Bible Study Acts 27
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Acts 27 · WEB

Shipwreck on the Way to Rome

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When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band.
2Embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
3The next day, we touched at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him permission to go to his friends and refresh himself.
4Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
5When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
6There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and he put us on board.
7When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
8With difficulty sailing along it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
9When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast had now already gone by, Paul admonished them,
10and said to them, "Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."
11But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul.
12Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking northeast and southeast.
13When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to shore.
14But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is called Euroclydon.
15When the ship was caught, and couldn't face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven along.
16Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat.
17After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along.
18As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard.
19On the third day, they threw out the ship's tackle with their own hands.
20When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
21When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the middle of them, and said, "Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and loss.
22Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
23For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve,
24saying, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.'
25Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.
26But we must run aground on a certain island."
27But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land.
28They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.
29Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight.
30As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow,
31Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these stay in the ship, you can't be saved."
32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.
33While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, "This day is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing.
34Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads."
35When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it, and began to eat.
36Then they all cheered up, and they also took food.
37In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship.
38When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
39When it was day, they didn't recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it.
40Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.
41But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.
42The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.
43But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land;
44and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So it happened that they all escaped safely to the land.
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Summary

Paul, with Luke and Aristarchus, is handed to the centurion Julius for the voyage to Rome. Sailing late in the season is dangerous, and Paul warns against pressing on from Fair Havens, but the captain and owner override him. A nor'easter ("Euroclydon") catches the ship and drives them helplessly for two weeks across the Adriatic, cargo dumped, hope abandoned. Paul stands up to encourage them with a vision: he will stand before Caesar, and God has given him every life on board. On the fourteenth night, the sailors try to abandon ship in the lifeboat, but Paul warns the soldiers to keep them aboard for everyone's safety; he then leads the whole 276-person manifest in a meal, breaking bread with thanksgiving to God in front of pagan crew and prisoners. At dawn they ground the ship; the soldiers want to kill the prisoners to prevent escapes, but Julius intervenes for Paul's sake, and every soul reaches land safely — exactly as God had promised.

Themes

  • Faith in God's promise amid the storm
  • Divine sovereignty using ordinary seamanship
  • A Christian as a steady presence in crisis
  • Worshipful gratitude in the worst meal of someone's life
  • God's protection extending to the unbelievers around his servant

Key verses

  • Acts 27:23-24 — “There stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve, saying, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar.'”
  • Acts 27:25 — “Cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.”
  • Acts 27:31 — “Unless these stay in the ship, you can't be saved.”
  • Acts 27:35-36 — “He gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it, and began to eat. Then they all cheered up.”

Context & background

C. AD 59-60. The "Augustan band" (v. 1) was an elite cohort of auxiliary troops. Adramyttium (v. 2) was a port near Troas (Turkey); Sidon (modern Saida, Lebanon) was a Phoenician city. The route — south of Cyprus, hugging Asia Minor's south coast to Myra (modern Demre, Turkey), then transferring to an Alexandrian grain ship bound for Rome — was the standard freight route, since prevailing summer winds made direct passage west impossible. The Day of Atonement ("the Fast," v. 9) fell in late September or early October; sailing on the open Mediterranean was considered dangerous after mid-September and was suspended entirely from mid-November to early March. Fair Havens (still called *Limeniones Kaloi*) and Phoenix were small harbors on Crete's south coast. "Euroclydon" or Euraquilo (v. 14) is a nor'easter gale; "Syrtis" (v. 17) refers to the dangerous sandbanks off North Africa (modern Libya), every Mediterranean sailor's nightmare. The "Adriatic Sea" (v. 27) in ancient usage included the Ionian Sea south to Sicily — not just the modern Adriatic. The 276 souls (v. 37) and the fortnight of drift give the account the unmistakable detail of an eyewitness — Luke was on the ship.

Cross-references

  • 2 Corinthians 11:25 — Paul has already survived three shipwrecks before this one.
  • Jonah 1 — Another Mediterranean storm and a man on a divine mission — the dark mirror of Paul.
  • Matthew 8:23-27 / Mark 4:35-41 — Jesus' authority over wind and sea — the gospel basis of Paul's calm.
  • Psalm 107:23-32 — "Those who go down to the sea in ships... cried to the LORD in their trouble" — the OT pattern.
  • Romans 8:28 — All things work together for good to those who love God — including hurricanes.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    How many people were on the ship when it was driven by the storm (Acts 27:37)?

  2. Observe

    What message did the angel give Paul during the storm, and what did Paul say he believed about it (Acts 27:23-25)?

  3. Interpret

    God promised Paul that every life on board would be spared (Acts 27:24), yet Paul also warned that unless the sailors stayed in the ship, no one could be saved (Acts 27:31). How do divine sovereignty and human responsibility coexist in this passage?

  4. Interpret

    Paul took bread, gave thanks to God before all 276 people, broke it, and began to eat — and everyone cheered up and ate (Acts 27:35-36). Why does Luke emphasize this meal in such a crisis, and what does it communicate to the surrounding pagans?

  5. Apply

    Paul stood up at the ship's lowest moment and told 276 frightened people to "cheer up" because he believed God (Acts 27:22-25). Who in your life right now needs that kind of steady, faith-rooted reassurance?

  6. Apply

    Paul shared God's care for the crew not primarily through preaching but through calm warnings, thanksgiving before meals, and practical wisdom (Acts 27:10, 31, 33-36). What does this suggest about how Christians witness in crisis settings?

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