Acts 27:28

And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
sounded	βολίσαντες bolisantes	G1001	to heave the lead · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
found	εὗρον heuron	G2147	to find (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
twenty	εἴκοσι, eikosi	G1501	a score · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
fathoms	ὀργυιὰς orguias	G3712	a stretch of the arms · noun — accusative plural feminine
and	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
gone	διαστήσαντες diastēsantes	G1339	to stand apart · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
further	βραχὺ brachu	G1024	short (of time · adjective — accusative singular neuter
sounded	βολίσαντες bolisantes	G1001	to heave the lead · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
again	πάλιν palin	G3825	(adverbially) anew · adverb
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
found	εὗρον heuron	G2147	to find (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
fifteen	δεκαπέντε· dekapente	G1178	ten and five · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
fathoms	ὀργυιὰς orguias	G3712	a stretch of the arms · noun — accusative plural feminine

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).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:21–end

We have here the issue of the distress of Paul and his fellow-travellers; they escaped with their lives and that was all, and that was for Paul's sake. We are here told (Act 27:37) what number there were on board - mariners, merchants, soldiers, prisoners, and other passengers, in all two hundred and seventy-six souls; this is taken notice of to make us the more concerned for them in reading the story, that they were such a considerable number, whose lives were now in the utmost jeopardy, and one Paul among them worth more than all the rest. We left them in despair, giving up themselves for gone. Whether they called every man on his God, as Jonah's mariners did, we are not told; it is well i…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:27

when the fourteenth night was come--from the time they left Fair Havens. as we were driven--drifting up and down in Adria--the Adriatic, that sea which lies between Greece and Italy. about midnight the shipmen deemed--no doubt from the peculiar sound of the breakers. that they drew near some country--"that some land was approaching them." This nautical language gives a graphic character to the narrative.

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:28

And sounded - Βολισαντες, Heaving the lead. Twenty fathoms - Οργυιας εικοσι, About forty yards in depth. The οργυια is thus defined by the Etymologicon: Σημαινει την εκτασιν των χειρων, συν τῳ πλατει του Ϛηθους· It signifies the extent of the arms, together with the breadth of the breast. This is exactly the quantum of our fathom.

John Gill on Acts 27:28

And sounded,.... Or let down their plummet, or sounding line; which was a line with a piece of lead at the end of it, which they let down into the water, and by that means found what depth it was, by which they could judge whether they were near land or not. The sounding line, with the ancients, was called by different names; sometimes bolis, and this is the name it has here, "they let down the bolis": and the bolis is, by some, described thus; it is a brazen or leaden vessel, with a chain, which mariners fill with grease, and let down into the sea, to try whether the places are rocky where a ship may stand, or sandy where the ship is in danger of being lost: it is also called "catapirates…

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…
Fathom — (Old A.S. faethm, “bosom,” or the outstretched arms), a span of six feet (Acts 27:28). Gr. orguia (from orego, “I stretch”), the distance between the extremities of both arms fully stretched out.
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.
Melita — (Acts 27:28), an island in the Mediterranean, the modern Malta. Here the ship in which Paul was being conveyed a prisoner to Rome was wrecked. The bay in which it was wrecked now bears the name of…
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…
Fathom · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Mariners (Sailors) · Perils of — Perils of
Measures · Of length: Fathom — Of length: Fathom
Navigation · General references — General references
Ships · Soundings usually taken for, in dangerous places — Soundings usually taken for, in dangerous places

Acts 27:28

Word by word — the Greek

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:27

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:28

John Gill on Acts 27:28

Dictionary and topics

Acts 27:28

Word by word — the Greek

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:27

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:28

John Gill on Acts 27:28

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 27:21-32

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 27:27