ACC ~ Acts 27 v13 - 20

OVERVIEW:

After a detailed and nautically exact account of the storm, Luke notes that “all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned,” thereby seemingly including himself. This remark is meant to set the stage for Paul’s words which follow. The banks of Syrtis were notoriously dangerous. Hence Bede attempts to explain how an anchor could prevent a ship from capsizing in a storm at sea. Chrysostom brings us back to the course of the narrative, the role the events play in turning the minds of Paul’s fellow passengers.

27:15 | We Gave Way to It

THE SYRTIS BANKS. BEDE: Another version puts this more clearly, “And the ship was caught when they could not oppose the wind; with the ship at the mercy of the gale, they began to furl the sails. Then we sailed past an island which is called Cauda, which they could not reach; but having lowered the skiff, they began to strengthen the ship, girding her [with ropes]. Also they dragged anchors, being afraid to encounter the Syrtis banks.” From this it is shown that they lowered ropes from the middle of both sides of the ship and around its foremost parts, and to these they attached anchors which were dragged along, just as in our, that is, the British sea, they customarily tie millstone-sized stones behind the stern, so as to hold a ship back. They did these things to restrain the vessel, lest by a misdirected rush of waves she might run aground on the Syrtis banks, which are “terrifying even when they are only heard of, because they seize all things to themselves.” Hence Sallust says that their name was derived from the word for a dragging away. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 27.15.

27:19 | They Cast Out the Tackle

SO THAT PAUL MIGHT OBTAIN A HEARING. CHRYSOSTOM: Fierce was the storm then, and thick the darkness. Even the ship breaks up, so that they should not forget. The grain is thrown overboard along with everything else to prevent them from being able to behave shamelessly after this. For this is why the ship breaks up and their lives are in danger: in no small way did the storm and the darkness contribute to [Paul] getting the hearing that he did. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 53.