Chapter

Acts 27:27

ESV When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.
NIV On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.
NASB But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.
CSB When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and about midnight the sailors thought they were approaching land.
NLT About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near.
KJV But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;

What does Acts 27:27 mean?

Paul and Aristarchus are on a ship headed for Rome. There, they will be charged before Caesar's court. Luke is traveling with them. A centurion and his soldiers have been tasked with bringing them from Caesarea Maritima (Acts 27:1). It has been two weeks since they left the safety of Crete and sailed into a fierce storm (Acts 27:13–15). The good news is that the storm is no longer driving the ship toward the hidden sandbars off the coast of Libya (Acts 27:17). The bad news is that the 276 passengers and crew members haven't eaten in two weeks and still can't see anything (Acts 27:21, 37).

The Adriatic Sea is currently the sea between Italy on the west and Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania on the east. In Paul's time, the Adriatic extended into our Ionian Sea between Italy and Greece down to the center of the Mediterranean. Considering their position and location, they would most likely land on Sicily; this is the island often referred to as "the toe" off Italy's boot-like shape. Instead, they land on the tiny island of Malta, south of Sicily. With no sail, which the sailors lowered (Acts 27:17), modern sailors say the ship would have drifted from Crete west to Malta in fourteen days, as described (Acts 27:33).

"Suspected" possibly means the sailors heard breakers above the wind and waves of the storm.
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