The Bible Says
Acts 27:13-20 Meaning

In Acts 27:13-20, a powerful storm carries Paul’s ship into the open sea. The sailors do what they can to strengthen the ship and lighten the load to survive the weather, though after many days of darkness, most begin to fear their death is near.

While anchored in Fair Havens, Crete, Paul advised the centurion and the ship’s leaders to stay where they were, to not venture any more sailing as the winter season approached and the sea winds were impassably strong and hostile to their course. But the leadership of the voyage wished to spend the winter in Phoenix, which was a better Cretan harbor further west up the coast. They decided to risk it and make for Phoenix.

The pilot and the captain of the ship think that luck is on their side:

When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, close inshore (v. 13).

After waiting in the remote harbor of Fair Havens for an undisclosed amount of time, a moderate south wind came up. This moderate south wind was what the crew needed to make it from Fair Havens to Phoenix. It was moderate, not violent or destructive, and it came from the south, so it would not blow the ship away from the safety of the Cretan coast.

So, supposing that they had attained their purpose, the crew starts out again. Luke, the author of Acts, uses the word supposing to show the uncertainty of the situation. The crew believes that the weather has turned in their favor, and that they have attained or reached their purpose or goal. They take the opportunity and weighed anchor, meaning they raised the anchor out of the water to mobilize the ship again.

They left Fair Havens and began sailing along Crete, close inshore. Their short-term goal is to reach the Cretan city of Phoenix and harbor there for the winter, so they keep close to land. It is only about thirty miles from Fair Havens to Phoenix, so the wind does not have to remain favorable for long for them to reach their intended destination.

But their luck changes. It is a dangerous time of year to sail in the Mediterranean, sometime just past the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, “the day of Atonement,” which occurs in late September or early October, depending on the lunar-based calendar by which the Jews keep time. The moderate south wind which was carrying them along the shore of Crete gives way to a much stronger wind coming from another direction:

But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo (v. 14).

Luke notes that their progress along the Cretan coast driven by the southern wind did not last long. He describes that before very long there rushed down from the land, from the island of Crete, a violent wind. The land did nothing to shelter the ship this time, such was the power of the violent wind that rushed down upon them. Luke writes that this particular wind was called Euraquilo, which might be a certain name by which the sailors of the ship called this wind, being familiar with the weather patterns of the region and time of year.

Euraquilo seems to be a combination of Greek and Latin, “euroklydōn,” “euros” meaning “east wind” in Greek and “aquilo,” Latin for “north wind.” Alternatively, it may have meant “euros” “east wind” and “klydōn,” which is Greek for a surging or billowing wave. Either way, the meaning is clear that a storm came from the east and hit Paul’s ship. There was no hope of them keeping close to Crete now. They would go the way the wind blew:

and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along (v. 15).

Luke explains that the ship was caught in this violent wind. There was no chance for it to face the wind.  When this happened, Luke writes that we gave way to it. The ship yielded to the wind, not being able to withstand it. The crew could do nothing, so they let the ship be driven along. To defy the violent wind and try to sail against it would run the risk of damage or even capsizing the ship, never mind that it would be pointless. So they let the ship be driven along, in hopes of finding another island to hide behind and make anchor with shelter from the wind:

Running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control (v. 16).

Clauda (known as Gavdos in modern times), is indeed a small island, only 12.5 square miles. It lies about 25 miles south of Crete, where the ship was blown. The crew struggled to guide the ship; obviously they could not go against the wind, but they were able to turn somewhat westward so that they were Running under the shelter of Clauda, trying to use its landmass as a windbreak, as had been the sailing strategy of this ship and Paul’s first ship from Caesarea during this late, stormy season, tracing along coastlines as much as possible and crossing the open sea only when necessary.

While they were sailing under the shelter of Clauda, which provided only a little bit of relief, the crew was scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. The ship’s boat refers to the smaller rowboat or skiff carried by the larger vessel to be used primarily for landing parties. The storm was wrenching the boat so much that it threatened to dislodge it entirely and throw it out to sea. But the crew, with great difficulty, was scarcely or barely able to keep the landing boat attached.

They continue to make alterations to the ship to best prevent total disaster:

After they had hoisted the smaller boat up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along (v. 17).

The crew did what is also known as frapping, where they used supporting cables (probably ropes) to reinforce the ship’s hull, undergirding it to essentially tie it together, preventing it from tearing apart. It was a way to reinforce the main body of the ship. Having reached Clauda, they began worrying about being driven further south into the shallows of Syrtis, a gulf off the coast of north Africa where there are many sandbars and shallow water.

The sailors were rightfully fearing that they might run aground if they were blown into this treacherous part of the sea, where the ship would be stuck and destroyed in the storm or they would be marooned without hope of freeing themselves. Their thought was to let down the sea (or gear) anchor so that it might drag along the seabed and slow their progress until the storm stopped. It was in this way that the crew let themselves be driven along. This was the most the crew could do, to mitigate how far the storm would throw them off course, and to prevent going so far as to run aground in a remote sea where all hope would be lost.

The storm is ongoing:

The next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the cargo (v. 18).

The ship is still being violently storm-tossed on the next day, the day after it was blown away from Crete. Luke describes the ship as being tossed about on the sea, thrown around wherever the wind blew. At this point the crew decided to lighten the ship’s load: they began to jettison the cargo, meaning they threw the goods they were transporting overboard. In verse 38, Luke will mention “wheat” being thrown overboard, so it is probable that this was a grain ship. The fact that it came from Alexandria also indicates that it was a grain ship, since one of Alexandria’s main exports to Rome was grain. They clearly did not jettison the full load of cargo, since they would jettison more of their freight in the coming weeks. At this point the ship’s captain still hoped to reach Rome with some of his cargo.

The following day, they jettison other materials aboard:

and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands (v. 19).

Luke marks the third day since the Euraquilo storm knocked the ship off course. Rather than lose more cargo, the crew threw the ship’s tackle overboard. The tackle of a merchant ship refers probably to its rigging equipment, meant for loading and unloading cargo containers. At this point, the tackle was the least important machinery to hold onto. Losing it would not affect the ship’s ability to sail or be steered; it only affected the crew’s ability to eventually offload cargo in the harbor, which they might never reach if they do not keep lightening the load to gain mastery of the ship.

Luke notes that they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands, perhaps indicating that the aforementioned captain and pilot also helped in this endeavor. The situation was incredibly desperate. It appears everyone was doing what they could to help in their collective survival.

But these measures did little to help. The storm did not let up:

Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned (v. 20).

The storm was so significant and unrelenting that it continued for many days. Luke no longer enumerates the day, having counted up to three. He now generalizes their imprisonment in this overwhelming weather as going on for many days.

Eventually he will note that they were in this storm for two weeks (Acts 27:27). During this time, neither sun nor stars appeared. Those aboard the ship would have had a difficult time telling when it was day or when it was night. This would of course have a devastatingly negative emotional impact on the crew and passengers, but even worse, it made it impossible for them to navigate.

Sailors in the ancient world were able to cross seas and oceans by using the position of the sun during the day and the stars at night to guide their going. But in a storm that lasted for weeks, they had no idea where they were. They could only move where the storm wanted them to move. And it was no small storm assailing us, Luke remarks, which is to say it was an enormous storm. It was so great in size and inescapable that the day and the night no longer existed in any meaningful or perceivable way for the men on that ship. It was no small storm also by the fact that it did not cease. It kept going on and on for many days.

It is not surprising, then, that Luke admits that from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned. They felt trapped by this force of nature that seemed without end. Their hope faded gradually, meaning it did not disappear all at once, but little by little each day. No matter what they did, whether undergirding the ship with ropes, letting down the anchor, jettisoning cargo and equipment, none of it would stop the storm or make the sun or stars return. They were trapped in this storm and were going wherever it sent them.

But, in the next section, Paul will bring hope to those willing to believe him. God will send a message declaring they will survive the storm.