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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 27:43

Willing to save Paul, etc. - Had one fallen, for the reasons those cruel and dastardly soldiers gave, so must all the rest. The centurion saw that Paul was not only an innocent, but an extraordinary and divine man; and therefore, for his sake, he prevented the massacre; and, unloosing every man's bonds, he commanded those that could to swim ashore and escape. It is likely that all the soldiers escaped in this way, for it was one part of the Roman military discipline to teach the soldiers to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 27:44

And the rest - That could not swim: some on boards, planks, spars, etc., got safe to land; manifestly by an especial providence of God; for how otherwise could the sick, the aged, the terrified, besides women and children, (of which, we may naturally suppose, there were some), though on planks, get safe to shore? - where still the waves were violent, Acts 27:41 , and they without either skill or power to steer their unsafe flotillas to the land? It was (in this case, most evidently) God... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 27:41

Verse 41− 41.They thrust in the ship. And then it might seem that both God had mocked Paul, and that he, with trifling, had brought his partners in a vain hope; − (651) but God did forthwith put away that error by giving them prosperous success. It was meet that when the ship was broken, they should be so discouraged, and that their souls should so melt, that despair might increase the glory of the miracle. For God useth to moderate and govern his works so, that he maketh some show of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 27:42

Verse 42− 42.The counsel of the soldiers. This was too horrible unthankfulness. Though the soldiers might thank Paul twice or thrice for their lives, yet are they minded to kill him, for whose sake they ought to have spared the rest. He had saved them even as an angel of God; he had given them wholesome counsel; he had refreshed them in the same day when they were past hope; and now they stick not to seek to destroy him, by whom they were so often and so many ways delivered. Wherefore, if it... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 27:1-44

The voyage of life. The journey which is described in this twenty-seventh chapter may suggest to us some of the main features of the long voyage of our life. I. THE VARIETY IS OUR COMPANIONSHIPS . As each passenger on board found himself inseparably associated with a strange admixture of fellow-travelers, so we find ourselves compelled to mingle, more or less closely, with various companions as we and they journey together over the waters of life. There are II. THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 27:1-44

The voyage to Italy: an allegory of the Christian's course. Bunyan wrote an immortal allegory of the Christian course as a journey by land. It may be rewritten as a sea-voyage. I. THE CHRISTIAN SETS OUT IN STRANGE COMPANY ', AND WITH OFTEN UNCONGENIAL SURROUNDINGS . Romans, Macedonians, prisoners, Alexandrians, are Paul's fellow-voyagers (verses 1, 2, 4-8). No seclusion, no picked society nor refined retirement, can be or ought to be the usual lot of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 27:18-44

The escape from shipwreck. The particular feature in this part of the narrative of the shipwreck to which attention is now invited is the sacrifices by which the final escape was effected. The eighteenth verse finds the whole party on board the ship in an encounter with a furious tempest. We can easily picture to ourselves the sea running high, the vessel crouching as it were before the wind, the waves breaking over the side of the ship, and the water beginning to fill her. At this moment... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 27:40

Casting off for when they had taken up, A.V.; they left them in the sea for they committed themselves unto the sea, A.V.; at the same time loosing the bands of the rudders for and loosed the rudder bands, A.V.; hoisting for hoised, A.V.; foresail for mainsail, A.V. ; for the beach for toward shore, A.V. This verse, so obscure before, has been made intelligible by the masterly labors of Smith, of Jordan Hill. We will first explain the separate words. Casting off ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 27:41

But lighting upon for and falling taro, A.V.; vessel for ship, A.V.; fore-ship for forepart, A.V.; struck for stuck fast, A.V.; stern for hinder part, A.V.; began to break up for was broken with, A.V. Where two seas met ; τόπον διθάλασσον , only here, and in Dion Chrysostomus. The explanation of this "place where two seas met" is as follows:—As the ship stood at anchor in the bay on the north-east side of the island, it would have the Koura Point ( Ras el-Kaura ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 27:41

The shipwreck of the soul. We are familiar with scenes of shipwreck; the stories read in childhood and the stern facts of later years bring them vividly before our minds. We see the gallant vessel, wall rigged and fitted from stem to stem, sailing forth on her mission of transport or merchandise, moving along under favor-able breezes, seeming likely to make the port where she is due; we see her overtaken by the storm, admitting the water which gains hour by hour upon her, sinking lower and... read more

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