Acts 27:29

Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Then	τε te	G5037	both or also (properly · conjunction
fearing	φοβούμενοί phoboumenoi	G5399	to frighten · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative plural masculine
lest	μήπως mḗpōs	G3381	lest somehow
fallen	ἐκπέσωμεν, ekpesōmen	G1601	to drop away · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
upon	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered)
rocks	τραχεῖς tracheis	G5138	uneven · adjective — accusative plural masculine
cast	ῥίψαντες rhipsantes	G4496	to fling (properly · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
four	τέσσαρας tessaras	G5064	four · adjective — accusative plural feminine
anchors	ἀγκύρας agkuras	G45	an "anchor" (as crooked) · noun — accusative plural feminine
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
stern	πρύμνης prumnēs	G4403	the stern of a ship · noun — genitive singular feminine
wished	ηὔχοντο ēuchonto	G2172	to wish · verb — imperfect middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
for	γενέσθαι. genesthai	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent infinitive
day	ἡμέραν hēmeran	G2250	day · noun — accusative singular 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).

Cross-references

Acts 27:17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, a…
Hebrews 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Deuteronomy 28:67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wh…
Psalms 130:6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Acts 27:26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.
Acts 27:30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have…
Acts 27:40-41 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to t…

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

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…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:29

they cast four anchors out of the stern--The ordinary way was to cast the anchor, as now, from the bow: but ancient ships, built with both ends alike, were fitted with hawseholes in the stern, so that in case of need they could anchor either way. And when the fear was, as here, that they might fall on the rocks to leeward, and the intention was to run the ship ashore as soon as daylight enabled them to fix upon a safe spot, the very best thing they could do was to anchor by the stern [SMITH]. In stormy weather two anchors were used, and we have instances of four being employed, as here. and wished--"anxiously" or "devoutly wished." for day--the remark this of one present, and with all hi…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:29

Cast four anchors out of the stern - By this time the storm must have been considerably abated; though the agitation of the sea could not have subsided much. The anchors were cast out of the stern to prevent the vessel from drifting ashore, as they found that, the farther they stood in, the shallower the water grew; therefore they dropped the anchor astern, as even one ship's length might be of much consequence.

John Gill on Acts 27:29

Dictionary and topics

Anchor — From Acts 27:29, 30, 40, it would appear that the Roman vessels carried several anchors, which were attached to the stern as well as to the prow. The Roman anchor, like the modern one, had two teeth…
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.
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…
Anchor · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Mariners (Sailors) · Perils of — Perils of
Ship · An anchor — An anchor
Ships · Parts of mentioned: The hinder part or stern — Parts of mentioned: The hinder part or stern

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 27:29

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:29

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:29

John Gill on Acts 27:29

Dictionary and topics

Acts 27:29

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 27:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 27:29

Adam Clarke on Acts 27:29

John Gill on Acts 27:29

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 27:21-32

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 27:27