Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 27:20

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on [us,] all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

20. in many days appeared ] [ R. V. shone upon us for many days]. This does not imply a continuous darkness like night, but that the mist and spray made the whole sky obscure both by day and night. In such a state of things we can understand how hopeless seemed the case of the Apostle and his fellows. They were at the mercy of the storm, and could neither know the direction in which they were carried, nor see if they were nearing any danger.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Neither sun nor stars … – As they could see neither san nor stars, they could make no observations; and as they had no compass, they would be totally ignorant of their situation, and they gave up all as lost.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Act 27:20-26

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared.

Spiritual darkness

I. There are many ways in which we may account for this state of mind.

1. It may be due in part to nervous and physical exhaustion. To the speed of modern life we do not add an increased proportion of rest. And to all our haste, telling on the finely adjusted nature with which God has endowed us, there comes inevitable reaction. The liver, or digestion, or nervous system, suddenly collapses under the exacting strain, and refuses to perform, or performs sluggishly, the behests of the will. It is at that time that one is apt to lose the vision of the unseen. Elijah, overtired, asks to die.

2. It may be due to mistakes in the previous education of the soul. Suppose we have received our religion simply upon hearsay or on tradition from our fathers, without much of that inner experience which authenticates it to the soul; or suppose we have mistaken creeds, formularies and acts as constituting religion, thinking when these are assailed or shown to be valueless, that we have lost the essence of religion; or suppose we have suddenly come into collision with the ruthless spirit of criticism, which, in the professed interest of truth, tears asunder the most delicate flowers to learn the secret of their manufacture, and refuses that we should enjoy a flower unless we can tell exactly how it came to be. In any of these cases the soul arrested in the enjoyment of unquestioning faith, and unable in the tumult to discriminate between the transitory and the eternal, the form and the substance, cries out as if it were bereaved of everything, when in point of fact it is only shedding the cerements of the grave as it passes into the fuller life, and leaving its baby clothes for those of youth and developing growth.

3. It may be due to moral declension. Only as the eye is single is the body full of light. Only the pure in heart can see God, Only those who do His will know. It is not always so, of course; but more often than not it is they who yield to the spell of Circe and are turned to swine, that lose the power of recognising the true Man, and appreciating those subtle influences from the unseen and spiritual world, which proves its existence no less certainly than did the spice-laden breath of the land, bearing in its current the land birds, prove to Columbus that the continent of his dreams was about to break on the vision of himself and his discontented sailors.

4. It may be due to the direct temptation of evil spirits. Often Satan, unable to secure his object by solicitations addressed to the senses, directs his attack on some of the nobler attributes. Sometimes he arouses the senses to hold the spirit in thrall, as some slave girl, with castanet and dance, may subjugate a Caesar to her will. At other times he suggests through days and months together, that there is no need for the spirit to maintain its upright attitude, because there is no eye watching it, no hand waiting to reward it. There is no God. Why, then, be so careful? Eat and drink, tomorrow you will die and end as a brute.

5. Sometimes it is due to the necessity for that preparation of the soul to help others, which can only be acquired through the discipline of trial. So often God has to wean us from our sensible enjoyment of Him, that we may learn to live by faith. God permits thee to go this desolate path in order to explore it and become a Greatheart, beneath whose guidance Mr. Fearing, Miss Much-afraid, and Mr. Despondency will come safely to the celestial city.

II. What should we do under these circumstances?

1. Be of good courage. Do not begin to say either that there is no such thing as truth, or that you will never behold it again. Do not get into a panic. If you walk in darkness and have no light, stay yourself on God; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait: be strong, fear not.

2. Go on obeying the better impulses of your soul. Go on doing what is right, because it is right. Be pure and sweet, gentle and true, unselfish and forgiving, keep your hand upon the thread of conscience, it traverses the darkest mines, and leads out into the perfect day.

3. Keep your difficulties to yourself. There is nothing gained by talking of them; and you have no right to sow the seeds of your own difficulties in the hearts of others.

4. Put away all known evil. There is a mote or a beam in your eye that must come out, ere you can see clearly. Be cleansed in the blood of Jesus, and delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit.

5. Put your will on Gods side. Keep your face towards the east. Struggle through the slough to that further side which is next the celestial city. Remember how Thomas, though he seemed fast closed against faith, mingled with the rest in their gatherings in the upper room, as if he could not abandon the precious hope of seeing the risen Lord. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

Ancient navigation

A compass was, of course, not included in the outfit of an ancient Oriental ship; and, in that respect, modern Oriental navigation resembles the ancient. Except in cases, increasingly more frequent, where the principles of Western European navigation have been adopted, the Oriental coasting vessels carry no compass; but the sailors are dependent upon sun and stars, and upon their knowledge of the characteristic features of the coast, to guide them in their voyage. The typical Oriental captain is a man skilled in weather signs, familiar with the limited range of coast along which he plies, and somewhat too ready to run his craft into a safe inlet at the approach of a storm. The captains of the grain ships plying between Egypt and Rome were men of more capability; but even they had hardly any resources when they were out of sight of land, and sun and stars were long hidden. (S. S. Times.)

All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.—

Wrecked, but not reckless

I. Sometimes I have been glad to hear that cry. Multitudes of persons are sailing in what they think to be the good ship of self-righteousness: they are expecting that they shall get to heaven in her. But she never did carry a soul safely into the haven, and she never will. Now, this vessel manages to keep on her way against all the good advice of Scripture. I am glad, therefore, when some terrific tempest overtakes this vessel; and when mens hopes through their own doings and their own feelings are utterly wrecked. It must end in destruction, and it is therefore a thousand mercies when they find it out soon enough to get another and a better hope of being saved rather than this. Yet it is really wonderful how self-righteous persons will do their best to preserve their self-righteousness as long as they can. Like these mariners–

1. They have got a boat behind the vessel. There are some who have not only good worlds enough, but a few to spare. They have hauled this in very soon under stress of weather, and got the boat on deck for fear of losing it altogether. If we cannot be saved by good works, they say, we will get under the lee of some church and get ceremonies to help us out. And when the hurricane has blown them out to sea, and they have found that there is no defence for a soul in ordinances; that only the precious blood can cleanse away sin, and even that must be applied through the Holy Ghost by faith to give the conscience peace–alas! poor souls, their hope of being saved has become more slender than before.

2. They undergird the ship; gird their self-righteousness together; pray more, read the Bible more, go to a place of worship oftener–by any means they will endeavour to keep together the timbers that the storm has begun to loosen. But the storm blows too severely; the vessel cannot be preserved by such appliances as these.

3. They cut down all that might hamper them. They cry, We cannot boast any longer; we acknowledge we have transgressed in some respects, but, Lord, accept our confessions; put away our sin, because we have repented of it. They have given up a good deal, but they still cling to the old ship as long as they can. She must go to pieces, or you cannot get them out of her; so the Lord sends the wind, and the storm again breaks over them.

4. They go to the Word of God for comfort, but, like the mariners, they get no food, for there are no consolations for those who can save themselves.

5. We find that the sailors with Paul laboured hard; they tried to pump the vessel. Meanwhile, neither sun, nor moon, nor stars appeared. They were all in the dark: and that is just the condition of a self-righteous soul when the Spirit of God blows with His rough north wind upon it, and it comes to see that By the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified. It is an awful condition to be in, in some respects; it is a most blessed one in others. Oh, for such a storm as would that vessel wreck which is sailing under the flag of self-righteousness, that all hope of being so saved might be taken away from you.

II. Sometimes I have deplored it. I have heard some such lamentation as this from men who had no self-righteousness certainly, but who had fallen into despair, or had been guilty of stifling conscience, or had grown careless while hearing the Word, and they had gradually wrought themselves into the belief that they must be lost.

1. I am sorry for these reasons.

(1) I am afraid that you will go and do something very wrong. Because there is no hope, says the man, I do not care what I do. As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. Despair has been employed by Satan to lead many men into desperate crimes. Some have taken their own lives. Do not believe what Satan is telling you. The hope that you may be saved is not altogether gone.

(2) I fear that you will leave off hearing the gospel. I have met with some who said that they would never go any more to the house of God because it was no good. They had seen a great many converted, but it had never touched them, and therefore it was no use; they were only adding to their responsibilities. Dont give up hearing, I pray you. I would sooner you came here and went to sleep, for perhaps when you woke up a saving word might get in somehow or other.

(3) For you will keep on coming out of custom, but you wont listen with any attentions because you will feel It is no good. I have heard of a boy who was noticed to lean forward to catch every word of the preacher; and his mother said to him, William, what makes you so very attentive? Because, said the boy, our minister said that if there was a sentence in the sermon that was likely to do us good Satan would try so that we should not hear it, and therefore I want to hear all that is said in the hope that God may bless me. I do believe, if you were to hear like that, you would get good one of these days.

2. But you must not give way to that feeling that there is no hope.

(1) It is quite contrary to Scripture. Do you find the passage there that says there is no hope for you? You find this: Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.

(2) It is opposed to all fact. There are many here present who were sinners and seekers like you now are, and they have found peace. Now, if they have been delivered, why should not you?

(3) It is to insult the great Father who always receives the prodigals that come back to Him. Say that He cannot save you? why, you deny His omnipotence and distrust His mercy!

(4) It is to grieve Jesus. Do you think His blood cannot cleanse you? What, is there some new sin come up that Jesus did not know of?

(5) It is to do injury to the Holy Ghost, for there is nothing which the blessed Spirit cannot move out of your way which is now an impediment. If thy heart be like the millstone, He can turn it into wax. If you cannot believe, He can give you faith.

III. I have sympathised with it, because many a time have I felt the same. Children of God do not always find it smooth sailing to heaven. Even in the good bark of Christ crucified there are storms. Christ may be in the vessel, but He may be asleep, and the ship may be tossed with the tempest. I have introduced this subject because there are many young believers who get into such a squall, and do not know what to make of it. They say, Why, had I been a child of God, I could not have drifted into this frightful tempest. How sayest thou so? Did not David go through it? He said, All Thy waves and Thy billows have gone over me. You cannot expect to be upon these seas and not have tossings to and fro sometimes. The strongest faith that ever was in this world has sometimes faltered. The old story tells us of Caesar in the storm, when he said to the trembling captain, Fear not! Thou carriest Caesar and all his fortunes! Now, Christ is in the same boat with all His people. If one of His members perish, He must perish too. Because I live ye shall live also. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Gods dealing with man in his extremity

I. He begins by aggravating the distress (Act 27:21). You have brought all this distress upon yourselves. How would this reproof aggravate for the moment the agony of that dark hour! It would call up conscience. When a man is made to feel that his suffering is not merely a calamity, but a crime, it comes on him with new intensity and weight. Thus God ever deals with men. The first thing that He does to help a world in misery is to convince it that its misery is self-produced. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself. And He goes on to convince it of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

II. He proceeds to mitigate the distress (Act 27:22). After the wound comes the salve. After sinners have experienced the workings of genuine repentance, there comes the message of Divine comfort. After the tempest the still small voice.

III. He does both through His servants (Act 27:23-24). Three things are here to be noticed.

1. The essential character of Gods servants. What is indispensable in the character of a true servant?

(1) A practical consciousness of Gods absolute claim to our being. Whose I am. I am not the proprietor, but the trustee of myself.

(2) A constant working out of Gods will in our being. Whom I serve.

2. Their high privilege. Communication from the heavenly Father. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.

3. Their social value. God hath given thee all them that sail with thee, Paul was the temporal saviour of all on board. The world is preserved for the sake of the good. Every righteous man is a bulwark to his city and his country. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Pauls voyage to Rome considered in connection with his faith

I. The perilous circumstances in which the apostle was placed. What calamity excites more painful sensations than a storm at sea?

II. The apostle is the exercise of a lively faith. His faith appears–

1. In the strength of its exercise. This was manifested in the ready regard which he paid to the testimony of the angel, although circumstances at the time seemed directly opposed to its fulfilment.

2. In the support which it yielded to his mind. While the tempest was so awful that despondency took possession of the crew, the apostle came forth to cheer their hearts, as his own was cheered, by declaring that no mans life should be lost.

3. In influential connection with the use of the ordinary means of safety and success (Act 27:10; Act 27:21; Act 27:31). Unhappily for us, we carry the feelings of presumption into our religious concerns to an extent unknown in our worldly occupations.

4. In its promotion of the glory of God. There was no attempt to magnify himself by concealing the source of his prophetic assurance. He attributed nothing to his own wisdom or power; he ascribed the honour entirely to God.

Conclusion: The subject may teach us–

1. The tender care which God exercises over those who love and serve Him, and sometimes over others for their sake. Not only was the apostle saved himself from the threatened destruction, but the crew also.

2. When under the mysterious dispensations of Providence not to think that the purposes of God are changed. If we make present appearances the rule or index by which we judge the love of God, we shall often be deceived and perplexed. A lengthened trial, therefore, a dark and awful calamity, should not be viewed by a Christian as implying a change in Gods intention to do him good, but as involving various, and some of them painful, means by which that good is to be effected.

3. The necessity of the possession of solid peace and hope, of our being what Paul denominated himself, a servant of God. (R. Burls.)

Paul in the storm and his celestial visitant

Certain spots will be forever sacred as places of contact between earth and heaven. Bethel, Penuel, Midian, Sinai, Bethlehem, Jerusalem. But except those spots made holy ground by contact with our Lord, none surpass in sacred associations this unknown spot in the Adriatic. I see three dazzling rays gleam from it.

I. Earthly sublimity. A storm at sea; a crowded ship driven helplessly; provisions gone; all hope taken away from 276 souls. While we shudder at it, let us think of the more sublimely fearful scene around us. It is a stormy voyage we are making from port to port between the two eternities. If the storm has not struck us in the calm harbour of youth, we know that the sea is treacherous. After this disappointments drench us; great billowy griefs go over us; sudden temptations almost capsize us; we go into the trough of the sea in wretched habits and circumstances; we see daily some rock on which someone is wrecked. We undergird our lives with expediencies–property, friends, culture, formalities of religion. But soon the crash comes. The ship of earthly estate is lost. One event cometh alike to all. Thank God if the soul–the man in the ship–be saved. But alas! the shores are strewn with not only waifs of fortunes, of reputations–the lumber and cargoes of life–but with soul wrecks.

II. The celestial sublimity. A light shines through that black storm, and above the howling a supernatural voice is heard by one man. What did it signify? Have you elevation of mind sufficient to believe that the angel of the Lord stands by our storm-tossed humanity? The sailors knew not where they were; but the angel knew. So when we are shut down under the hatches of perplexity and despondency, the Lord knows where we are. He found Hagar in utter despair. To Abraham, when his faith wavered, He came with promise. To Jacob, when his resolution faltered, He came with strength and confirmation. To Moses, seeking light for duty, He came in a flame. To Joshua, David, Christ. The sublimity deepens as me hear the infinite voice–Lo I am with you alway, etc.

III. The human sublimity. One alone is undismayed. The sailors experience and the officers skill gave them no such confidence as his. He cries to the crew, Be of good cheer, etc. The angel has filled him with his own bright spirit. I have seen a few such men who have a solar radiance, a partial transfiguration, as if Christ lived in them.

1. They are sinners, but they have heard the voice of the angel saying, Thy sins are forgiven thee.

2. They have been sorely bereaved, but they have heard the angel saying, Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.

3. They are nearing dissolution, but they have heard I am the resurrection and the life.

Conclusion: Have you heard the voice?

1. Faith is hearing. I believe God.

2. The secret of the angelic assurance was Whom I am and whom I serve. He was the Divine protege, because he had given himself to the Divine keeping. (J. M. Ludlow, D. D.)

Religion in a storm

After all true religion is not a thing to be sneered at. That which could make a landsman calm and confident in the midst of a storm which overwhelmed the oldest sailors must have been something more than fancy; and that which could make a man talk and act as Paul did must have been something more than blind enthusiasm. Note–

I. Faiths composure in the midst of lifes tempests. I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. This after all hope that we should be saved was taken away. Think of the contrast on board that ship. There were old sailors there; veterans who had fought in the foremost ranks of Rome; merchants who had travelled through many lands; but of all the two hundred threescore and sixteen souls there were none who could with composure look this danger in the face, save the prisoner and the one or two Christians who were companions with him in his bonds. He stood alone, amid all that hopeless company, and declared his confidence; and he, who knew the ground of his own composure best, said it was because he believed God. If nautical experience could have inspired such fearlessness, then, surely, the sailors should have been more composed than Paul; and if it had been merely a question of nerve or temperament, then the soldiers, who had dared a thousand deaths, ought certainly to have been as cool as the tentmaker. As it was on board that ship, so it is in the voyage of life. Amidst the surging waters, faith alone can keep us steady. With the sailors we may have much life experience; with the soldiers we may possess a large share of natural courage; with the merchants we may enjoy much wealth and influence; but unless with Paul we can say, I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me, we shall be the victims of every tempest and the sport of every wave.

II. Faiths work in the midst of lifes tempest. One mans faith may be a means of blessing to others. I believe God,–wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer! One chief end of our mission is to seek each others happiness. How can this be done? Paul did it–

1. By declaring the Word of God! Paul did not begin to calculate and explain the ships position, neither did he try to weigh the probabilities of escape by this or that procedure; but he assured them, on the strength of what God had spoken, that not an hair should fall from the head of any of them.

(1) Let the strong men in the Church make Paul their example in this particular. Jonathan arose, and went to David in the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. This is what we want now.

(2) Consider, you fathers, what those words are upon which you have been taught to hope, and, by a repetition of them to the fainting, Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Dont forget that the Church abounds with little children, and that your word about Him that is from the beginning may be a source of comfort to their hearts.

(3) Let me remind you little faiths of what our God has said. He says, He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye. But Paul did not fail to give them both sides of the truth. The ship was to be lost, and he was to stand before Caesar! It was not all blessing that the angel predicted. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

2. By avowing his own faith. I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Dont profess that which you dont possess; but if you want to do good in the world, dont go about theorising and philosophising as to whether or not God has spoken, or whether or not He is likely to do what He has said! Either be silent altogether, or declare your unbounded faith in Gods Word.

3. By setting a good example. To make others happy, you must yourself wear a cheerful face. It is useless to cry, Be of good cheer, when, to your own soul, you are crying, Why art thou cast down? True faith will be detected no sooner by the emphasis of your word than by the genuineness of your smile. Rejoice in the Lord always!

III. Faiths honour in the midst of lifes tempests. What honour faith confers! It makes the child a man, and it makes the man a very giant. When Paul stepped on board that vessel no man was more despised than the great apostle; but when the Euroclydon beat upon the ship, and all hope of being saved was gone, he arose a prince amongst men. Faith made him the master of the ship; and though a prisoner in charge of Julius the centurion, Julius the centurion sought the advice and obeyed the commands of his own captive. And true faith will ever thus assert itself. A ship was on her beam ends in the Atlantic, and all hope was taken away. The captain had warned his men to prepare for death. But there was one clinging to the shrouds who saw no danger, and the praying cabin-boy became the champion of faith in the midst of the tempest. God will save us yet, sir, said the lad; and, while hanging to the helpless vessel he sought to cheer the crew, his youthful prayers were heard in heaven. Soon after a tremendous sea came rolling on towards them, which they quite expected would carry them down, but, to their astonishment and joy, it so struck them as to right the ship, and they continued their voyage, and entered New York in safety. Them that honour Me I will honour.

IV. Faiths support in the midst of lifes tempests. There stood by me this night the angel of God, etc. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, read Pauls narrative. What Paul had to comfort him, that every child of God has.

1. Paul was remembered all through the storm. Unbelief often says hard things about God when darkness and tempest for a long time distress. Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, etc. But what saith the Lord? Can a woman forget her sucking child, etc.

2. Paul was watched all through the storm. Though the sun and the stars had not been able to pierce the storm clouds, the eye that never slumbers had watched over Paul, and the angel of Adria knew just where to find him. I will guide thee with Mine eye. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.

3. Paul was sustained all through the storm. All through that trying time Gods word was a source of unspeakable consolation; but that special love visit of the angel raised him to the highest pitch of Christian happiness. And thus God comforts His people by His word still. (W. H. Burton.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 20. Neither sun nor stars in many days appeared] And consequently they could make no observation; and, having no magnetical needle, could not tell in what direction they were going.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Neither sun nor stars in many days appeared; which shows the greatness of their misery, which had not the ordinary refreshments from the sight of the sun to relieve it. For what the sun does cheer, is one reason why our Saviour is called the Sun of righteousness, Mal 4:2.

All hope that we should be saved was then taken away; there remained no hope in the eye of reason, or reckoning upon second causes, or natural events.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

20. neither sun nor stars appearedin many“several”

daysprobably most ofthe fourteen days mentioned in Ac27:27. This continued thickness of the atmosphere prevented theirmaking the necessary observations of the heavenly bodies by day or bynight; so that they could not tell where they were.

all hope that we should besaved was taken away“Their exertions to subdue the leakhad been unavailing; they could not tell which way to make for thenearest land, in order to run their ship ashore, the only resourcefor a sinking ship: but unless they did make the land, they mustfounder at sea. Their apprehensions, therefore, were not so muchcaused by the fury of the tempest, as by the state of the ship”[SMITH]. From theinferiority of ancient to modern naval architecture, leaks weresprung much more easily, and the means of repairing them were fewerthan now. Hence the far greater number of shipwrecks from this cause.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared,…. The Syriac version adds, “nor moon”; which is an usual description of dark, cloudy, and tempestuous seasons; and which was not only uncomfortable to them, because they could not see these luminaries, and enjoy their beneficial light and influence; but because they had them not to guide and direct them; for the sun, moon, and stars, are useful to sailors, to steer their course by; especially they were to the ancients, before the invention and use of the loadstone; besides, by these they conjectured what weather it would be, as mariners still do; they observed the rising and setting of the sun, whether it shone with equal rays or not, and whether it was red and fiery, or pale; and the like observations they made upon the moon, both as to its colour and size; and especially the constellations and stars were of singular use unto them; and above all, the two Bears, the greater and the lesser; the Greeks observed the former, and the Phoenicians the latter; and who are said by Pliny to have first found out the use of the constellations in navigation; particularly this is ascribed to the famous philosopher Thales, who is said to be a Phoenician; and from other constellations, as Arcturus, Orion, Hyades, c. they foresaw rains, storms, and tempests: and now what made the case of the apostle and the ship’s company the more distressing was, that it was not only dark and cloudy, but very tempestuous, as follows

and no small tempest lay on us; and all this continued many days: so Virgil f represents Aeneas and his company in a like condition at sea, as not able by the heavens to distinguish day from night, nor to direct their course, neither sun nor stars appearing, and so wandered about in the sea three days without the sun, and as many nights without a star; and Homer g describes Ulysses in a violent storm at sea, and for the space of nine days tossed about, when on the tenth day he got to land; and Sosia, in Terence h, is brought in saying, that he had been thirty days in a ship, expecting death every moment, so boisterous was the storm he was in; and so it was in this case, the winds blew hard upon them, and the rains fell with great violence, and everything was discouraging and distressing; insomuch that

all hope that we should be saved was then taken away; neither the master and owner of the ship, nor the mariners, nor the soldiers, nor prisoners, nor the apostle’s companions, had any hope of being saved, but all expected to be lost. The apostle himself knew indeed, that though the ship would be lost, every man’s life would be saved; and yet he could have no hope of this, as to the outward appearance of things, but on account of the revelation which the Lord had made to him, and he believed; otherwise, as to all human helps and means, there was no probability of an escape.

f Aeneid. l. 3. g Odyss. 9. h Hecyra, Act. 3. Scen. 4.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

When neither sun nor stars shone upon us ( ). Genitive absolute again.

For many days ( ). For more days than a few.

No small tempest ( ). Litotes again.

All hope that we should be saved was now taken away ( ). “For the rest (or future) there began to be taken from around us ( inchoative imperfect and see use of the verb in 2Co 13:16 of the veil) all hope of the being saved so far as we were concerned.” Despair was beginning to settle like a fog on all their hopes. Had Paul lost hope?

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “And when neither sun nor stars,” (mete de heliou mete astron) “Then when neither sun nor stars appeared,” neither shined, was made manifest thru the storm clouds. They were as hunters or sailors without a compass, lost in darkness, tormented with fears and insecurity.

2) “In many days appeared,” (epiphainonton epi pleiontas hemeras) “Had appeared (to them thru the storm) over a period of many days,” some days had passed and others of the eleven were yet to come, Act 27:27, as the typhoon raged; neither sun nor moon shined, the only visible compass then available for sailors, as they drifted fearful and forlorn at sea, for many days.

3) “And no small tempest lay on us,” (cheimonoste ouk oligou epikeimenou) “And no little stormy weather was still pressing hard on us,” overwhelming us, tossing us helplessly about, with no sense of direction at sea, like a sinner in life, without a compass or guide, Isa 57:20-21.

4) “All hope that we should be saved,” (elpis pasa tou sozesthai) “All hope that we might be saved,” from death in the storm at sea, that we might be rescued, so far as human effort was concerned, was gone. They had abandoned themselves to despair.

5) “Was then taken away.” (loipon periereito humas) “Was now taken away,” gone forever, so far as human calculation was concerned. They were adrift in a high storm, without paddle, tackle, or sail, gradually becoming without hope of living any longer, ever reaching home or friends again, and had now reached “the end of their rope,” where the Lord intervenes when sinners cry to Him for salvation and help thru faith in Jesus Christ; Eph 2:12; Joh 6:37; Rom 10:13; Luk 19:10.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(20) When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared.We have to remember that before the invention of the compass the sun and stars were the only guides of sailors who were out of sight of land. Now the sky was over-cast and this guidance failed. The ship was driving, but whither they knew not.

All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.Better, finally, or at last. The failure of all hope implies some other cause of fear in addition to the mere violence of the gale, and the successive attempts to lighten the ship make it all but certain that she had sprung a leak, which their efforts were powerless to stop. The want of proper food (see next verse), and the exhaustion of protracted labour, naturally aggravated the feeling of despair.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

20. Neither sun nor stars It was cloudy, rainy, windy; gray by day, and a black darkness by night. No mariner’s compass existed, and all the signs by which they could know their locality or direction were covered from sight.

No small tempest A perpetual rain.

All hope They were floating as in a wooden trough, they knew not where or whither, at the mercy of the hurricane. But when despair of all human aid has full possession, the hardest heart may look for Divine aid, and humbly recognise it when it comes.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And when neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was now taken away.’

The blackened sky prevented navigation, and there were no breaks in the clouds. They had no idea where they were. But as the next verses bring out, God knew. Meanwhile the howling winds and the great breakers continued to tear at the ship until all hope of survival was taken away. Not even the most experienced sailor had been through anything like this before.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Act 27:20 . . . .] For descriptions of storms from Greek and Roman writers, which further embellish this trait (Virg. Aen. i. 85 ff, iii. 195 ff.; Ach. Tat. iii. 2, p. 234, al. ), see Grotius and Wetstein.

] spoken of the incessantly assailing storm, see Alberti, Obss . 279; Wolf, Cur.

] ceterum in reference to time, i.e. henceforth . See Vigerus, p. 22, and Hermann thereon, p. 706; Khner, ad Anab. ii. 2. 5.

] not , which would not have been suitable to Paul (Act 23:11 ), nor yet probably to his Christian companions.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. (21) But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. (22) And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. (23) For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, (24) Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. (25) Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. (26) Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.

The description here given of the heavenly bodies affording so obscure a light, and the tempest of the sea raging so furiously, must have rendered the state of this ship’s company very deplorable indeed. But, though all hope of being saved by human means was over, yet Paul knew the resource he had in the Lord. His confidence, therefore, so far front abating, gained strength, and his affectionate address to the crew, accompanied with a declaration of the message he had received from the Lord, had a very blessed effect, as it appears, upon the minds of the people. His foretelling that they should be cast upon a certain island, was no doubt intended as a proof, that when the event took place, they might put the greater confidence in what he had told them of the Lord.

I must not suffer the Reader to pass on, without observing, that a beautiful instruction of a spiritual nature ariseth from hence, which the believer in Christ would do well to keep in view. In the voyage to the city of the living God, the Church, and every individual of the Church, more or less, meet with storms and tempests, threatening shipwreck. And not unfrequently, while suffering the fury of the waves of the sea, the heavenly bodies seem to suspend their light. No Sun of righteousness for many days can they discover, neither do they find light from the ministers of Jesus, as the stars he holds in his right hand. And, while these things are so, unless great grace, like that given to the Apostle, be given to the Lord’s people, all hopes of being saved, are for the time lost. They indeed, who like him, can bless a taking God, as well as a giving God, can, and do, live upon the Lord, when all other resources dry up.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 98

Prayer

Almighty God, thou knowest where we are on the sea of life; we cannot tell ourselves. The nights are weeks long; we hear no voices in the roar of the wind; we are verily driven. Then the sunshine comes, and the smooth water, and the lulling, dreamy wind; then we take heart again and sing the song of joy, and look the look of hope, radiant as morning dawn. Then, again, the darkness: black night coming down like an infinite burden upon the world too small to carry it. Thus are we in sore tumult, and our heart is vexed with fear; we are torn asunder, one part of the life from the other, so that we have not the use of our whole strength; we are divided men, and our souls are without their own consent and force. Behold, this is life strange life, short life, yet within it so much space for trouble. But this is not all. Thou hast meanings of grace and love yet to be revealed, and when we know thy purpose in all its fulness we shall forget the earth as we forget the night that is gone. Thou meanest to redeem the earth, to take us to thyself; having bought us with blood and cleansed us in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness, and educated us by all the providence of life’s eventful day, thou dost mean to set us among the saints who walk in white and whose delight it is to serve thy throne. We will look on to the larger time; we will not consider this little feverish day the whole span of being, but will lay hold of the endless life, and in its sublime power rule the fear and vexation of the present moment. This is the victory of faith; this is the triumph of thy saints; this is the miracle of grace! Lead us in this direction. Bid us look up when the stars are all out and the whole host of heaven is glittering with delight; and as we gaze upon the infinite pomp tell us that it is nothing but a symbol of what it cannot adequately express of power and wisdom and love, all of which is ours in Christ Jesus. Thou art good: full of tenderness and lovingkindness and saving health. Thou dost not delight in the destruction of men, in the overthrow of human purpose, and in the confounding of natural desire; thou dost mean to sanctify us, build us up, complete in us some beneficent purpose, and shape the ruin of our life into a temple of worship, into a palace for a king. We are poor and needy; we cannot bear much prosperity; it drives us beyond the right centre; it unsettles our thought; it prostrates us before our own ability. We say, “This is our doing,” and, “Behold the result of our cleverness and the harvest of our genius”; and thus we forget thee, the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Give us what we can bear. If we can bear poverty rather than wealth, we shall be rich in our destitution. The Lord undertake our whole life for us, every whit of it and every day. May we never deceive ourselves into the delusion that we can manage the concerns of one moment, or do without God for one breath. Keep us steady, constant, steadfast, noble, true. May our ruling purpose always be right; then, though we slip in the detail and are found faulty and unworthy here and there, yet the great column of our life shall be perpendicular and strong, pointing straight up to God’s light and God’s throne. The Lord help us as we need to be helped. Show every man that he has more mercy in his life than he has yet counted. Give us that eye of love which seeks for the goodness of thy providence, and take away from us that evil eye which delights in finding out the crookedness and the gloom of life. Take up all the little children and baptize them with the dew of the morning. Bring forth all the parents to the altar and baptize them with fire. Take out thy whole Church into wilderness or fair garden and baptize thy host with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Act 27:20-24

20. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

21. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.

22. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.

23. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

24. Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Csar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

The Teachings of Impoverishment

“And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” What have we to do with sun and stars? Is not one world sufficient at a time? We are travellers, and it is enough for us to mind the road without caring for the sun; we are mariners, and surely it is enough for us to keep the ship right without troubling our heads about the stars. This is the vain and empty talk of persons who mistakenly call themselves secular and practical. When we come to adapt things and to look at them in all their bearing and their totality we find that really the earth is the very smallest thing we have to do with. Surely we can get along through the water, though it be tossed and vexed, without heeding the far-away stars little glints of yellow light? It so happens that we cannot safely move without them. We have to consult them; we have to inquire where the moon is, or the sun, or the Pole-star; and sometimes one brief glimpse of a planet will tell us exactly where we are on the earth. Why, even cursing sailors have to be, in a sense, religious even men who say they have got enough to do with the ship without troubling their heads about anything else are obliged to confess that the ship is in the leash of the planets, part of the great astronomy belonging to an infinite compactness and grandeur of things. So, from a thousand points and in a thousand unsuspected ways, there comes upon us the sweet Gospel doctrine: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” They are foolish who think they have only to do with one world. They are ineffably, infinitely foolish who suppose that things are what they seem, and that they can see everything exactly as it is. Again and again, by many a dream, by many an inexplicable touch, God shows us that this earth, so far away from all its kindred sparks, is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven. I know it is possible to belittle the occasion, to take the earth as a flat and immovable surface, to neglect the stellar lights and let them glitter in ghostly unmeaningness, and to rake and scrape in the mud; but we do not choose to avail ourselves of that narrow possibility. We believe in getting into the rhythm of things, committing ourselves to the great astronomic movement; not in creating little spaces for ourselves, but in inhabiting our Father’s house and submitting to his gracious domination.

“All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” This is what God has to do with every one of us before he can get a hearing. If you leave a man a walking-stick, he will believe he can do something with it; if you leave him with one blade of grass, you make an atheist of him. He must be stripped without crumb or speck or atom, without light or strength or hope; he must have nothing in him but the last breath before God can get a hearing from his own image and likeness; so stubborn is the human will, so self-reliant is human vanity, so mad is unregulated reason. Trace your best thoughts back to their origin, find out the day when you gave yourself away to Christ at the holy altar, and you will find it was upon a day when all other hope was dead. I looked for one to save, and there was none; for some to pity, and there was no eye to shed a tender tear; then his own eye pitied, his own arm brought salvation. This is a mysterious thing, incredible if it were a suggestion, only credible because it is an appalling and indisputable fact. Any devil can lure us away from the sacred altar; it seems as if we wanted to go. Is that not the experience of every heart? It takes all heaven’s chains of gold to bind us to the altar; it takes but the beckoning finger of some mocking imp to bid us leave it in glad haste. We have to be argued into religion, watched whilst we are in the very church lest we should escape by crevice unknown to every sense but the acuteness of the desire that longs to leave the sacred fane. We require to have all kinds of considerations brought to bear upon us to make us pray, talk to our Father, speak upward into the light; but on the smallest provocation we turn fool again and hug the earth, forgetting that we are but embracing a grave. It is good of God to take away all we have; it is kind of condescending Heaven to conceal all the stars and leave us to sit down at the black table of darkness to eat what we can of the roaring wind. These providences have meaning. Poverty is not an accident which any clever economist can arrange or remove: poverty is part of the mystery of the human economy, as is blindness, as is sin. They are not reformers, they are self-seeking empirics, who take down their little instruments with a view to sweeping poverty off the face of the earth. Poverty is God’s agent. Civilisation without poverty would be poor civilisation. There is a mystery in these things not to be laughed at, easily mitigated, quickly dispelled. Poverty may be the true wealth. Do then we find the ship in a state of hopelessness, given up to the gloom, eleven nights crowding their black darkness into one horrible density, and on that ship poor, undergirded thing, held and strung up in every possible way there lies the dead, white-faced angel Hope? It is a corpse the ship carries: the dead thing is Hope. Some hearts are now carrying that dead angel: all hope gone; the doctor said last night, regarding the sufferer, “There is no hope.” The letter that came yesterday morning reporting the condition of affairs at a distance said, “There is no hope.” Yea, the last daring little prayer was so short of faith that it fell dead back from the clouds and said to the heart that misconceived it, “There is no hope.” We now want a Gospel voice sweet, clear, ringing voice from some blue cloud; we shall hear it, or this house has ceased to be the house of God.

The whole situation is now given up to religious direction. That is how the world-ship will be some day, the earth vessel. Ail the captains and mates and other officers the statesmen, economists, philosophers will stand back and let the praying men speak. We are waiting for that day. Then the necromancer will strike his tent to go home and mope in sullenness; then they who plied the ear with sounds that had no sense in them will cease their empty noise; then all the little tricksters who said they would set the world right by programmes and investments will skulk out of any door or window that may be available; and then we shall hear God’s Gospel and wonder we never listened to it before, so unapproachable in majesty, so ineffable in tenderness, so infinite in hospitality, Christ’s day is coming. Before its full dawn many men will have proposals to make and new ventures with which to dupe the generation. Paul is now the master of the ship. You cannot keep back the true primacies of life. For a time you snub them, undervalue them, pour contempt upon them; but their hour comes, and they assert themselves in the name and grace of heaven. Paul began as a prisoner; he ended as the captain. He went upon the ship quite humbly; now he stands up, as it were, four-square, and all the men are at his feet. There is a prophecy in these things, a sublime forecast, a subtle and most sacred omen. How will he speak in the darkness? “Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.” It is difficult for the noblest man to keep back all rebuke. Paul is rather smaller there than we have been accustomed to see him. He would have been a greater man if he had not said those words; but who can be. more than man? Just a little reproach, just a gentle reminder of your folly, just one little touch to bring to your recollection how you played the fool about a fortnight ago. It would have been better if he had not said this from some points of view; and yet who are we that we should rebuke the great soul we who deal in reproaches, who never allow the four-and-twenty hours to complete themselves without stinging somebody by an unkind reference to the past? We had better drop such criticism and get into broader and more welcome pasture.

Paul, therefore, said, “Be of good cheer.” Now he is himself. That is the voice we wanted to hear. We did not care for the rebuke the thing was past and gone; a mistake was made and never could be unmade we want to hear Gospel words; we hear them in this exhortation, “Be of good cheer.”. That is the pastor’s heart, the great shepherdly love, the glorious leading voice. That voice is amongst us today in Christ’s Gospel. We might spend long hours in rebuking ourselves for having loosed from Crete. There are some men who never can let you alone without reminding you what you might have done a month since. We wonder that such persons are permitted to live, for there is no room on this little earth for wisdom so illimitable. How stinging their tongue! How unkind every remark! “If you had listened to me last week, you would not have been in this position today.” What a marvellous thing that so wise a man can be spared from heaven! “If you had done what I advised you to do seven years since ” What amazing rivalry with Omniscience! Is there no man who can tell me what to do now? Is there no great kingly soul, O Father! O Shepherd! that will say, “But be of good cheer”? There is. This is Gospel day; this is Christian sunlight; this is our Father’s house. Let us admit that we got wrong in loosing from Crete; as a matter of fact, we did loose from Crete, and the question is now: What is to be done? and whilst we are asking that question a Gospel-voice answers us, “Be of good cheer. This is the way; walk ye in it.” Oh for the spirit of obedience to spring, in instantaneous reply, saying, “Thy will be done”!

So far this speech of Paul’s is a remarkable instance of human sagacity. Will Paul limit his address to lines that are purely sentimental? He never did so before; he will not do so now. “For,” said he that is the word of the logician, the solid and continuous reasoner, the man who builds his life-house upon rocks “For” now we shall have the reason “there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve.” He will preach, he must preach, he cannot help preaching. He will bring good into that ship; he is not going to play the amateur sailor, he is going to be faithful to this religious call and election. How the men listened! men who had never heard a sermon in their lives; men who did not know the meaning of the word “God,” as Paul then pronounced it. What an eager audience! That is what we want now: an audience all ear; not men lazing in the house if haply they may catch some sound that pleases them, but intent, stretched forward, drawing out of the speaker an eloquence not his own, because born of inspiration Divine.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

Chapter 100

Prayer

Almighty God, thou hast said unto each of us, “What is thy petition? and what is thy request? and it shall be granted unto thee.” Lord, teach us what to say in reply. This is the challenge of thy love. Thou dost tempt our powers to ask great things of thee, knowing that giving doth not impoverish thee, nor withholding enrich thee. Thou art able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. We have no words equal to the treasures of God. Do thou give unto us the faith which is its own answer, its own peace, as it is its own inspiration. Faith is the gift of God; but having given unto us faith, thou hast given unto us all things. If we had faith even as a grain of mustard-seed, we could remove mountains, and turn back seas out of our way, and make the desert blossom as the rose. Lord, increase our faith! When it comes to us we know it by a great uprising of the soul into nobler life, into wider domination and power. We would have more of it: we would live by faith and not by sight. We would thus have the larger life. Lord, increase our faith! Thou dost call us to trust in thee, and to have no fear. Thou alone canst give us the perfect love which casteth out fear and settleth the soul in infinite calm. Every good gift is thine. We have nothing that we do not receive. We live upon thy bounty; we are guests at thy table; we shelter ourselves in thy house. The Lord’s mercy be multiplied unto us, and the Lord’s comfort encourage and strengthen our souls! We come before thee because with the Lord is abundance of pardon and plenteous forgiveness, that he may be sought unto and feared with all the sacred reverence of love. Pardon our sin. Cleanse us in the holy blood of Christ; yea, wash away all guilt, and give us the sanctification which is the miracle of the Holy Ghost. Sanctify us body, soul, and spirit. Subdue our whole nature to thy government. Create in us the spirit of obedience. Lead us to see that our faith means sacrifice, or it is void of meaning. Regard us all. How many our frailties; how countless our sins; how varied our needs! But thou knowest us every one: our frame, our nature, our opportunities, our temptations, our engagements. Thou dost count us up and understand us wholly, and there is nothing in us that is hidden from the searching of thine eye. Have mercy upon us! Lord, pity us! Lord, come to us through the way of the Cross, mighty to save, with great answers to great questions, with the infinite fulness of God, in reply to the prayers of men. Let the old traveller feel that it is better farther on. Give the young worker to know that to build below the skies is to build without foundation and without power of completion. Show the youngest that there is no safety out of thy movement and beyond thy law. Comfort the discouraged. Give unto the disappointed soul new hope and new opportunities. Let all the past be turned into a school, and, learning its lessons, bowing under its discipline, may we begin tomorrow with a new heart and a new hope, having behind us yesterdays full of experience and full of teaching; and thus may our mistakes become the beginnings of our wisdom, may our failures contribute to our successes, and may all the scorning and the trial, the tempting and the scourging, of time and life bring us nearer to thyself, thou holy Christ of God. Amen.

Act 27:20-44

20. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

21. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.

22. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.

23. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

24. Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Csar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

25. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

26. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.

27. But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;

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

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

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 cast anchors out of the foreship,

31. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

32. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.

33. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.

34. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.

35. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.

36. Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

37. And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.

38. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.

39. And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.

40. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.

41. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

42. And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

43. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:

44. And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.

The Supreme Value of Life

“There stood by me this night the angel of God” ( Act 27:23 ). That is just when we need the angel most; and the angel is never kept back when we really need him. An angel at night seems to be a double blessing because of the surrounding darkness. Words of sympathy are always good, but they are the very balm of heaven when the heart is sore, and, so to say, opening its lips with great thirst that it may drink of the water of life. Did the angels ever come in the daytime? We cannot answer that question without consideration, but memory supplies innumerable instances in which the angels have come in the night season. Some of our earliest recollections are of angels wrestling with us, when we could see no light in the nightly sky, nameless angels; angels that could have crushed us, but only bruised us; angels that could have torn us to pieces, but only put out one joint to show their omnipotence. The night has a story all its own. Any vulgar pen can write the story of the day; but the night, with its distances, its mysteries, its half-voices, its almost things, must be a troubled dream in the affrighted imagination. Yet some nights we want to live over again. There was joy in the agony, there was friendship in the ghostliness, there was a music in the going, that we want to hear just once more, if haply we might take hold of something with both hands, until the noise was over. I would not live without this supplementary life, this ensphering and comforting life, these hints of worlds that make the sun a mere speck. I am tired of the little bigness of the sun; I am thankful to hear of flames that blind him, and of sizes that reduce him to insignificance. God thus appeals to the fancy which he stuns, and turns imagination itself into a religious faculty, and makes wonder go for prayer. Yet it takes a courageous man to say, in a materialistic age, that an angel has spoken to him. He will be called mad. But to call a man mad is, when we come to think of it, not to make him mad. What is madness? It is a relative term. There is a madness of insensibility, a madness of indifference, a madness of unpardonable stupidity amongst the appealing and exciting sublimities of things. Why should we call the unseeing beast sober, and the burning, flying poet mad? We must rectify our standards. Tomorrow, or even today, we must take our balances into the sanctuary and have them tested by the Divine weights. But this is a ladder whose foot is upon the earth, though its head be lost in the high light; so we will come down the ladder, round by round; and, mayhap, when we descend it fully, we may find that it rests on logic and lifts itself up into rapture. Let us see if this be not so.

Paul says of God, “whose I am, and whom I serve.” So the revelation was not made to a fanatic, but to a servant, a toiling man, one who had set his hands to the Gospel plough. Thus we are coming down into cold reason. This is not foam, this is not mere glitter of words, this is not the completion of a phrase; it is at once the beginning and the end of an argument. “Whose I am ” But all men are God’s. Yes, in a sense; but there is another ownership, an inner life, a warm, comforting, all protecting, sacred sonship and fatherhood and mystery of communion. Paul was always God’s; the centurion and the sailors were God’s where is the specialty of the claim “whose I am, and whom I serve”? We must enter into this spiritual mystery. We are twice God’s: we are “born again” yea, truly, as it were, again and again and every day born to some higher life, into some nobler power, into some tenderer love, into some wider ownership of truth and life. It is a mystery; no words fit it; we must live it to know it.

“Whom I serve.” Now we come lower down still into the region of what is termed reason and fact. Did Paul serve God? Let his life answer. If he did not serve God, his life since that Damascus journey has no explanation, no meaning. Verily, from our reading, we would be the first to say to the inquiry “Did Paul serve God?” “Yes, night and day; in every thought, in every pulse, in every upheaving and strenuous energy of the soul.” Common fairness demands this tribute. We should lie to ourselves if we did not unanimously and affectionately say, “Yea, verily, Paul, mistaken, mayhap, a fanatic perhaps, wild and mad as judged by Festus’ rules and customs, but, O man! bent, withered, impoverished, despised, thou hast with both hands served God.”

The all-including thought arising out of this consideration is, that God’s revelations are made, not to genius, but to character; not to ability, but to disposition; not to the greatest intellects, but to the tenderest and purest hearts. “To this man will I look” God never changes the point of vision; the focus is never altered. “To this man will I look” a broken-hearted, humble, contrite soul. In other words, “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.” “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Paul does not say, “The revelation was made to me because mine is the highest mind represented in this assembly, mine the brightest intellect, mine the loftiest reason, mine the noblest power of thought.” “The secret was revealed to me by him whose I am in every fibre of the body, every thought of the soul, every passion of the heart, and whom I serve with all the resources with which he has entrusted me, and with all the fire that burns in my being.” We should know more if we loved more; we should be greater theologians if we were better Christians. To the praying soul the revelation comes; when our eyes are shut in prayer, the vision of our soul is opened that we may behold the sublimest realities of truth. If you would grow in knowledge, you must first grow in grace.

Then mark a wonderful characteristic of Paul, in that he pledges God. This is not a salvation that is to be worked out in the dim and unknown future. With a valour shall we say an audacity? singularly characteristic of himself, he pledges, in all its immeasurable infiniteness, the power of God to do this thing. How he will be covered with confusion presently if it be not so! In a few brief hours this boast will be reduced to confusion and dismay. There is a touch of prophetic knowledge in this pledging to God. “If it be not so,” said the old man, “then the Lord hath not spoken by my mouth. If that man die an ordinary death, I should be found a liar, in that I have said God has revealed the contrary to me.” A great mystery is this, that the child may pledge the Father to work out certain issues and complete them in happy fruition a wondrous miracle; yes, it is even so. As to detail, we know nothing; but as to broad, substantial issue, we know everything. “Say unto the wicked man, Thou shalt surely die.” “Say unto the righteous, It shall be well with thee.” We know nothing as to time, mode, circumstance, changing phase and incident; but the issue is revealed in light.

What a wondrous picture of life then follows! We seem to have been in precisely those very circumstances. Have we not seen how great providences are affected by human action? “Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” This is a continual wonder to us, that life should go upon such little hinges; that the small wheels should, in their place, be just as important as the large one. “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 cast anchors out of the foreship”; and Paul stopped them with this assurance: “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” There must be no tempting of God: there must be complete obedience. Sometimes the fight, so to say, between God and man, is brought down to the very narrowest and simplest incident. The battle is not always a grand one, or fought out upon a great field. We sometimes come into such close quarters with God that great issues depend upon shutting the door, looking out of the window, keeping the eyes open, speaking one word. Thus are little things lifted up into importance, and details made part of the worship of life. There is nothing unimportant to Omniscience: the very hairs of your head are all numbered. There is nothing confused or indiscriminate and undiscriminating in the providence of Heaven. There is not a colour on an insect’s wing that does not represent some thought of eternity. Do not take the view which would depreciate that which is matter of detail and comparative insignificance, for a great argument is founded upon God’s care in these matters. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field; so cared for the sparrows; so looked after the daintiness of the lily, so that no hand but his own may paint its white purity; how much more ? Then the argument opens until it becomes wide as the firmament and bright as the aggregated light of the universe. Is it not so in our own life, that often we fail at the little point, the comparatively insignificant thing, the incident that may be thrown into the sum total? Are we not lost because our balances are not fine enough and because we do not work down to the minutest line, making obedience not a rough service, but a detailed and complete sacrifice?

What a wonderful confirmation is given to a truth which seemed to astound us in our last study! We then dwelt upon the thought that the world is saved because of its good men. “God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” We were not quite sure of this. All the historical allusions seemed to be good and sound; but how the world should be kept sailing on through the great sea of space because of its ten righteous men we hardly understood. But singularly here is the very same truth stated within lines with which we are perfectly familiar. At a certain point in the voyage “the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept the soldiers from their purpose.” So the prisoners were twice saved on Paul’s account. The centurion did the very thing that God did, without knowing it. We are ruled by strange emotions; passions, thoughts, impulses suddenly seize us, and we do things for the sake of others which we would not have done but for the presence of these personalities; and thus and thus, on scales small and in ways unintended, we repeat the mystery of God, and show ruined, shattered, lost, as we are that at first we were made in the image and likeness of the Creator. So the world is governed today. We are doing things to others for the sake of some peculiar personalities or special lives; and so we could find our theology in our daily life, and proofs of Christian revelation in many an out-of-the-way field. Why this value set upon life? The men engaged in this stormy voyage did exactly what we are doing, did exactly what all the world has always been doing: they showed the supreme value of life. Why do not men give up life? Why do not the abject poor throw themselves into the river and there lose for ever their consciousness of misery and want? What is it that keeps some men alive? No home, no friend, no fortune, no joy, no light, no music, no fire in the grate, no summer tor them, and yet they hug the life that is reduced to a burning agony. Surely there is some mystery in this circumstance, and surely some religious explanation of it. When the men had partaken of food on Paul’s exhortation “they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.” When it comes to a contest between life and wheat, the wheat must go; and in the end we read “the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship” no property, nothing saved; everything lost but life. What is the meaning of this? I would force the question upon myself. Why not lighten the ship by throwing out the men? Do not treat the question as trivial: behind it there is a solemn mystery. Learn from it the dignity of life; the sublime, the Divine origin of life; the marvellous compass and possible destinies of life. And whilst these great problems are at once agitating and comforting the mind that studies them, you may see some explanation of the incoming of the Son of man into the world. He came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. I seem to understand that when I study the value which has been put upon life by men under all circumstances. Why struggle with the deep? Why this wrestling with the winds? Why not give in? Why not jump into the storm, and let it devour us? Why this eternal fight? Why these prayers that break through the agony and seem to say, “Life is very dear; life is unspeakably precious; everything for life. Better live in misery than die”? What is the meaning of it all but that we did not come up out of the dust, but that our spirit is from the Living God? It is the witness of God in the soul; it is life itself in a grand endeavour to explain its own mystery; and there is no explanation but the Gospel one. That covers the whole ground and brings to harmonious conclusions all the inner controversies of the soul, and all the vexations incident upon our discipline. God made us: God speaks in us. In the very least, poorest, meanest little child in London today God speaks through the agony of a life the child cannot part with and which the earth cannot satisfy. Thank God for these natural mysteries! They help us so much when we come to ponder the profounder secrets which relate to God and to eternity.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us , all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

Ver. 20. All hope that we, &c. ] God delights to help those that are forsaken of their hopes: he reserveth his hand for a dead lift. Good therefore and worthy of all acceptation is the prophet’s counsel, Isa 50:10-11 . A child of light walking in darkness must do as these here, when neither sun nor star appeared for many days, cast the anchor of hope within the veil of heaven, pray and wait till the day dawn, and the day star appear in his heart.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

20. ] The sun and stars were the only guides of the ancients when out of sight of land. The expression, all hope was taken away , seems, as Mr. Smith has noticed, to betoken that a greater evil than the mere force of the storm (which perhaps had some little abated: . seems to imply that it still indeed raged, but not as before) was afflicting them, viz., the leaky state of the ship , which increased upon them, as is shewn by their successive lightenings of her.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Act 27:20 . : the omission of the article here intensifies the meaning, Blass, Gram. , p. 143, “weder etwas von Sonne”. , cf. Luk 1:79 ; only in Luke and Paul, Tit 2:11 ; Tit 3:4 ; “shone upon us,” R.V., thus their only guidance, humanly speaking (for, of course, they had no compass), was taken from them, cf. neid , i., 88; iii., 195; Horace, Epod. , x., 9, and for the phrase, Polyb., v., 6, 6. : often in Luke with acc. of time, cf. Act 28:6 , and for instances in Luke and other parts of Acts of the same usage as predominant (though not exclusive) in Luke see Hawkins, Hor Synoptic , p. 152; Klostermann, Vindici Lucan , p. 53; Luk 10:35 ; Luk 18:4 , Act 3:1 ; Act 4:5 ; Act 13:31 ; Act 16:18 ; Act 17:2 ; Act 18:20 ; Act 19:8 ; Act 19:10 ; Act 19:34 . : only in Luke, eight times in Acts; see above on Act 27:14 . ., cf. 1Co 9:16 , Heb 9:10 , Luk 5:1 ; Luk 23:23 (Joh 11:38 ; Joh 21:9 , literal sense), and for its use here, Plut., Timol. , 28, . In LXX, Job 19:3 , Wis 17:21 , 1Ma 6:57 , 3Ma 1:22 , etc. ( cf. Mat 26:45 ), “now,” R.V., jam , Blass; often = , L. and .; others render it: for the future (2Ti 4:8 ), finally, at last. : “was gradually taken away,” Ramsay, “imperf. quod in dies magis,” Blass; Page renders “was being gradually stripped from us,” a very vivid word, cf. 2Co 3:16 , Heb 10:11 (Act 27:40 , see below), and its use in LXX and Psalms of Solomon , Act 2:22 ; cf. Westcott’s note on Heb., l.c. , but on the other hand Blass, in loco , regards the force of as lost in the word in N.T. J. Smith (so Breusing) sees in the expression more than the hopelessness arising from the force of the storm we have also to consider the fact that they could not see their course, and the increasing leakage of the vessel.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

neither . . . nor. Greek. mete . . . mete.

in = for Greek. epi. App-104

appeared = shone. Greek. epiphaino. App-106

tempest. Greek. cheimon. Elsewhere translated “winter, “Mat 24:20. Mar 13:18 Joh 10:22. 2Ti 4:21. Mat 16:3 (foul weather). Compare Act 27:18.

lay on us. Greek. epikeimai. See Luk 5:1, Luk 23:23. 1Co 9:16. Heb 9:10.

taken away. Greek. periaireo. Only here, Act 27:40, 2Co 3:16, Heb 10:11.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

20.] The sun and stars were the only guides of the ancients when out of sight of land. The expression, all hope was taken away, seems, as Mr. Smith has noticed, to betoken that a greater evil than the mere force of the storm (which perhaps had some little abated:-. seems to imply that it still indeed raged, but not as before) was afflicting them, viz., the leaky state of the ship, which increased upon them, as is shewn by their successive lightenings of her.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Act 27:20. , , neither the sun, nor the stars) which the ancients could the less do without before the discovery of the mariners compass.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

79. “BE OF GOOD CHEER”

Act 27:20-25

“When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was taken away.” In those circumstances, Paul stood up and said, “I exhort you to be of good cheer.” When all hope was gone, Paul said, “Be of good cheer.” You can imagine the response. “Come on now, Paul. What do you mean, `Be of good cheer!’ Have you lost your mind? We are going to be wrecked, and there is nothing we can do!” “Nevertheless,” Paul says, “I exhort you to be of good cheer.” Remember, he had advised them not to set sail in the first place, warning them of imminent danger (Act 27:10). And, though he reminded them that they should have listened to him and that their present trouble was their own fault, (Act 27:21), yet, he says, “Be of good cheer.” Assuring them by the Word of God that not one of them would be lost, he repeated himself, saying, “Sirs, be of good cheer.”

If Paul could speak those words to reprobate, unbelieving men regarding deliverance from a storm at sea, surely every believer is justified in saying to himself with regard to all the affairs of his life, “Be of good cheer.” It does not matter what your circumstances in this world are, if you belong to God, if you are born of his Spirit, you have every reason to “be of good cheer.” There is nothing holy or sanctifying about gloominess, despondency, and morbid pessimism. In fact, these things are the exact opposites of holiness and sanctification. God the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, not our tormentor! He comes to bring comfort and cheer, not despair and gloom. Our heavenly Father delights to see his children of good cheer. And those who honor God most are those saints who walk before him with cheerful, believing hearts.

Search the Scriptures and see if the Lord God does not constantly say to his people in this world, “Be of good cheer” (Psa 16:5-6; Pro 15:13; Pro 15:15; Pro 15:30; Pro 17:22; Ecc 2:24; Ecc 9:8-10; Php 4:4). Among the first things named as the fruit of the Spirit is “joy” (Gal 5:22). Believers should be people of perpetual joy and cheer! When all hope was gone, in so far as outward evidence was concerned, in the midst of terrible darkness and a raging storm, Paul found five reasons to “be of good cheer.”

First, PAUL WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. In Act 27:23, he says, “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve.” God was there with him in the midst of the storm! The angel of God stood by him and spoke to him! We too may be sure that when trouble comes to us, “The Lord is at hand” (Php 4:4). When all outward evidence of hope is gone, the Lord God will speak to you and say, “Be of good cheer.” No, he will not speak to you by an audible voice. But he will speak to you by his Spirit, through his Word, assuring you of his presence to protect you (Isa 43:1-7), provide for you (2Co 12:9), and preserve you (Jud 1:24-25). Then, like Paul, you can say to others, “Be of good cheer, the Lord God is still on his throne. He is still in charge. He is still running things. The Lord knows what he is doing. He has not made a mistake. So, `be of good cheer.'”

This episode on the sea was just one of many times when the Lord Jesus manifestly fulfilled his promise to Paul in which he said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Mat 28:20). The same thing happened to him at Corinth (Act 18:10), at Jerusalem (Act 23:11), and at Rome (2Ti 4:16-17). Child of God, the Lord Jesus is with you too. In your times of great trouble and need, your God is with you. When the doctor says, “I’m very sorry, but I have to tell you, you have cancer,” – the Lord is with you. He will not forsake you. When the telephone rings and the somber voice on the line says, “I’m sorry to call, but there has been an accident. Your loved one has been killed,” – the Lord will be with you. So long as we live in this world, we must go through the deep waters of trouble and the fiery furnace of adversity. In the midst of problems, pains, and perplexities, let every believer be convinced of the presence of God, hear him say, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5), and “be of good cheer.”

Second, PAUL WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT HE BELONGED TO GOD. He said, “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve.” If we can in the midst of our trials realize this great fact, that we belong to God, we will find reason to “be of good cheer”, even in the midst of trouble. We sometimes sing, “Now I belong to Jesus.” Is that a fact? Then be of good cheer! We who believe belong to Christ by divine predestination (Eph 1:4-6), divine purchase (Eph 1:7-12), and divine power (Eph 1:13-14).

We belong to Christ like a bride belongs to her husband. In the Old Testament and in the New, the relationship of Christ and his people is constantly compared to the intimate, loving union of a husband and wife (Eph 5:25-30; Son 6:3). We belong to our God as a child belongs to his father. Donald Grey Barnhouse once suggested that as soon as the doctor cuts the umbilical cord that binds a baby to its mother, “God creates a sort of invisible cord that binds the baby to the father. It immediately transforms the man’s nature and he begins to understand, `That’s my boy!'” When that happens, there is a blessed picture of our relationship to God. He loves us infinitely more than any earthly father ever loved his boy (1Jn 3:1). Again, we belong to our Lord as sheep belong to the shepherd. The Lord calls us his sheep. David Said, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” The life and welfare of sheep are the responsibility of the shepherd charged with watching over them. And the Lord Jesus has promised to protect and keep his sheep (Isa 40:11; Joh 10:27-30). Someone once asked an old believer, “What do you do when you are in trouble?” He replied, “I look to heaven and say, Lord, your property is in danger.” That is how Paul felt. He belonged to God. He knew God would take care of him.

Third, PAUL WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT HE WAS GOD’S SERVANT. He was on business for God. He spoke plainly of God as him “Whom I serve.” The law of the land is clear. If you are working for a company, that company is responsible for you. If you are injured while working for the company, the company must take care of you. The Lord God will do no less! If you are God’s servant, doing God’s business, he will take care of you. His honor is at stake. He promised, “Them that honor me, I will honor” (1Sa 2:30). “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Php 4:19). “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psa 91:11).

Fourth, PAUL WAS CONSCIOUS OF GOD’S TOTAL SOVEREIGNTY. He knew that the Lord God, to whom he belonged, whom he served, his heavenly Father, was as much in control of the storm as he is the calm. Therefore, being confident that his God would and could do all that he had said, he was of good cheer. Nothing, child of God, will sustain your soul in peace and cheer like the conscious realization of his absolute sovereignty over all things (Rom 8:28-30; Rom 11:36).

Fifth, PAUL WAS FULLY CONVINCED OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS. God had made an absolute promise of deliverance and safety to Paul. Because he knew God to be faithful, he said, “I believe God,” and exhorted all who were with him to “Be of good cheer.” Do not ever imagine that anything takes God by surprise, or is beyond his control. He upholds all things by the Word of his power; and he upholds you in his great faithfulness. Therefore, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise up against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (Isa 54:17).

“Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you.Beneath His wings of love abide. God will take care of you.God will take care of you, Through every day, o’er all the way.He will take care of you. God will take care of you!”

I exhort you, therefore, “TO BE OF GOOD CHEER!”

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

neither: Exo 10:21-23, Psa 105:28, Mat 24:29

and no: Psa 107:25-27, Jon 1:4, Jon 1:11-14, Mat 8:24, Mat 8:25, 2Co 11:25

all: Isa 57:10, Jer 2:25, Eze 37:11, Eph 2:12, 1Th 4:13

Reciprocal: Job 3:4 – darkness Job 36:32 – General Isa 43:1 – I have called Jer 49:23 – on the sea Dan 3:17 – our God Act 27:10 – damage

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

0

Act 27:20. The obscurity of sun and stars indicates the storm continued throughout day and night. Not having any compass in those days, mariners had to depend on the heavenly bodies for their direction. This condition continued for so many days that all on board (except Paul) despaired of ever reaching land.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Act 27:20. When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared. This was a most serious aggravation of the danger. The great reason which made ancient navigation perilous in the winter was, that the sky is then more overcast than at other seasons. See note above (Act 27:9), on the special necessity of taking observations from the sun and stars, when the compass is not available.

All hope was now taken away. Two stages in the progress of growing fear have been mentioned in the two preceding verses. Now we come to the third stage, which is absolute despair. We should note that it was precisely at this time, when no escape through human means seemed possible, that St. Paul interposed with Divine encouragement.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. The hopeless, helpless, comfortless state, which St. Paul, and those in the ship with him, were now reduced to: neither sun nor stars appeared, and the weather proved very tempestuous, and when they utterly despaired of life, then God gives Paul, and he the rest, a comfortable assurance that nothing should be lost, but the vessel only.

O how does God delight to deliver those that are forsaken of their hopes; what a present help is he to the helpless: He reserves his holy hand for a dead lift! our extremities are the seasons of his succour.

Observe, 2. The great and special favour which God indulged the holy apostle, even to send an angel to him to comfort him: The angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, said, Fear not.

O what an encouragement is it to us to enter upon, and be faithful in, the service of God, when he causes his holy angels, upon all occasions, to serve us! When visible dangers are before us, God has invisible servants round about us, both to succour and secure us. Lord, help me in sincerity to say, Thine I am, and thee I serve! Let me be found faithful in all the instances of my duty to thee,and then shall I find (as the apostle here) that safety evermore accompanies duty.

Observe, 3. How God was pleased for St. Paul’s sake to save all that were with him in the ship; sinners are spared and saved for the saints’ sake, whom yet they hate and seek to destroy. The wicked are oft-times delivered from temporal destruction for the sake of the godly who live among them, and intercede with God for them; there were two hundred threescore and sixteen persons, all heathens, except three or four, saved for St. Paul’s sake, who no doubt begged their lives of God.

Lord, what fools and madmen are the wicked, who seek the destruction of those for whose sake it is that they are not themselves destroyed! The breaches which wicked men make by sinning, they make up by praying.

Observe, 4. How steady and steadfast the apostle was in the faith and belief of God’s promise and providence for his own and the company’s preservation: I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

We honour God exceedingly, when we depend upon his promise, rely upon his power, believe his word, though what he says be very improbable, and unlikely to come to pass.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Act 27:20-22. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared The direction of which could be the less spared before the compass was found out; and no small tempest lay on us Still the wind was boisterous, and the sea ran high; all hope that we should be saved That is, delivered from the danger we were in; was then taken away The whole ships company expected nothing but that the ship would certainly be lost, and we should all perish with it. But after long abstinence For all this time they had had no heart to think of taking any regular refreshment, and probably several of them took little or none; Paul stood forth in the midst of them Authorized by God to give them encouragement; and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me Paul having foreseen and foretold what had befallen them, and warned them not to set sail from Crete, they ought to have believed his prediction, and taken his advice, especially as Luke and Aristarchus, if not some others on board the ship, Pauls companions, could have borne, and probably did bear, witness to the spirit of prophecy and the miraculous powers with which he was endowed: and for their not hearkening to him they were now deservedly punished. And to have gained That is, to have brought upon yourselves and upon us all, as well as upon the owner of the ship, this harm and loss Which is now before your eyes. The words, , rendered harm and loss, are used Act 27:10, and have here evidently a reference to what the apostle had there predicted. And Or nevertheless; now I exhort you Bad as the situation of affairs may appear; to be of good cheer For though you conclude you must inevitably perish, I assure you there shall be no loss of any mans life Among you, that is, provided they would do as he directed them, see Act 27:31. In Gods promises there is generally implied a tacit condition, which, from the nature of the thing, is to be understood, as in the promise made to Eli, 1Sa 2:30. Paul here foretels their preservation so particularly, that, when it was effected, more credit might be given to the gospel which he preached, and more glory might redound to the God he worshipped.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

See notes on verse 18

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

20. Neither sun nor stars appearing for many days, there being no small tempest on us, finally all hope that we should be saved was taken away. Now sailors and passengers, soldiers and officers all alike give up in utter desperation, expecting nothing but a watery grave every minute. And why did not the ship go down? Because she carried Paul, and his work was not finished. When John and Charles Wesley were sent by the Episcopal Church to America to preach to the Indians, and an awful storm on the Atlantic, lashing the spars with the billows and opening deep chasms, into which the ship madly plunged, while great seas rolled over the deck, and the oldest sailors gave up in utter despair, the last hope having fled, why could not that ship go down? She carried John Wesley.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament