptive, idiomatic, "a loss which will involve the cargo and the ship".

alla "and" - but [and = also the lives of us]. Strong adversative standing in a counterpoint construction, "not ......., but also ......"; "but also our lives", ESV.

Given that the final authority to sail, or not to sail, resides with the owner (most likely the owner's representative) and the captain of the ship - a fact that Luke would know well - it is likely that Julius is epeiqeto, "being persuaded", to take his chances with the ship and not disembark and make the journey on foot to Phoenix (probably modern day Phineka, some 40 miles West of Fair Havens).

oJ de "but the [centurion]" - but/ and the [centurion]. Indicating a change in subject from Paul to the centurion.

mallon .... h] "instead of" - rather than. Introducing a comparative clause. Such a comparison may be expressed in English by "and not", Zerwick. To aid understanding, the NIV establishes the comparison at the beginning of the sentence.

toiV .... legomenoiV (legw) pres. mid. part. "what [Paul] said" - [being persuaded] by the things being spoken [by paul]. The participle serves as a substantive, dative of direct object after the assumed passive verb "being persuaded by".

tw/ kubernhth/ (hV ou) dat. "of the pilot" - [was being persuaded] by the leader = captain, ships-master [and by the owner]. In the passive voice, the verb "to persuade" takes a dative of direct object, as here for both "the captain" and "the owner"; "let himself be persuaded by the captain", Moffatt. The NIV, "the advice of (given by) the pilot", assumes that this medial-passive verb expresses the middle voice and that the datives are therefore instrumental, expressing means.

A ship's company does not operate as a democracy. On this occasion, the crew and passengers may have offered an opinion, but the pleioneV, "many", who make the decision to set sail is surely only the captain and the owner. Neil suggests that it was a vote between the captain, the owner, the centurion and Paul, which ended up as a three-to-one split, ie., "many" = "majority" - this is very unlikely!

uJparcontoV (uJparcw) gen. pres. part. "since [the harbor] was" - [but/and the harbour unsuitable] being. The genitive participle and its genitive subject, "an unsuitable harbour", forms a genitive absolute construction, usually treated here as causal, as NIV.

proV + acc. "to [winter]" - toward = for [wintering]. Here the preposition is adverbial, final, expressing purpose.

anacqhnai (anagw) aor. pas. inf. "that we should sail on" - [the many made a decision] to raise up = set sail [from there]. The infinitive serves to introduce the object of the verb "to make a decision" / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what the "many" decided to do.

ei pwV + opt. "[hoping]" - if, in some why, however, perhaps [they might be able]. Both Culy and Kellum classify this construction as the protasis of an incomplete 4th. class conditional clause, with pwV expressing a degree of uncertainly. Other commentators are less specific, given that there are no complete 4th. class conditional clauses in the NT. Zerwick opts for a potential optative expressing "an uncertain wish", so "to see if / in the hope that perhaps ....", so also Barrett. Bruce Gk. takes a similar line, but suggests that pwV is final; "in order that, if possible, they might ...."

katanthsanteV (katantaw) aor. part. "to reach [Phoenix]" - having come [into phenix to winter]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the infinitive "to winter". The infinitive "to winter" is complementary, completing the sense of the optative verb "they might be able"; "so that thy might, if possible, reach (be able to come to) Phoenix and winter there".

KrhthV (h) gen. "in Crete" - [a harbour] of crete. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic / local; "a harbour located in Crete", as NIV.

bleponta (blepw) pres. part. "facing" - facing [according to = toward south west wind and according to = toward northwest wind]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "harbour"; "a harbour which faces toward ...." There is some confusion as to the direction of the wind, given that there are different ways of describing direction. The prevailing winds in winter come from the northwest, west and southwest. A safe harbour is one that faces away from the prevailing winds, ie., its back is kata, "toward" (spatial) the wind.

The storm has it's way, v13-20. A fair wind prompts the crew to set sail, westward along the coast to cape Matala, with the intention of rounding the cape, ant then northwest to Phoenix, but they are hit by a north-easterly gale that drives them from the island.

uJpopneusantoV (uJpopnew) gen. aor. part. "when a gentile [south wind] began to blow" - [but/and, a south wind] having blown gently. The genitive participle and its genitive subject forms a genitive absolute construction, best taken as temporal, as NIV.

doxanteV (dokew) aor. part. "they saw" - having thought, supposed. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to sail along"; "they supposed that they had obtained their purpose, and, after weighing anchor, they set sail along the coast of Crete".

kekrathkenai (kratew) perf. inf. "their opportunity" - to have gained, taken hold of, obtained [the purpose (their plan)]. The infinitive serves as the object of the participle "having thought" / dependent statement of perception expressing what they thought, supposed. The verb "to think, suppose" takes either an accusative or genitive direct object, here the object, "the purpose", is genitive; "they thought that they had achieved just what they wanted".

aranteV (airw) aor. part. "so they weighed anchor" - having raised, taken up = weighed anchor [they were sailing beside closely crete]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal; "after weighing anchor", Moffatt.

Barrett thinks the name "northwester" is a Latinism. Winds often get local names, eg., on the east coast of Australia we have a southerly buster, a lovely cold change in summer, but hated by sailers (I was severely dunked in an 18 footer once). This wind / storm was probably a tropical-like cyclone called today a medicane. They can occur in the Mediterranean basin during the winter months. It would be cantered to their south and they are obviously now caught in the tail coming out of the east, driving them westward (cyclones in the northern hemisphere spin anti-clockwise). This wind can reach up to a 100mph, and the best a small sailing ship can do is run before it, controlled by a small storm jib.

met (meta) + gen. "before [very long]" - [but/and] after [not much time]. Temporal use of the preposition.

oJ kaloumenoV (kalew) pres. part. "called" - [a typhoon wind] the one being called [northeaster]. A "tempestuous wind", Barrett. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "wind".

kat (kata) + gen. "from [the island]" - [threw] down from, from [her (Crete)]. Here expressing source, as NIV. "Against" is unlikely, and "against the ship" is not possible as poliV, "ship", is neuter, and authV is feminine.

sunarpasqentoV (sunarpazw) gen. aor. pas. part. "[the ship] was caught in the storm" - [but/and the ship] having been seized [and not being able]. The genitive participle and its genitive subject "ship", along with the genitive participle "[not] being able", forms a genitive absolute construction, best taken as temporal; "And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind", ESV.

antofqalmein (amtofqalmeo) pres. inf. "head into" - to look in the face. Complementary infinitive completing the sense of the participle "being able".

tw/ anemw/ (oV) dat. "the wind" - the wind. Dative of direct object after the anti prefix verb "to look in the face".

epidonteV (epididwmi) aor. mid, part. "so we gave way to it" - having given up [we were brought, carried]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to be brought"; "we gave up and let her run before the wind".

The small island of Cauda (known today as Gozzo) is some 25 miles southwest of Crete. This island provided some shelter, so they laid to (brought the ship to a stop into the wind) while the crew prepared the ship for the full force of the sea. They hoisted the dinghy onboard, gathered ropes uJpozwnnumi, "to pass under, fasten under", probably in the sense "to brace" (keel to stern to stop the ship breaking its back) and/or "to undergird" (to stop the planking springing loose), and they let down the skeuoV, "equipment". They would have lowered the main sail by now and be sailing with a storm jib, so "the equipment" is probably a sea anchor to gain control of the ship and stop it from berrying its nose as it ran before the wind, as NIV. Once prepared, they let the ship run.

uJpodramonteV (uJpotrecw) aor. part. "as we passed to the lee" - [but/and] running = sailing under the shelter of [a certain little island]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to be strong enough"; "Then (de) we ran under the lee of a small island called Cauda and were only just able to secure the ship's dinghy".

kaloumenon (kalew) pres. mid. part. "called" - being called [cauda]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "island"; "which is called Cauda".

genesqai (ginomai) aor. inf. "[able] to make" - [we were strong enough = we were able hardly] to become [in control of]. Complementary infinitive completing the sense of the verb "to be strong enough = able"; "we only just (hardly) gained (were able to become) control of the dinghy" ideological

thV skafhV (h) gen. "lifeboat" - the dinghy. Genitive of direct object after the peri prefix verb "to be in control of".

aranteV (airw) aor. part,. "hoisted [it] aboard" - having taken up [it/what]. The participle is adverbial, best taken as temporal; "After hoisting it up", ESV. The assumed object is the dinghy, possibly with the sense "after we secured the dinghy".

bohqeiaV (a) dat. "they passed" - [they used] helps, supports, aids. Dative of direct object after the verb "to use"; "they used cables to brace the ship", Phillips.

upozwnnunteV (upozwnnimi) pres. part. "to hold it together" - to fasten [the boat]. A technical term used of either bracing and/or undergirding. The participle is adverbial, best treated as final, expressing purpose; "in order to undergird / brace the ship".

foboumenoi (fobew) pres. mid. part. "because they were afraid" - [and] fearing. The participle is adverbial, best treated as causal, as NIV.

mh + subj. "[they would run aground]" - lest [they may fall = founder into syrtis]. This construction, mh + the subjunctive, introduces a dependent statement of fearing, expressing what the crew feared; "they were afraid that they would be driven onto the Syrtis shoals (today the gulf of Sidra) off North Africa".

calasanteV (calaw) aor. part. "they lowered [the sea anchor]" - having let down [the object, in this way they were carried, brought along]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to carry, bring". "They lowered the sea anchor and allowed themselves to run before the wind."

Luke includes himself in the "battering" and then moves to the third person plural to describe the action of the crew to lighten the ship so that it can more easily ride out the storm. What they threw overboard is unstated, with the sense being "they began to lighten the ship", Weymouth.

ceimazomenwn (ceimazw) gen. pres. mid. pas. "[we] took such a [violent] battering from the storm" - [but/and, we] being storm-tossed [greatly]. The genitive participle and its genitive subject "we" forms a genitive absolute construction, best treated as causal; "Since we were violently storm-tossed", ESV.

th/ exhV adv. "that next day" - on the next day [they were doing a throwing out (jettisoning). The dative article th/ servers as a nominalizer, turning the adverb "next" into the substantive "next day", the dative being adverbial, temporal, "on the next day".

To further lighten the ship, the crew dumped the rigging overboard: sails, sheets (ropes), spars, mainsail (spar for the main sail), anchors, and possibly the mast (chopped down). Of course, Luke may just be referring to spare rigging.

th/ trith/ adj "on the third day" - on the third day. The same construction as th/ exhV above.

autoeireV (r roV) "with their own hands" - the = their own hands [threw out the object = equipment of the boat]. A strange use of this noun for the subject of the verb "to throw"; not so much "they" = the crew, threw out the rigging, but their own hands did it. Peterson Gk. suggests its use here emphasises the desperation of the crew. Read as an adjective, Luke is possibly using it as an adverb, so NIV, ESV, REB, NRSV, ...

Their situation is getting worse; they don't know where they are (unable to navigate by sun and stars), and the raging sea, day and night, would be starting to break the ship up.

mhte .... mhte "[when] neither [sun] nor [stars]" - [but/and] neither [sun] nor [stars]. Negated correlative constriction.

epifainontwn (epifainw) gen. aor. part. "appeared" - appearing. The genitive participle and its genitive subject "neither sun nor stars" forms a genitive absolute construction, best treated as temporal, as NIV, ESV, ...

epi + acc. "for" - upon [many days]. Adverbial use of the preposition, temporal, modifying the participle "appearing".

epikeimenou (epikeimai) gen. pres. part. "raging" - [and no little storm] attacking. The genitive participle and its genitive subject "no little storm", along with "appearing", forms a compound genitive absolute construction, temporal, as NIV. The genitive subject, "no little storm" is a litotes (a negated understatement used to emphasise the opposite); "the storm raged unabated", Cassirer.

tou swzesqai (swzw) pres. inf. "of being saved" - [finally, all hope us] of the to be saved [was being taken away]. The genitive articular infinitive is epexegetic, specifying "all hope". The accusative pronoun hJmaV, "us", serves as the accusative subject of the infinitive. "In the end we began to abandon all hope that we would ever come through it alive", Barclay. Note how Barclay handles the progressive nature of the imperfect verb "was being taken away"

iv] Paul's word of encouragement, v21-26. No one likes an "I told you so", but Paul's purpose here is to encourage the crew to give more consideration, this time, to what he is saying; he has an encouraging word from God - "there will be no loss of life among you".

uJparcoushV (uJparcw) gen. pres. part. "after they had gone" - [and much lack of appetite] having been. The genitive participle and its genitive subject "much lack of appetite" forms a genitive absolute construction, usually treated as temporal, as NIV.

staqeiV (iJsthmi) aor. pas. part. "[Paul] stood up" - [paul then] having stood up [in midst of them said]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to say". The genitive autwn, "of them", is adjectival, partitive.

men ..... kai "-" - on the one hand ..... and on the other. With de this coordinating construction is adversative / contrastive, but even with kai a contrast is evident, "and yet". The men probably relates to kai, "and", v22, rather than kai v21; " On the one hand, to not obey me, and put out to sea from Crete and end up with hardship and loss was inevitable, and yet on the other hand, now I advise you to be courageous ...."

peiqarchsantaV (peiqarcew) aor. part. "you should have taken my advice" - [o men], having [not] obeyed [me to take up = put out to sea from crete, and to gain this violence and loss, was necessary]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the infinitives anagesqai, "to take up = put out to sea", and kerdhsai, "to gain"; "to not obey me and to put out to sea .... and to gain ...". This infinitival construction forms a nominal phrase subject of the impersonal verb edei, "it was necessary". This construction is a matter of some debate; see eiselqein, 14:22. The dative moi, "me", serves as a dative of direct object after the verb "to obey". "Friends, you really should have listened to me back in Crete. We could have avoided all this trouble. But there's no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up!"; Peterson.

ta nun "[but] now" - [and] the now. The article serves as a nominalizer, turning the temporal adverb "now" into a substantive, the accusative being adverbial, reference / respect; "and yet, with respect to the present situation, ....."

euqumein (euqumew) pres. inf. "to keep up [your] courage" - [i exhort, advise you] to take courage. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what Paul advised; "to keep up your spirits for no one's life is going to be lost", Phillips.

gar "because" - for [there will be no loss of life]. Introducing a causal clause explaining why the crew needs to take courage, "because .....". Culy classifies the genitive yuchV, "of life", as adjectival, verbal, objective, "will lose his life", but maybe attributed, where the lead noun "life" functions as an attributive adjective limiting the genitive noun "loss", "there will be no life loss" = "no one will die".

plhn + gen. "only" - except [the ship]. Introducing an exceptive clause which establishes a contrast by designating an exception. A slight zeugma here, given that ships don't die, they founder.

Paul explains that the source of his confidence is a revelation from God conveyed by an angel (in Acts, angels are God's agents for revelation and deliverance, and according to the ballad Angel Band, they carry us to our "immortal home" - what a beautiful thought! ). Paul uses an interesting set of words to describe God to a crew that does not acknowledge his God. He is the God ou| eimi, "of whom I am", the God he belongs to, and the God latreuw, "I serve". The sense "serve" is far more likely than "worship", as adoration is not in mind here. The idea of belonging to God is a rather powerful concept - through faith in the faithfulness of Jesus, I am His and He is mine, irrespective of all my many failings, past, present and future.

gar "-" - for [this night an angel of (belonging to / from) god]. Introducing a causal clause explaining why Paul has asserted that no one will lose their life, "because ........"

ou| gen. pro. "to whom [I belong]" - [i am] of whom [and = also i serve whom] The genitive is adjectival, possessive; "whose I am". The pronoun w/|, "whom", serves as a dative of direct object after the verb "to give service to".

moi dat. pro. "[stood beside] me" - [stood by] me. Dative of direct object after the para prefix verb "to stand beside".

Luke again expresses the divine intention with dei, "it is necessary". Paul is to take his confession, his gospel, to the imperial court, possibly even Caesar himself; it is writ and cannot be undone by the fury of nature. The divine gift / favour to Paul of the crew's safety, implies that it is an answer to a prayer for safety from Paul. Tannehill notes that the use of pantaV, "all", controls the action from this point on. Any rescue plan has to include "all" the crew.

legwn (legw) pres. part. "and said" - saying. Attendant circumstance participle, semi-redundant, introducing direct speech; see legonteV 19:28.

parasthnai (paristhmi) aor. inf. "[you must] stand trial" - [you] to stand before [caesar is necessary]. The infinitive serves as the subject of the impersonal verb "it is necessary"; for this construction see eiselqein, 14:22. The accusative subject of the infinitive is se, "you".

Kaisari (r roV) dat. "Caesar" - caesar. Dative of direct object after the para prefix verb "to stand by / before".

soi dat. pro. "you" - [and behold, god has given] to you. Dative of indirect object.

touV pleontaV (plew) pres. part. "[all] who sale" - [all] the ones sailing. The participle serves as a substantive, serving to introduce the direct object of the verb "to give", namely, "all who are sailing with you".

meta + gen. "with" - with [you]. Expressing association / accompaniment.

A classic expression of faith - a belief that God will do what he says he will do, Lk.1:45, 2:20, .... The statement bears overtones of encouragement in a broader sense, namely salvation, so Fitzmyer.

dio "So" - therefore, [cheer up / take courage, men]. Inferential, drawing a logical conclusion.

gar "for" - for. Introducing a causal clause explaining why the crew should take courage; "because .......".

tw/ qew/ (oV) dat. "[I have faith in] God" - [i believe, trust, have faith in] god. Dative of direct object after the verb "to believe in".

oJti "that" - that [thus it will be according to which manner it has been said]. Culy suggests that this clause stands in apposition to the dative of direct object tw/ qew/, "God", such that oJti introduces the second object of the verb "to have faith in" / dependent statement of perception expressing what Paul believes. Zerwick assumes an ellipsis, namely "God's word"; "I believe what God has said", Bruce Gk. With this ellipsis, oJti would serve to introduce an epexegetic clause specifying what God has said, namely "that it will be exactly as I have been told", ESV. Yet, as Kellum notes, the clause actually expresses the content of Paul's faith, not what God has said. So, the ellipsis is probably a repetition of the verb "I have faith", in which case oJti introduces an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what Paul believes; "I have faith in what God has said, and so I believe / know that our terrible plight will turn out exactly as he revealed to me". "Be of good courage, then, my friends. I have full confidence in God, and I am convinced that things will turn out as I was told they would", Cassirer.

kaq (kata) + acc. "as" - according to [which way]. The preposition kaq (kata) + acc. expresses a standard, which used by itself here would give the sense "that it will be as I have been told". The addition of o}n topon, "which way, manner", is redundant, and therefore emphatic, which is why the ESV has "exactly as".

moi dat. pro. "me" - to me. Dative of indirect object.

This may seem like bad news, but it is actually good news. The ship is not going to founder in the open sea, but rather run aground on a "certain island" (emphatic by position).

de "nevertheless" - but/and. Transitional, introducing the third element of God's revelation to Paul: Paul will defend his gospel before Caesar; all the crew will be saved; and the ship will run aground on an island (rather than founder in the open sea).

ekpesein (ekpiptw) aor. inf. "[we must] run aground" - [us] to fall = run aground [into a certain island is necessary]. The infinitive forms a nominal phrase, subject of the impersonal verb "it is necessary", cf., eiselqein, 14:22. The accusative subject of the infinitive is hJmaV, "us".

v] The shipwreck, v27-32. Under these conditions, it would take about 14 days to reach Malta from Crete. The Adria gulf (today the Adriatic Sea) stretched from Sicily to Crete. Rather than saying the sailors were aware that the ship was approaching land, Luke expresses the observation from the sailer's perspective, ie., the land was approaching them.

wJV "on" - [but/and] when [fourteenth night became]. Temporal use of the conjunction serving to introduce a temporal clause.

diaqeromenwn (diaferw) gen. aor. mid. part. "we were being driven across" - [we] being driven over [in the adria gulf]. The genitive participle and its genitive subject hmwn, "we", forms a genitive absolute construction, probably temporal; "while we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea".

kata + acc. "about [midnight]" - according to [middle of the night]. Temporal use of the preposition, "at, during". The genitive nuktoV, "night", is adjectival, partitive.

prosagein (prosagw) pres. inf. "[sensed] they were approaching" - [the sailors were thinking certain land] to be bringing to = approaching [them]. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of perception, expressing what the sailors were thinking; "that some land was approaching them" = "that they were nearing land", ESV. The accusative subject of the infinitive is "certain land". The verb prosagw, "to bring to", takes a dative of direct object, as here, autoiV, "them".

balisanteV (alizw) aor. part. "they took soundings [and found]" - [and] having taken depth [they found twenty fathoms, and a little having sailed and again] having taken depth [they found fifteen fathoms]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to find". The coordinate participles "having sailed" and "having taken depth" are also attendant circumstance, and also express action accompanying a verb "to find".

Fearing that they are about to run aground, the crew cast anchors from the stern so that when daylight comes they can work out where best to make landfall.

foboumenoi (fobew) pres. mid. part. "fearing" - [and] fearing. The participle is adverbial, Culy suggests causal; "because they feared".

mh .... ekpeswmen (ekpiptw) aor. subj. "that we would be dashed" - not = lest [somehow] we might fall = run aground. This construction, mh + subj., serves to introduce the object of the participle "fearing" / dependent statement of perception, fearing, expressing what they fear, as NIV.

kata + acc. "against [the rocks]" - according to [rugged places]. Here spatial, "along, through". "For fear that we might be hurled on the rocks", Phillips.

pJiyanteV (rJiptw) aor. part. "they dropped" - having thrown [four anchors from stern]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, modifying the imperfect verb "to pray"; "after letting down four anchors from the stern, they prayed for day to come".

genesqai (ginomai) aor. inf. "[they prayed for]" - [they were praying] to become [day]. The infinitive introduces the object of the verb "to pray" / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what they were praying. Probably in the sense that each member of the crew was praying to their God, although possibly in the sense of "wishing, hoping"; "and longed for day to break", Berkeley, so also NASB, NET, ...

As Marshall notes, in desperation, "men will do foolish things", and escaping a ship in a dinghy during a storm at night is indeed foolhardy. The purpose of lowing the bow anchors is so the ship is not beam to wind; this would require a dinghy to lay out the anchors leeward, which possibly indicates that the storm has died down somewhat and provided an opportune moment for escape. Note that Beg argues that Luke misrepresents the sailors' motives, although, given that Luke was most likely present, he surely has a better understanding of what's going on than Beg.

zhtountwn (zhtew) gen. pres. part. "in an attempt" - [but/and the sailors] seeking [to flee from the ship and having let down the dinghy into the sea]. This genitive participle, and its genitive subject "sailors", along with the genitive participle "having let down", forms a compound genitive absolute construction, probably temporal, covering the whole of v30, with the sentence completed in v31; "When the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had actually lowered the dinghy into the sea, pretending that they were going to run out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion ....."

fugein (feugw) aor. inf. "to escape" - to flee [from the ship]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the participle, "seeking". The preposition ek, "from", expresses separation, "away from".

profasei (iV ewV) dat. "pretending" - on the pretext. The dative is adverbial, introducing an adverbial phrase modifying the participle "having let down", modal, expressing manner, with the idea being that they deceptively let down the dinghy into the sea; "on the pretext that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow".

wJV .... mellontwn (mellw) + part. "[they were going]" - as if being about. Luke has used the construction wJV + part. + inf. in relation to pretence in 23:15, 20, indicating its use as an idiomatic construction. Of course, participles are sometimes used with a verb of perception to introduce a direct object, so forming a dependent statement of perception expressing what is perceived, as possibly here; "pretending that they were about ......". So, the comparative particle wJV, "as, like = as if (Bruce)", may just be used to reinforce the sense of deception, rather than be syntactically linked to the participle.

ekteinein (ekteinw) pres. inf. "to lower" - to cast out [anchors into the sea]. Complementary infinitive, completing the sense of the participle "being about".

At least Paul recognises that the proposed manoeuvre with the dinghy only requires one sailor, so he alerts the centurion to what's going on. Paul acts on the basis of his revelation that "all" will be saved, so all need to stick together to be saved.

tw/ ekatontarch/ (hV ou) dat. "to the centurion" - [paul said] to the centurion, [and to the soldiers]. So also "soldiers", dative of indirect object.

ean mh + subj. "unless" - if not, as the case may be, [these remain in the boat, then]. Introducing a conditional clause 3rd. class where the proposed condition has the possibility of coming true.

swqhnai (swzw) aor. pas. inf. "[cannot] be saved" - [you are not able] to be saved. Complementary infinitive, completing the sense of the verb "to be able"

Beg may be right to suggest that cutting loose the dinghy was somewhat unwise given that, with the storm on the wane, it would have been possible to wait for the sea to calm and then convey crew and passengers ship to shore, rather than unnecessarily have to beach the ship.

ekpesein (ekpiptw) aor. inf. "[let it] drift away" - [then the soldiers cut off the ropes of (belonging to) the dinghy and allowed it] to fall off / from = to drift off. Complementary infinitive, completing the sense of the verb "to permit, allow".

vi] Saved by the skin of their teeth, v33-44. The statement "continuing without food", is obviously an exaggeration, but the point is clear enough, "having had little to eat", all now need a good meal to strengthen them for the final hurdle.

acri + gen. "just before [dawn]" - [but/and] up to [which day about to become]. Temporal use of the preposition, introducing a temporal clause; "As day was dawning". The infinitive ginesqai, "to become", is complementary, completing the verb "to be about".

metalabein (metalambanw) aor. inf. "to eat" - [paul was urging all] to take [food]. The infinitive introduces the object of the verb "to urge, encourage" / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what Paul urged "everyone" to do; "Paul urged that everyone should take some food". The accusative subject of the infinitive is apantaV, "all, everyone".

legwn (legw) pres. part. "-" - saying. Attendant circumstance participle, semi-redundant, serving to introduce direct speech; see legonteV 19:28.

prosdokwnteV (prosdokaw) pres. part. "you have gone without food" - waiting [fourteenth day today you are continuing without food]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to continue"; "For fourteen days you have waited (been on watch) and continued without food (eaten very little)".

proslabomenoi (proslambanw) aor. part. "you [haven't] eaten anything" - [nothing] receiving, accepting. The participle is adverbial, modifying the verb "to continue", possibly instrumental, expressing means, "by not accepting food = fasting".

dio "now" - therefore. Inferential, drawing a logical conclusion; given that the crew have eaten very little over the past two week, they should now take some food to strengthen themselves.

metalabein (metalambanw) aor. inf. "to take" - [i encourage you] to share in. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what Paul encouraged the crew to do; "I urge that you share / receive some food". The accusative subject of the infinitive is uJmaV, "you".

trofhV (h) gen. "some food" - food. Genitive of direct object after meta prefix infinitive "to share in".

gar "-" - for. Serving to introduce a causal clause explaining why they should share in some food; "because ....,,".

proV + gen. "you need it" - [this possessing] toward [your salvation]. Spatial, movement toward, metaphorical, with the sense of "in the interest of your deliverance", BDF.

gar "-" - for. Here more reason than cause, explaining the motive behind Paul's urging that the crew now take time to have a meal.

uJmwn gen. pro. "[not one] of you" - [no one] of you [a hair from the head will be lost]. The genitive is adjectival, partitive / wholative.

The Western text adds "having given also to us", but as Metzger notes, the hJmin, "us", used by the Western reviser, is unlikely to be just Luke and Aristarchus, ie., this is a sharing of the Lord's Supper / Eucharist for believers, so Ramsay. The assumed "us" would include the whole ships company, and so we are reminded that when Luke uses these words throughout Acts, his is not necessarily referring to the Lord's Supper. A normal Jewish meal involves such words. The context sometimes enables us to distinguish between a fellowship meal / love feast, and the Lord's Supper / Eucharist, but not always.

eipaV (legw) aor. part. "after he said [this]" - [but/and] having said [these things and having taken bread, he gave thanks]. The participle, along with "having taken", is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV.

tw/ qew/ (oV) "to God" - to god [before all]. Dative of direct object after the verb "to give thanks to".

klasaV (klaw) aor. part. "[then] he broke it" - [and] having broken [he began to eat]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to begin"; "he broke it and began to eat". The infinitive esqiein, "to eat", is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to begin".

genomenoi (ginomai) aor. part. "they were" - [but/and, all] having become [encouraged, they and = also received]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to receive".

trofhV (h) gen. "food" - food. Genitive of direct object after the proV prefix verb "to receive".

Luke now moves his perspective from the ship's company to all on board, again including himself. Smaller variant numbers exist, although the number of 276 is not unreasonable, given the size of grain ships.

en + dat. "on [board]" - [but/and, all the souls] in [the ship]. Local, expressing space.

diakosiai ebdomhkonta e{x adj. "276" - [were] two hundred and seventy six. Predicate adjective.

It's rather strange that the cargo of grain didn't get jettisoned earlier (cf., v18) given that it would be covered by the imperial indemnity for loss in winter - imperial power tends to rely on bread and circus. Also, by this stage, the wheat would be spoilt. Johnson suggests that they jettisoned the ship's provisions, having already jettisoned the cargo. Anyway, they further lighten the ship for its final landfall - obviously aiming for a shallow draft to ride over any hidden shoals.

koresqenteV (korennumi) aor. pas. part. "when they had eaten as much as they wanted" - [but/and] having eaten much [food, they were lightening, raising up, the ship]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to lighten"; "we all ate what we wanted and then set about lightening the ship". Usually treated as adverbial, temporal, as NIV, REB, CEV, ESV, .... The verb korennumi takes a genitive of direct object, as here.

ekballomenoi (ekballw) pres. mid. part. "by throwing" - throwing out [the wheat into the sea]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as instrumental, expressing means, as NIV.

In daylight, they see a bay suitable for landfall and prepare to get underway. The bay is traditionally identified as St. Paul's Bay on the North Coast of Malta, some eight miles from Valletta.

oJte "when" - when [it became day]. Temporal conjunction, serving to introduce a temporal clause.

epeginwskon (epiginwskw) imperf. "they did [not] recognise" - they were knowing [not the land]. The imperfect is possibly tendential / conative, expressing attempted, but unrealised action; "they were attempting to recognise the land but were unsuccessful", Wuest.

econta (ecw) pres. part. "with [a sandy beach]" - [but/and they were noticing a certain fold = bay] having a shore = beach. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "bay", "which had a beach".

ei + opt. "if" - [onto which they were taking counsel] if. Best classified as a potential optative expressing "an uncertain wish"; "they were discussing whether they should attempt to run the ship ashore". These constructions, ei + opt, or an + opt. are remnants of the 4th. class conditional clause, complete examples of which are not found in the NT; cf., v12, and 5:24.

exwsai (exwqew) aor. inf. "to run [the ship] aground" - [they might be able] to drive out, push out [the ship]. Complementary infinitive, completing the verb "to be able"; "should attempt to run the ship ashore".

To make their run to shore, the crew need to cut loose the stern anchors (the bow anchors were not laid out), cut loose the rudders (large paddle-like oars attached in a semi-vertical fashion to the stern and lashed up when not in use), and set their storm jib.

perielonteV (periairew) aor. part. "cutting loose" - [and] taking away [the anchors, they were permitting them into the sea]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to permit, allow"; "They cut loose the anchors and left them in the sea".

ananteV (animi) aor. part. "they untied [the ropes]" - [at the same time] having relaxed [the ropes]. Attendant circumstance participle which, along with "having raised", expresses action accompanying the verb "to hold", here in the sense of "to set a course [toward the shore]". "At the same time, they cut the ropes which held up the steering-oars, set the storm jib and made for the beach".

twn phdaliwn gen. "that held the rudders" - of the rudders. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic; "which were used to hold up the rudders".

th/ pneoush/ dat. "to the wind" - [and having raised the sail] to the thing blowing = wind [they were steering into the shore]. Kellum suggests the dative here is spatial, expressing direction, "into the breeze". Direction is related to perspective, and here it is likely that they are going to run before the wind.

On their run to shore they hit a "sandbar", a shoal of some sort, which is probably the intended sense of topon diqalasson, "a place between two seas".

peripesonteV (peripiptw) aor. part. "struck [a sandbar]" - [but/and] having struck against [into a place between two seas, they ran aground the ship]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to run aground"; "but they struck a reef and drove the ship aground". Often treated as adverbial, modal or temporal.

men .... de "-" - [and] on the one hand [the prow having stuck fast remained unmovable] but on the other hand [the stern was being loosened, released]. Forming an adversative comparative construction, although here more of a contrast, "the prow was stuck fast and the stern was breaking up".

ereisasa (ereidw) aor. part. "stuck fast" - having stuck fast. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to remain, continue".

asaleutoV adj. "[would] not move" - [remained] immovable. Predicate adjective.

uJpo + gen. "by" - [but the stern was being loosened] by. Instrumental, agency. Note that the imperfect verb elueto, "was being loosened", has prompted numerous translations, eg., inceptive, "the stern began to break up", Cassirer.

twn kumatwn (a atoV) gen. "[the pounding] of the surf" - [the violence, force] of the waves. The genitive is adjectival, verbal, subjective, "the force being exercised by the waves". This is a variant reading which Barrett says is likely to be an unessential sort of narrative note from a copyist.

The punishment meted out to a Roman soldier who allows a prisoner to escape was very severe, so, better to be sure than sorry!

twn ... stratiwtwn (hV ou) gen. "the soldiers" - [but/and, the plan] of the soldiers. The genitive is adjectival, possibly verbal, subjective, "the plan hatched by the soldiers", but better possessive, expressing a derivative characteristic, "the plan pertaining to the soldiers" / "the soldiers' plan".

iJna + subj. "to [kill]" - [became = was] that [they should kill the prisoners]. The presence of the verb egeneto, "to become", makes for a tricky clause. It seems likely that iJna + subj. introduces a nominal phrase subject of the verb "to become", taken here as impersonal - an infinitive would do the same job; "that they should kill the prisoners became the plan of the soldiers" = "It was the soldiers' plan to kill the prisoners", Barclay. Note the obvious inclination to head toward an epexegetic iJna; "The soldiers came to the decision that the prisoners should be killed", Cassirer.

diafugh/ (diafeugw) aor. subj. "escaping" - [no certain one] should escape. It is unlikely that this subjunctive is linked to iJna, but rather serves to introduce an adverbial modifier of the verb egeneto, "to become", final, expressing purpose; "that they should kill the prisoners became the plan of the soldiers in order that no one should escape".

ekkolumbhsaV (kolumbaw) aor. part. "swimming away" - swimming out. The participle is adverbial, instrumental, expressing means; "by swimming away".

At least the centurion has the wit to recognise that if Paul's prophecy is valid, namely that all those on board would be saved along with Paul, then it would be rather stupid to now execute him before the "all" are saved- it's always wise to cover all bases.

boulomenoV (boulomai) pres. inf. "wanted" - [but/and, the centurion] wanting. The NIV treats the participle as attendant circumstance, but it is more likely adverbial, modifying the verb "to forbid", probably causal; "the centurion kept (forbid) them from their purpose because he wanted to save Paul".

diaswsai (diaswzw) aor. inf. "[wanted] to spare [Paul's] life" - to rescue, save [paul]. Complementary infinitive completing the sense of the participle "wanting, willing".

tou boulhmatoV (a atoV) gen. "plan" - [forbid them] of the intent, purpose. The genitive is ablative, expressing separation; the centurion was keeping them away from their purpose. "The centurion, in his desire to save Paul, put a stop to this", Phillips.

touV dunamenouV (dunamai) pres. part. "those who could [swim]" - [and he commanded] the ones being able [to swim]. The participle serves as a substantive, completed by the infinitive kolumban, "to swim".

aporiytantaV (aporiptw) aor. part. "to jump overboard" - having thrown out [first, to go away upon = to the land]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the infinitive exienai, to go away; "to jump overboard first and get to land". The accusative subject of the infinitive is "the ones being able to swim". The infinitive, and its attendant participle, serves to introduce an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what the centurion commanded; "that first, those who can swim should dive overboard and make for land".

Early wooden surfboards had the nickname planks in Australia, here a sanisiV, "plank, board", so it seems the Hawaiians weren't the first to invent surfboards! Anyway, everyone gets safely to shore.

ou}V men ..... ou}V de "...., or ..." - [and the rest to go away to the land] some on the one hand [upon boards] but others on the other hand. Adversative comparative construction, although here more contrastive; "some on planks and some on parts of the ship".

twn gen. art. "-" - [upon certain things] the ones [from the ship]. Taking the adjective tinwn, "certain", as a substantive, "certain things", the article serves as an adjectivizer, turning the prepositional phrase "from the ship" into an attributive modifier of "certain things"; "parts of the ship".

ouJtwV adv. "in this way" - [and] in this manner [it came about]. The adverb is modal, expressing the manner of how "it came about".

diaswqhnai (diaswzw) aor. pas. inf. "safely" - [everyone] to be rescued, saved [upon the land]. The infinitive introduces a nominal phrase serving as the subject of the impersonal verb "it came about", "everyone was brought to safety on land came about in this manner"; "everyone made it to shore safely", Peterson. The accusative subject of the infinitive is "everyone"

Acts Introduction

Exegetical Commentaries

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