Acts 27:13

And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
wind	νότου notou	G3558	the south(-west) wind · noun — genitive singular masculine
softly	Ὑποπνεύσαντος Hupopneusantos	G5285	to breathe gently · verb — aorist active participle, genitive singular masculine
that	δόξαντες doxantes	G1380	compare the base of G1166 (δεικνύω)) of the same meaning · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
obtained	κεκρατηκέναι, kekratēkenai	G2902	to use strength · verb — perfect active infinitive
purpose	προθέσεως protheseōs	G4286	a setting forth · noun — genitive singular feminine
loosing	ἄραντες arantes	G142	to lift up · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
sailed	παρελέγοντο parelegonto	G3881	(specially) · verb — imperfect middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
close	ἆσσον asson	G788	more nearly · adverb — comparative
Crete	Κρήτην. Krētēn	G2914	Crete · noun — accusative singular feminine, a place

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Job 37:17 How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?
Psalms 78:26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.
Song of Solomon 4:16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, a…
Luke 12:55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:12-20

In these verses we have, I. The ship putting to sea again, and pursuing her voyage at first with a promising gale. Observe, 1. What induced them to leave the fair havens: it was because they thought the harbour not commodious to winter in; it was pleasant enough in summer but in the winter they lay bleak. Or perhaps it was upon some other account incommodious; provisions perhaps were scarce and dear there; and they ran upon a mischief to avoid an inconvenience, as we often do. Some of the ship's crew, or of the council that was called to advise in this matter, were for staying there, rather than venturing to sea now that the weather was so uncertain: it is better to be safe in an incommodiou…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:13

when the south wind blew softly, supposing they had attained their purpose--With such a wind they had every prospect of reaching their destination in a few hours.

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:13

When the south wind blew softly - Though this wind was not very favorable, yet, because it blew softly, they supposed they might be able to make their passage. They sailed close by Crete - Kept as near the coast as they could. See the track on the map.

John Gill on Acts 27:13

And when the south wind blew softly,.... Or moderately, which was a good wind for them: supposing that they, had obtained their purpose; that things would succeed according to their wish, and favour their design: loosing thence; from the Fair Havens; the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions render it, "loosing from Assos"; which could not be Assos of Troas, mentioned in Acts 20:13 which was many miles from hence; rather Asum, a town in Crete, of which Pliny (r) makes mention, though, according to him, it seems to be an inland town; wherefore it is best to take the word to be an adverb, and render it "thence", as we do; or join it with the next word, and render it, they came near, or they…

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The Church Fathers

Mark then the providential ordering of the events: first indeed, "when the south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained their purpose," they loosed the vessel, and came forth; then when the wind bore down upon them, they gave way to it driving them, and were with difficulty saved.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 53

"And the south wind gently blowing, thinking that they had obtained their purpose." When they had left the harbor of Finicena, thinking that they could reach their destination with a harbor, suddenly the wind called Euroaquilo began to blow very violently against them. Then the ship, with folded sails, began to be swept along through the waters, so that, when passing the island of Cauda, they were losing the boat and, undergirding the ship with ropes, they tried to save it. But, as the winds intensified, they were in such great danger that they could see neither sun nor stars for many days. Then Paul, telling of a promise from the Lord that he had heard in his sleep, gave courage to the others, saying that, except for the ship itself, God had given him all the people who were voyaging with him. On the fourteenth day, as, with the storm still raging, the seamen had decided to flee, Paul said that everyone could not be saved unless the seamen remained in the ship. Then the soldiers, cutting off the ropes, deemed it preferable to give up the boat.
— Cassiodorus, Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Crete — Now called Candia, one of the largest islands in the Meditterranean, about 140 miles long and 35 broad. It was at one time a very prosperous and populous island, having a “hundred cities.” The…
Haven — A harbour (Ps. 107:30; Acts 27: 12). The most famous on the coast of Palestine was that of Tyre (Ezek. 27:3). That of Crete, called “Fair Havens,” is mentioned Acts 27:8.
Puteoli — A city on the coast of Campania, on the north shore of a bay running north from the Bay of Naples, at which Paul landed on his way to Rome, from which it was distant 170 miles. Here he tarried for…
Ship — No one writer in the whole range of Greek and Roman literature has supplied us with so much information concerning the merchant-ships of the ancients as St. Luke in the narrative of St. Paul’s voyage…
Ships — Early used in foreign commerce by the Phoenicians (Gen. 49:13). Moses (Deut. 28:68) and Job (9:26) make reference to them, and Balaam speaks of the “ships of Chittim” (Num. 24:24). Solomon…
Crete · Visited by Paul — Visited by Paul
Phenice · A harbor of Crete — A harbor of Crete

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Acts 27:13

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:12-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:13

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:13

John Gill on Acts 27:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 27:13

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:12-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:13

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:13

John Gill on Acts 27:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 27:9-20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 27:12