[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts XXVII : 1-8
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[2] Going on board a ship of Adrumetum, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia, Aristarchus, the Macedonian of Thessalonica, continuing with us.
[3] And the day following we came to Sidon. And Julius treating Paul courteously, permitted him to go to his friends, and to take care of himself.
[4] And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. [5] And sailing over the sea of Cilicia, and Pamphylia, we came to Lystra, which is in Lycia:
[6] And there the centurion finding a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy, removed us into it.
[7] And when for many days we had sailed slowly, and were scarce come over against Gnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed near Crete by Salmone:
[8] And with much ado sailing by it, we came into a certain place, which is called Good-havens, nigh to which was the city of Thalassa.
[1] Ut autem judicatum est navigare eum in Italiam, et tradi Paulum cum reliquis custodiis centurioni nomine Julio cohortis Augustae, [2] ascendentes navem Adrumetinam, incipientes navigare circa Asiae loca, sustulimus, perseverante nobiscum Aristarcho Macedone Thessalonicensi. [3] Sequenti autem die devenimus Sidonem. Humane autem tractans Julius Paulum, permisit ad amicos ire, et curam sui agere. [4] Et inde cum sustulissemus, subnavigavimus Cyprum, propterea quod essent venti contrarii. [5] Et pelagus Ciliciae et Pamphyliae navigantes, venimus Lystram, quae est Lyciae : [6] et ibi inveniens centurio navem Alexandrinam navigantem in Italiam, transposuit nos in eam. [7] Et cum multis diebus tarde navigaremus, et vix devenissemus contra Gnidum, prohibente nos vento, adnavigavimus Cretae juxta Salmonem : [8] et vix juxta navigantes, venimus in locum quemdam qui vocatur Boniportus, cui juxta erat civitas Thalassa.
Notes
Note. — The student will find much useful information and interesting details on St rauFs journey to Rome in the folbrwing standard works ; —
James Smith’s Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul.Conybeare and Howson’s Life and Epistles of St Paul, vol. ii. ch. 23.Lewin’s Life and Epistles of St Paul, vol. ii. ch. 5.
From the valuable works of these eminent authorities, many of these annotations on the last two chapters of the Acts are taken.
1. when it was determined, etc. The Bezan text reads, “ So then the governor determined that he should he sent to Cesar. On the morrow, he summoned a certain centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius, and delivered to him Paul, with the rest of the prisoners.”
that he. The Greek codices give ‘‘ that we.” other prisoners. State prisoners were often sent to Rome.
Thus Josephus records that “ At the time when Felix was procurator of Judea, there were certain priests of my acquaintance, and very excellent persons they were, whom, on a small and trifling occasion, he had put into bonds and sent to Rome to plead their cause before Cesar (Vita, iii. p. 2). It was also customary to send criminals to Rome in order to provide victims for the arena during the public games.
should he delivered. The Greek reads“they delivered” (παρεδίδουν), which may refer to the guards to whom he had been entrusted, or it may be used indefinitely.
a centurion, named Julius. Tacitus mentions a certain Julius Priscus (Hist, ii. 92), one of the prefects of the prætorian cohorts under Vitellius, and some commentators have identified this man with the centurion Julius, but we have no certain knowledge of this soldier beyond what St Luke gives us.
the band Augusta. This might be rendered “the cohort Augusta.” The adjective “Augusta” is equivalent to our word “imperial,” and conveys no definite information concerning the cohort in question. It may have been one of the five cohorts stationed in Cesarea, or a detachment of the imperial troops. St Luke does not say that the band was stationed in Cesarea, but simply that Julius was a member of it.
2. Going on board. As the fast day was past when the ship reached Crete, it is probable that St Paul began his voyage about the middle of August.
a ship of Adrumetum. This was a merchantman on her homeward journey, a coasting vessel carrying both cargo and passengers. Adrumetum was a seaport of Mysia, in Asia Minor, facing Lesbos.
meaning to sail by. Lit. “ being about to sail by.” Codices א, A, and B, and a few cursives and versions give “a ship .... which was about to sail” (μέλλοντι). Other MSS., however, have the nominative plural, and this can only refer to the travellers — “ we ... . being about to sail.”
The captain of the vessel intended to touch at places along the coast. At one of these ports, the centurion hoped to find a vessel bound for Italy. There was no regular service of passenger vessels laying between the seaports of the Mediterranean and Italy, so that travellers had to profit by the merchantmen, of which there was a good number in the seasons most favourable for navigation.
Aristarchus. See Annot. on ch. xix. 29. Aristarchus is also mentioned in ch. xx. 4 ; Col. iv. 10 ; Philem. 24.
3. the day following. This shews that they had a good passage.
Doubling the headland of Carmel and crossing the Bay of Ptolemais had their perils for ancient navigators.
Sidon. A seaport of Phœnicia, about sixty-seven miles from Cesarea.
Julius treating Paul courteously. So far, St Paul always appears to have conciliated the Roman governors who came in touch with him and to have been esteemed by them (see ch. xviii. 14, xix. 31, 37). Julius may have been won over by St Paul’s defence before Festus and Agrippa.
his friends. The church in Sidon was founded when the disciples, on account of the persecution set on foot by Saul, went as far as Phenice (ch. xi. 19), and there preached the Gospel.
Saul the persecutor, having been transformed into Paul the apostle, visited these brethren when on his road to Jerusalem to consult the ancients on the question of the circumcision of the Gentiles. On this occasion (circa A.D. 62) his visit caused great joy to all the brethren (ch. xv. 3). Now, after a lapse of seven or eight years, St Paul, the prisoner of Christ, again passes through Sidon, a town of Phenice, and the brethren have the privilege of ministering to his necessities.
to take care of himself. Lit. “ to receive attention.” While the vessel remained at Sidon, St Paul had the opportunity of conversing with the brethren, and we may be sure that he profited by the occasion to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries, and that there was a solemn farewell gathering, as at Miletus. What had then been prophesied was now realised.
4. under Cyprus, — i.e. under the lee or sheltered side of Cyprus. On this journey the vessel sailed north of Cyprus, between the island and the mainland, and thus it was protected from the Etesian winds which blew from the north-west. Had the wind favoured them, they would have sailed direct to Patara, leaving Cyprus on the right hand.
It is clear that they left Cyprus on their left hand, since they “ sailed through the sea of Cilicia .... as this sea lies altogether to the north of Cyprus, they could not have sailed through it without leaving the island on their left. In pursuing this route they acted precisely as the most accomplished seaman in the present day would have done under similar circumstances, by standing to the north till they reached the coast of Cilicia, they might expect when they did so to he favoured by the land breeze which prevails there during the summer months, as well as by the current which constantly runs to the westward along the south coast of Asia Minor” (Smith, pp, 27-28).
Note. — “The weather side of a ship is that exposed to the wind, and the shore on that side is the weather shore, and is therefore the shore which is sheltered from the wind by the land. The lee side of the ship is that away from the wind, and the shore on that side is the lee shore, and is therefore the shore exposed to the wind. Thus ‘weather shore’ and ‘lee shore’ have reference to the ship. To sail ‘under the lee’ of a place has reference to the land, and means to sail under shelter of the land” (Lewin, vol. ii. p. 191).
the winds were contrary. “The westerly winds invariably prevailed at this season.”
“ De Pagés, a French navigator, who made a voyage from Syria to Marseilles took the same course, and has given the reasons why he did so. He informs us that after making Cyprus, 'The winds from the west, and consequently contrary, which prevail in these places during the summer, forced us to turn to the north. We made for the coast of Caramania (Cilicia) in order to meet the northerly winds, and which we found accordingly. I remark here, that I constantly hail westerly winds from Surat, and that these winds blow generally during the summer from the line as far as Candia (Crete). 1 say generally, because we must except the time of the land breezes.' ” (Quoted by Smith, 28-2(1.)
5. Lystra. This is evidently an error of transcription, as Lystra is about sixty miles inland, in Lycaonia Galatica. The codices and versions nearly all give Myra — a seaport of Lycia. The town of Myra was two and a half miles inland, hence the vessel touched only at the port of Andriaci, where there was a good harbour. “ The broad channel of the river below the city had been formedl into a port, and the entrance to it in case of danger was protected by a heavy chain, drawn when necessary across the stream ” (Lewin, p. 186.
“Thus we follow the apostle once more across the sea over which he had first sailed with Barnabas from Antioch to Salamis, — and within sight of the summits of Taurus, which rise above his native city, — and close by Perga, and Attalia,— till he came to a Lycian harbour not far from Patara, the last point at which he had touched on his return from the third missionary journey ” (Conybeare and Bowson, vol. ii.).
6. a ship of Alexandria. It was probaby a corn, vessel, as Rome depended on Egypt for its supplies of wheat. This vessel had been driven out of her course by unfavourable winds. As there was accommodation for two hundred and seventy-six passengers and the ship was laden with cargo, it must have been a merchantman of at least five hundred tons burden.
The Alexandrian traders generally sailed between Crete and the Peloponnesus, in order to avoid the dangerous quicksands of the Syrtis Major off the coast of Libya in Africa.
7. when for many days we had, sailed slowly. The Etesian gales lasted about forty days — from the 20th of July until the 28th of August. Hence the “many days” may have covered an interval of two or three weeks. The distance between Myra and Gnidus was about one hundred and thirty geographical miles. The strong head winds forced the ship to hug the coast, which between Myra and Gnidus trends to the north, and she was therefore more exposed to the Etesian gales. With a favourable wind, they could have sailed this distance in twenty-four hours.
scarce. Better, “with difficulty’’ (μόλις).
the wind, not suffering us. Having reached nearly as far as Gnidus, on the coast of Caria, they were caught by the north wind, and being no longer sheltered by the land, they sailed in a southerly direction, round Cape Salmone, and proceeded along the south coast until they reached Good-havens.
Crete. An island one hundred and forty miles in length, which closes in the Grecian Archipelago on the south.
Salmone. The north-easterly extremity of Crete.
8. Good-havens. The plural number is evidently used because the port had two open roadsteads, one of which lay east, of the other. This port still hears the same name. It is situated on the southern coast of Crete, about five miles east of Cape Matala.
Thalassa. This city, the site of which has only recently (1856) been identified, lies about five miles east of Good-havens. The name is variously written Lasaia, Lassa, Alatta.
“ Pliny mentions a city in Crete named Lasos, hut does not, describe its position. The remains of buildings, columns, the walls and foundations of temples, have been found about two hours’ walk from the Fair Havens, under Cape Leonda, and are locally knowm as Lasea,” (Rev. G. Brown, quoted by Smith, App. 3).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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