Acts 27:39-41

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 27:39 tn Or “observed,” “saw.”
2. Acts 27:39 tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).
3. Acts 27:39 sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.
4. Acts 27:40 tn That is, released. Grk “slipping…leaving.” The participles περιελόντες (perielontes) and εἴων (eiōn) have been translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.
5. Acts 27:40 tn The term is used of a ship’s anchor. (BDAG 12 s.v. ἄγκυρα a).
6. Acts 27:40 tn Grk “bands”; possibly “ropes.”
7. Acts 27:40 tn Or “rudders.”
8. Acts 27:40 tn Grk “hoisting…they.” The participle ἐπάραντες (eparantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
9. Acts 27:40 tn Grk “sail”; probably a reference to the foresail.
10. Acts 27:40 tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατέχω 7 states, “hold course, nautical t.t., intr….κατεῖχον εἰς τὸν αἰγιαλόν they headed for the beach Ac 27:40.”
11. Acts 27:41 tn Grk “fell upon a place of two seas.” The most common explanation for this term is that it refers to a reef or sandbar with the sea on both sides, as noted in BDAG 245 s.v. διθάλασσος: the “τόπος δ. Ac 27:41 is a semantic unit signifying a point (of land jutting out with water on both sides).” However, Greek had terms for a “sandbank” (θῖς [this], ταινία [tainia]), a “reef” (ἑρμα [herma]), “strait” (στενόν [stenon]), “promontory” (ἀρωτήρον [arōtēron]), and other nautical hazards, none of which are used by the author here. NEB here translates τόπον διθάλασσον (topon dithalasson) as “cross-currents,” a proposal close to that advanced by J. M. Gilchrist, “The Historicity of Paul’s Shipwreck,” JSNT 61 (1996): 29-51, who suggests the meaning is “a patch of cross-seas,” where the waves are set at an angle to the wind, a particular hazard for sailors. Thus the term most likely refers to some sort of adverse sea conditions rather than a topographical feature like a reef or sandbar.
12. Acts 27:41 tn Or “violence” (BDAG 175 s.v. βία a).