Acts 27:16 - Exposition

Under the lee of for under, A.V.; small for certain, A.V. ( νήσιον ); called Cauda for which is called Clauda, A.V. and T.R were able, with difficulty, to secure for had much work to come by, A.V. Running under the lee of ; ὑποδραμόντες , only here in the New Testament, but common in classical Greek for "running under" or "between." (For the use of ὑπό in compound in the sense of "under the lee of," see Acts 27:7 .) Cauda , or Caudos, as it is called by Pomp. Mela (2. 7)and Pliny ('Nat. Hist.,' 4. 12. 20) , the modern Gozzo. Ptolemy ( Acts 3:7 ) calls it Claudus. The manuscripts greatly vary. Clauda, or Cauda, was about twenty-three miles south-west of Crete. With difficulty ( μόλις , as in Acts 27:7 , Acts 27:8 ). To secure the boat . The boat was doubtless being towed astern. But in the violence of the storm, there was a danger every moment of her being parted from the ship by the snapping of the hawser, or by being broken by the waves, and it was impossible to take her up. Under the lee of the little island, however, the sea was somewhat quieter; and so after greater efforts they secured the boat, and, as it is said in the next verse, "hoisted it up" on to the deck.