Acts 27:9 - Exposition

And for now, A.V.; the voyage for when sailing, A.V. ; gone by for past, A.V. Much time ( ἱκανοῦ χρόνου διαγενομένου ) . The word ἱκανός is very frequently used by St. Luke, both in the Gospel and the Acts, for "much," "many," or "long," but the exact quantity of time, or words, or people, etc., indicated is of course relative to what might reasonably be expected in each case. Judas of Galilee ( Acts 5:37 ) drew "much" people after him; the Jews at Damascus conspired to kill Saul after "many" days were fulfilled ( Acts 9:23 ); Paul and Barnabas abode "long time" at Iconium ( Acts 14:3 ); Paul talked a "long" while at Tress ( Acts 20:3 ); and they sailed slowly off the coast of Asia "many" days (verse 7); the length, i.e. the "sufficiency" ( ἱκανότης ) must depend in each case upon the standard by which it is measured. Here "much time," measured by the common experience of sailing-vessels waiting for a favorable wind, may mean one or two weeks. It is more natural to apply the phrase to the time of their detention at Fair Havens, than, as Meyer and others do, to the time that elapsed since they sailed from Caesarea. The voyage was now dangerous ( τοῦ πλοός , a late form for the older πλοῦ ). Dangerous; ἐπισφαλοῦς ,, only here in the New Testament, and in Wis. 9:14; also occasionally in classical authors, but very frequently in medical writers. The Fast . The great Jewish fast on the Day of Atonement, in the month Tisri, which fell this year on September 24 (Lewin and Farrar), probably while they were at Fair Havens. The Jews considered navigation unsafe between the Feast of Tabernacles (five days after the Day of Atonement) and the Feast of Pentecost. It became, therefore, a very serious question what they were to do. Fair Havens was an inconvenient anchorage for the winter, and not near any large town. On the other hand, if they passed beyond the shelter of Cape Matala, which lay a few miles to the east, and where the coast of Crete suddenly trends due north, they would be exposed to the violence of the Eterian westerly wind. They called St. Paul into their counsels. Admonished them ; παρήνει , only here and verse 22. In classical Greek used especially of advice given by a speaker in a public speech. In medical writers it expresses the advice given by a physician to his patient.