Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 27:14
But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
14. there arose against it ] The word “it” must mean the last-mentioned subject, the island Crete. Thus the A. V. would state that the south wind, which already had begun to blow, became tempestuous, and dashed against the island. But if so, it must have carried the vessel with it. Whereas, what really happened was that they were driven southward to the island of Clauda. It is therefore better to take the preposition = down from, a sense which it often has in such a construction, than to give the verb the more literal meaning from the margin of A. V., and to construe (with R. V.) “there beat down from it, &c.” The wind suddenly changed from south to north, and coming over the land carried the vessel southward away from Crete. Such changes are not unusual in the Mediterranean (Smith’s Voyage of St Paul, p. 99).
a tempestuous wind ] The adjective is one from which the word “typhoon” is derived.
called Euroclydon ] ( R. V. “which is called Euraquilo”). This reading of R. V. is supported by the oldest MSS., and has the Vulgate “Euroaquilo” in its favour, and it exactly describes the wind which would carry the vessel in the direction indicated. It is known in Greek by the name “Ccias” and is a north-east wind. Some have thought that the reading of the A. V., which has the support of many MSS., arose from a corruption in the mouths of sailors. For the word “Euraquilo” is a hybrid, the first portion being Greek, the latter Latin. The form in the Text Rec. gives it a look of being all Greek, and the words “which is called” seem to intimate that the name was one known to the sailors, rather than a word of general use. Whereas “Euraquilo” would have needed no such introductory expression, but have been understood at once by its etymology.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Arose – Beat violently.
Against it – Against the vessel. Greek: seizing her, and whirling her around.
A tempestuous wind – Turbulent – violent – strong.
Called Euroclydon – Eurokludon. Interpreters have been much perplexed about the meaning of this word, which occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The most probable supposition is, that it denotes a wind not blowing steadily from any quarter, but a hurricane, or wind veering about to different quarters. Such hurricanes are known to abound in the Mediterranean, and are now called Levanters, deriving their name from blowing chiefly in the Levant, or eastern part of the Mediterranean. The name euroclydon is derived probably from two Greek words, euros, wind, and kludon, a wave; so called from its agitating and exciting the waves. It thus answers to the usual effects of a hurricane, or of a wind rapidly changing its points of compass.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 27:14-26
But not long after there arose a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
Paul in the storm
No landsman who has never been in a storm at; sea can truly picture one. The description in our lesson is allowed by those who know to be one of the best ever written. It is on record that Lord Nelson read this chapter on the morning of the battle of Copenhagen, and it is a fact that the ships at that battle, as well as others in which Nelson had the command, were anchored by the stern (an unusual thing), as was the ship in our lesson. From this thrilling narrative we may gather some useful lessons.
1. Gods particular knowledge of the whereabouts of His people.
2. His power to bless under all circumstances. See Pauls courage and self-possession. Contrast with sailors. The reason, his faith in God and his confidence in His word.
3. The value of real religion. It gives rest of soul in times of trial. Ensures final safety. Enables its possessors to be benefactors and comforters to others. Let us have Jesus as our Pilot, then always safe in our voyage of life. (Christian Age.)
Paul in the storm
Or, if God be for us, who can be against us?
I. Not winds and waves with their violence; for winds and waves must obey the Almighty.
II. Not men with their designs and plans; for the Lord says, Resolve, and it will come to nothing.
III. Not our own heart, with its doubts and anxieties; for comfort comes from above: fear not. (K. Gerok.)
Paul tested in the storm
1. In his faith in God.
2. In his pastoral fidelity.
3. In his undaunted courage. (K. Gerok.)
Paul and Jonah
1. Jonah flees from the presence of the Lord; Paul journeys in the service of the Lord.
2. Jonah brings the wrath of God on his fellow passengers; Paul becomes the comfort and safety of his.
3. Jonah is rescued from the jaws of death; Paul brings 276 souls to land.
4. Jonah goes to Nineveh to preach repentance; Paul goes to Rome to proclaim the gospel with the sacrifice of his own life. (K. Gerok.)
The storm and the deliverance
No other storm has become so famous as this. Of no other shipwreck has so much been written. Yet every year a storm has swept the Adriatic, and unnumbered ships have sunk beyond the reach of tempests; but this one, whose name we know not, is alone historic. It was not a cargo of gold–only wheat! and wheat was plentiful. It was not a ship of the line with honoured guests. Upon that great stormy sea, a century before, the great Caesar warned the pilot, Steer boldly; thou cattiest Caesar and his fortune. The historic ship carried Paul, and grim humour hath it that the great missionary was carried at Neros expense.
I. The storm.
1. It may be compared to the equinoctial gale, coming with the force of a hurricane. The description reminds us of Psa 107:25-27. Terror seized the crew and soldiers; all hope was taken away. The compass was not yet invented, and the sailors chart depended upon their observation of the stars, or the course of the sun. No rift in the clouds by night or day gave any knowledge. The whistling tempest, the moaning waves, the roaring breakers–these were the parts in the minor music of their despair.
2. Yet God was there. That storm, like every other since, had its meaning. A seeming evil is not the hiding of Gods face. All is not dark which seems dark. Above the tempest; the sun shone every day in all his glory, and at night every star stood out as clear and beautiful as though their light were seen everywhere. In all this scene of despair an angel of God had come upon the deck of the ship (verses 23, 24).
3. In the midst of that awful gale the apostle, pale and weakened from long fasting, stood up. It was he who had made Felix tremble. The voice which had almost persuaded king Agrippa was heard above the raging of the sea (verses 21-25). The prisoner was from henceforth the captain. The centurion, accustomed to speak with authority, became the obedient servant of his prisoner.
4. Although he had thus spoken, there was no abatement in the tempest. They drifted at the mercy of the gale until midnight of the fourteenth day, when they awoke in the midst of the breakers. But even in that place all were of good cheer. No other event; more clearly mirrors the power of the apostle over men; or, shall we not rather say, Christ, who had dispelled all fears in the storm on Genessaret, wrought good cheer in that ship upon the Adriatic through His apostle?
5. The tent maker, who could pray while he worked, could work while he prayed. He who, in the beginning of the voyage, had shown his interest in every preparation, would not leave the post of danger in the hour of trial. We are to pray for the Sick; but when the hour has come for us to give the medicine, we must give the medicine, and we can pray while we are giving it. The fireman can pray as he ascends the ladder to save the child. The citizen can pray while he cares for his neighbours goods. Judging from what we know of his nature, the most active man on that ship was Paul; and this active man prayed without ceasing.
6. The promise was, Lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. It was not at all necessary for God to save the whole ships company in order to prolong Pauls life that he might stand before Nero; but it was on Pauls account that the rest were saved. It was as when Lot by his presence kept back the impending fiery storm from Sodom. No real disciple can ever know the full extent of his influence upon the ungodly.
II. With this storm as a background, and the promise given, we accept the great fact; namely–
1. The decreed certainty of their salvation. The sailors disbelieved, as they showed by endeavouring to escape in the boat. The centurion and his company may have feared, but Paul never doubted. The scene declares his unbounded faith. When morning had come, they could partially see the land before them through the rain and fog. And it came to pass that, by swimming, and floating upon pieces of the wreck, they escaped all safe to land. The Divine promise was as much of a fact as the salvation itself. Whatever God declares shall come to pass will come to pass. Around this shipwreck has arisen the question, Was the promise based solely upon the Divine will, or upon the Divine foreknowledge? In answer, we point to–
2. The condition embraced in the decree. Paul never ceased his vigilance. If they were to be saved without a condition, surely all this watching was in vain. The Divine promise was based on the free efforts of those on board. Thus the sailors were preparing to leave the ship when he, who had declared the certainty of their coming to land safely, said, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. There was reason in these words. The sailors understood managing the ship, the soldiers could have done nothing. The Divine account took in the skill of the crew. (D. O. Mears.)
In the storm
It is an interesting confession that Mr. Moody makes, that when the Spree, on which he made his passage home, was thought to be sinking, it was the darkest hour of his life. My thoughts, he says, went out to my loved ones at home–my wife and children, anxiously awaiting my coming–my friends on both sides of the sea–the schools and all the interests so dear to me–and realised that perhaps the next hour would separate me forever from all these, so far as the world was concerned: I confess it almost broke me down I could not endure it. I must haze relief, and relief came in prayer. A good deal of unreal talk is indulged in about the Christian taking no heed of death, and welcoming it under any form in which it may come. If a man did get into such a state, he would simply have attained to a state of supreme selfishness. He would be cruelly and callously careless of the pain to all who loved him, and would resemble a man who rejoiced simply because he was going to exchange a post of arduous, earthly service for his Master for a life of pure, spiritual enjoyment. Is that Christianity? It was not Pauls idea of it. He looked for the far better, but he wanted still more greater opportunities of present service, and he was prepared to sacrifice his hopes of heaven, if need be, for his works sake. Paul was not particularly cheerful at Ephesus, when, with the presentiment of early death upon him, he took a final farewell of his friends. The true Christian loves his life, and shudders at the figure clothed in grey, though he does not dread death as one that has no hope. (Christian World.)
The calmness of faith
On shipboard a few years ago, when the passengers crowded on deck from the cabin and saloon in a sudden panic of fear that a terrible accident was imminent, a lady and gentleman started the hymn, My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary. The singing of this hymn was after a moment taken up by the whole company assembled on the ship. Not only were fears allayed, presence of mind displayed, but noble testimony was borne to the Lord Jesus and His power in the most natural manner possible. The lady and gentleman were the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen.
Rising above the storm
The frigate bird (Figata)
spreads its wings to the extent of three yards, and its power of flight is, therefore, very great. When a hurricane arises it mounts up far above the storm, and remains in these empyrean regions until the tempest is overpast. In consequence of their immense expansion of the wing they can sustain themselves in the air for days together without taking or requiring rest. The human soul, like the frigate bird, possesses a power to rise above its storms. Upon the pinions of faith it can ascend above the tempests of time, and calm itself in the prospects of immortality. No storms can beat it down, for it possesses a spirituality which, as Dr. Croley says, enables it to rise higher and higher with every fresh wave of its wing. (Scientific Illustrations.)
And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind.–In the Greek, Could not eye the wind. This directs attention to a peculiarity of ancient Oriental ships. In the Egyptian sculptures, the war galleys have often at the prow a lions head or a rams head, with the eyes clearly represented, and looking ahead of the ship. In the Khorsabad sculpture copied by Layard in Nineveh and its Remains, the ship is in the form of a sea monster, with a horses head as the prow, a nondescript body forming the bulk of the vessel, and a fish tail forming the elevation at the stern. The Oriental ship was thus conceived of as an animal: its figure head was really the head of the animal form; and the figure head at the prow was balanced by the figure tail at the stern. This conception of a ship as a sea animal was not alien to the sailors of the Mediterranean at the time of Paul. In the paintings on the walls of Herculaneum we see several ships, not only with swan-head prows, but with gigantic eyes painted on either side of the swelling bulk beneath the swan necks. The vessel thus had two pairs of eyes–the small eyes in the swans head, and the large eyes on the bow. In other cases, the whole bow was a gigantic human head; but even in such instances a well-defined tail is sometimes shown in the paintings. It is worth noting that a relic of this custom still survives on the Mediterranean, many of the vessels still having large eyes painted on the bow; and the swift Turkish skiffs, with long and high prows and sterns, which recall the form of the ancient animal ships, are still called swallows. Chinese junks are always supplied with eyes on their bows, and the traveller who asks the significance of the custom is told, Junk no have eyes; no can see. (S. S. Times.)
We let her drive.—
Waiting and trusting
In the financial panic of 1857, when the best business management on the part of Christian merchants was insufficient to enable them to stem the tide of commercial disaster, the Rev. Dr. Bushnell published, in the Hartford Courant, a Weekday sermon to the business men of Hartford, based on this text. The lesson of it was obvious. There are many times when, in the providence of God, there is nothing for us to do but to stand still and wait till a storm has blown itself out. It may be a financial storm. It may be a gale of popular fanaticism. It may be an attack of disease. It may be a new flurry of temptations. There may seem to be nothing for the believer to do hopefully. At all events he can wait–and trust. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. A tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.] Interpreters have been greatly perplexed with this word; and the ancient copyists not less so, as the word is variously written in the MSS. and versions. Dr. Shaw supposes it to be one of those tempestuous winds called levanters, which blow in all directions, from N.E. round by the E. to S.E. The euroclydon, from the circumstances which attended it, he says, “seems to have varied very little from the true east point; for, as the ship could not bear, , loof up, against it, Ac 27:15, but they were obliged to let her drive, we cannot conceive, as there are no remarkable currents in that part of the sea, and as the rudder could be of little use, that it could take any other course than as the winds directed it. Accordingly, in the description of the storm, we find that the vessel was first of all under the island Clauda, Ac 27:16, which is a little to the southward of the parallel of that part of the coast of Crete from whence it may be supposed to have been driven; then it was tossed along the bottom of the Gulf of Adria, Ac 27:27, and afterwards broken to pieces, Ac 27:41, at Melita, which is a little to the northward of the parallel above mentioned; so that the direction and course of this particular euroclydon seems to have been first at east by north, and afterwards, pretty nearly east by south.” These winds, called now levanters, and formerly, it appears, euroclydon, were no determinate winds, blowing always from one point of the compass: euroclydon was probably then, what levanter is now, the name of any tempestuous wind in that sea, blowing from the north-east round by east to the south-east; and therefore St. Luke says, there rose against it (i.e. the vessel) a tempestuous wind called euroclydon; which manner of speaking shows that he no more considered it to be confined to any one particular point of the compass, than our sailors do their levanter. Dr. Shaw derives from , an eastern tempest, which is the very meaning affixed to a levanter at the present day.
The reading of the Codex Alexandrinus is , the north-east wind, which is the same with the euro-aquilo of the Vulgate. This reading is approved by several eminent critics; but Dr. Shaw, in the place referred to above, has proved it to be insupportable.
Dr. Shaw mentions a custom which he has several times seen practised by the Mohammedans in these levanters:-After having tied to the mast, or ensign staff, some apposite passage from the Koran, they collect money, sacrifice a sheep, and throw them both into the sea. This custom, he observes, was practised some thousand years ago by the Greeks: thus Aristophanes:-
‘, , ,
.
Ran. Act. iii. s. 2, ver. 871.
A lamb! boys, sacrifice a black lamb immediately:
For a tempest is about to burst forth.
Virgil refers to the same custom: –
Sic fatus, meritos aris mactavit honores:
Taurum Neptuno, taurum tibi, pulcher Apollo;
Nigram hyemi pecudem, zephyris felicibus albam.
AEn. iii. ver. 118.
Thus he spake, and then sacrificed on the altars the proper eucharistic victims: –
A bull to Neptune, and a bull to thee, O beautiful Apollo;
A black sheep to the north wind, and a white sheep to the west.
And again: –
Tres Eryci vitutos, et tempestatibus agnam,
Caedere deinde jubet.
AEn. v. ver. 772.
Then he commanded three calves to be sacrificed to Eryx,
and a lamb to the tempests.
In the days of the Prophet Jonah the mariners in this sea were accustomed to do the same. Then they offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and vowed vows; Jon 1:16. See Shaw’s Travels, 4to. edit. p. 329-333.
The heathens supposed that these tempests were occasioned by evil spirits: and they sacrificed a black sheep in order to drive the demon away. See the ancient Scholiast on Aristophanes, in the place cited above.
Sir George Staunton (Embassy to China, vol. ii. p. 403) mentions a similar custom among the Chinese, and gives an instance of it when the yachts and barges of the embassy were crossing the Yellow River:-
“The amazing velocity with which the Yellow River runs at the place where the yacht and barges of the embassy were to cross it rendered, according to the notions of the Chinese crews, a sacrifice necessary to the spirit of the river, in order to insure a safe passage over it. For this purpose, the master, surrounded by the crew of the yacht, assembled upon the forecastle; and, holding as a victim in his hand a cock, wrung off his head, which committing to the stream, he consecrated the vessel with the blood spouting from the body, by sprinkling it upon the deck, the masts, the anchors, and the doors of the apartments; and stuck upon them a few of the feathers of the bird. Several bowls of meat were then brought forward, and ranged in a line across the deck. Before these were placed a cup of oil, one filled with tea, one with some ardent spirit, and a fourth with salt; the captain making, at the same time, three profound inclinations of his body, with hands uplifted, and muttering a few words, as if of solicitation to the deity. The loo, or brazen drum, vas beaten in the meantime forcibly; lighted matches were held towards heaven; papers, covered with tin or silver leaf, were burnt; and crackers fired off in great abundance by the crew. The captain afterwards made libations to the river, by emptying into it, from the vessel’s prow, the several cups of liquids; and concluded with throwing in also that which held the salt. All the ceremonies being over, and the bowls of meat removed, the people feasted on it in the steerage, and launched afterwards, with confidence, the yacht into the current. As soon as she had reached the opposite shore, the captain returned thanks to heaven, with three inclinations of the body.
“Besides the daily offering and adoration at the altar erected on the left or honourable side of the cabin in every Chinese vessel, the solemn sacrifices above described are made to obtain the benefit of a fair wind, or to avert any impending danger. The particular spot upon the forecastle, where the principal ceremonies are performed, is not willingly suffered to be occupied or defiled by any person on board.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There arose against it; Crete or Candia; so that they were in the greater danger, having a sea-shore.
Called Euroclydon; this some will have to have been a whirlwind; but the word signifies only, the tempestuous east, or the north-east, which is a contrary wind unto any that would go from Crete to Italy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14, 15. a tempestuous“typhonic”
windthat is, like atyphon or tornado, causing a whirling of the clouds, owing tothe meeting of opposite currents of air.
called EuroclydonThetrue reading appears to be Euro-aquilo, or east-northeast,which answers all the effects here ascribed to it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But not long after,…. They had not been long at sea, but
there arose against it; the ship, or the island of Crete, or both:
a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon; in the Greek text it is a “Typhonic” wind, so called, not from the name of a country from whence it blew; rather from Typho, the same with Python, an Heathen deity, who is said to be drowned in the lake Serbonis, or in the river Orontes; about which places this sort of wind is observed to be frequent, and which may take its name from him, being supposed to be raised by him. This wind may very well be thought to be the same which is called Typhon, and is by writers s represented as a very tempestuous one, as a sort of whirlwind or hurricane, a violent storm, though without thunder and lightning; and Pliny t calls it the chief plague of sailors, it breaking their sails, and even their vessels to pieces: and this may still have its name from Typho, since the Egyptians used to call everything that is pernicious and hurtful by this name; moreover, this wind is also called “Euroclydon”. The Alexandrian copy reads, “Euracylon”, and so the Vulgate Latin version seems to have read, rendering it “Euro-aquilo, the north east wind”. The Ethiopic version renders it, the “north wind”; but according to Aristotle u, and Pliny w the wind Typhon never blew in the northern parts; though some think that wind is not meant here, since the Typhon is a sudden storm of wind, and soon over; whereas this storm of wind was a settled and lasting one, it continued many days; and that it is only called Typhonic, because it bore some likeness to it, being very blustering and tempestuous: it seems by its name to be an easterly wind, which blew very violently, ploughed the sea, and lifted up its waves; hence the Arabic version renders it, “a mover” or “stirrer up of the waves”; which beat against the ship in a violent manner, and exposed it to great danger.
s Aristotel. Meteorolog. l. 3. c. 1. Apaleius de Mundo, p. 266. t Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 48. u Ut supra. (Aristotel. Meteorolog. l. 3. c. 1.) w lb. c. 49.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After no long time (‘ ). Litotes again.
Beat down from it ( ‘ ). Second aorist active indicative of , to throw. Here “dashed” (intransitive). is in the ablative, not genitive case, beat “down from it” (Crete), not “against it or on it.” (Robertson, Grammar, p. 606). cannot refer to (boat) which is neuter. So the ablative case with as in Mr 5:13, Homer also. The Cretan mountains are over 7,000 feet high.
A tempestuous wind which is called Euraquilo ( ). = was used for the typhoon, a violent whirlwind () or squall. This word gives the character of the wind. The (reading of Aleph A B against the Textus Receptus ) has not been found elsewhere. Blass calls it a hybrid word compounded of the Greek (east wind) and the Latin (northeast). It is made like (southeast). The Vulgate has euroaquilo. It is thus the east north east wind. Page considers Euroclydon to be a corruption of Euraquilo. Here the name gives the direction of the wind.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
There arose against it [ ] . Against what? Some say, the island of Crete; in which case they would have been driven against the island, whereas we are told that they were driven away from it.
Others, the ship. It is objected that the pronoun aujthv, it, is feminine, while the feminine noun for ship [] is not commonly used by Luke, but rather the neuter, ploion. I do not think this objection entitled to much weight. Luke is the only New Testament writer who uses nauv (see verse 41), though he uses it but once; and, as Hackett remarks, “it would be quite accidental which of the terms would shape the pronoun at this moment, as they were both so familiar.” A third explanation refers the pronoun to the island of Crete, and renders, “there beat down from it.” This is grammatical, and according to a well – known usage of the preposition. The verb ballw is also used intransitively in the sense of to fall; thus Homer (” Iliad, “11, 722), of a river falling into the sea. Compare Mr 4:37 :” the waves beat [] into the ship; “and Luk 14:12 :” the portion of goods that falleth [] to me. ” The rendering of the Rev. is, therefore, well supported, and, on the whole, preferable : there beat down from it. It is also according to the analogy of the expression in Luk 8:23, there came down a storm. See note there, and on Mt 8:24.
A tempestuous wind [ ] . Lit., a typhonic wind. The word tufwn means a typhoon, and the adjective formed from it means of the character of a typhoon.
Euroclydon [] . The best texts read Eujrakulwn, Euraquilo : i e., between Eurus, “the E. S. E. wind,” and Aquilo, “the north – wind, or, strictly, N. 1/3 E.” Hence, E. N. E.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
THE MIGHTY STORM ENCOUNTERED V. 14-20
1) “But not long after,” (met’ ou polu de) “Then not much after they sailed away,” after but a short time had passed, when they put out to sea, from Fair Haven, under a gentle southern breeze that they hoped would help them to a purposed landing at Lutro, an ideal place for spending the winter, Act 27:8; Act 27:13.
2) “There arose against it,” (ebalen kat’ autes) “There arose and beat down upon it,” upon the ship of Alexandria, a cargo ship in which 276 were sailing, Act 27:6; Act 27:37-38; The wind arose from the high mountains of Crete, along the south coast.
3) “A tempestuous wind,” (anemos tuphonikos) “A typhoon-like wind,” a tempestuous gale or storm, perhaps Divinely sent or mandated of the Lord, as surely as that storm in which Jonah was thrown overboard, into the sea, Jon 1:4-16; Psa 107:25.
4) “Called Euroclydon.” (ho kaloumenos eurakulon) “Being then known as or called Euraquilo” It was an east-northeast wind that would tend to carry the ship of Alexandria toward Africa, in an almost opposite direction from their desired, eventual landing in Rome, Italy, Act 27:1; Act 28:14-16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(14) There arose against it . . .The Greek pronoun is in the feminine, and as the noun used for ship is, throughout the narrative, in the neuter, the difference of gender presents a difficulty. Grammatically the pronoun seems to refer to Crete, and if referred to it, the sentence admits of three possible constructions: (1) the wind drove us against Crete; or (2), blew against Crete; or (3), drove down on us from Crete. Of these, (1) and (2) are at variance with the facts of the case, as the gale blew the ship away from Crete to the south, while (3), which is as tenable grammatically, exactly agrees with them. Some translators (e.g., Luther) have, however, referred the pronoun to the noun purpose,the wind blew against their purpose; but this gives a less satisfactory sense. Of the English versions Wiclif gives was against it, leaving the sense ambiguous. Tyndale and Cranmer follow Luther, there arose against their purpose. The Geneva adopts the first of the above readings, there arose against Candie, and is followed by the Rhemish, drove against it.
A tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.The Greek adjective typhonic is perpetuated in the modern typhoon, as applied to whirlwinds like that now described. The vortex of such a wind is indeed its distinguishing feature. The name Euroclydon, which is fairly represented by such a word as wide-wave, or broad-billow, is not found elsewhere, and, if the reading be genuine, must be looked on as a term which St. Luke reported as actually used by the sailors on board. Some of the best MSS., however, give the form Euro-aquilo, which, though a somewhat hybrid word unknown to Greek and Latin writers, fits in, as meaning north-east, or, more strictly, east by north, with all the phenomena described. The earlier EnglishWiclif, Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Genevaall give north-east, while the Rhemish reproduces the term Euro-aquilo, without attempting to translate. A sudden change from south to north, with a great increase of violence, is a common phenomenon in the autumnal storms of the Mediterranean, and in this instance the blast would seem to have rushed down on the ship from the hills of Crete.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. A tempestuous wind Literally, a typhonic wind. The word typhonic indicates a tornado with a whirl. The Greek for arose is flung. The typhonic blast flung down instantly from Mount Ida, from which the ship lying southwest would be directly smitten.
Euroclydon a well known sort of tornado called by Mediterranean seamen a levanter, from the French name of the sea, Levant. It is a Greek compound, euros, east wind, and clydon, broad-wave, an east wind broad-swell. But a reading of some authority is euru-aquilo, a northeaster. This precisely describes the actual direction of the tornado. Alford plausibly suggests that Euruaquilo is the true (Latin) name, and Euroclydon its popular corruption among the Greek sailors.
Against it Is generally referred to the ship, but more probably refers to Crete, and signifies adown it. The typhoon rushed from the summit of Ida, adown the isle, and swept sea and ship.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo, and when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven.’
The tempestuous wind that suddenly struck the ship as it came round the cape into the gulf was infamous. It appeared suddenly, so that they were caught before they could face into the wind, and thus had to give way and allow it to drive them before it. The name by which such winds were known was Euraquilo (‘east wind-north wind’).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The hurricane:
v. 14. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
v. 15. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.
v. 16. And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat;
v. 17. which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.
v. 18. And we, being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
v. 19. and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
v. 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. The gentle breeze seems to have been only a lull while the storm shifted, for not long after they had started from Fair Havens, and probably before they had rounded the cape, where their course would turn toward the northwest, a tempestuous wind, a hurricane, beat down from Crete and its mountains. Its name is given as Euroclydon, or East-northeast, now known as a “Levanter,” and its force was such, after the ship had been caught by it, as to make it impossible to face the wind. So the sailors gave way to the wind, they gave the ship up to the mercy of the hurricane and were driven along. Steadily toward the southwest they were beaten until they ran under the lee of a small island called Clauda. Here the force of the storm was not quite so great as out in the open, and so the sailors were enabled to take three precautions. With some difficulty they got hold of the boat, or skiff, which usually floated at the stern, but which was now in danger of being dashed to pieces against the sides of the vessel: this they hoisted to the deck. They next undergirded, or frapped, the ship by passing cables around the hull, undoubtedly the long way in this instance, to secure the whole plankage of the ship and to break the force of the waves. The tightening was done by means of the capstan, thus affording some safety against the parting of the timbers, And finally, since the sailors were afraid that they would be driven into the dreaded Syrtis, the great banks of quicksands near the coast of Africa, they lowered the gear, the rigging of the sails, or set it so that it offered the least possible resistance to the wind, and so were driven. Their precautions seem at least to have had so much effect that the course of the ship was changed from southwest to west. The next day the tempest raged with unabated vigor, and since they were tossed about and suffered great distress because of the storm, they jettisoned, they threw overboard the cargo, or such parts of it as were loose. On the third day they threw overboard the rigging and the tackling of the ship, including all the spars and cordage. The suffering and distress of all men on board was greatly increased by the fact that they were dependent upon the stars for steering the course of the vessel, and since now neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the tempest was raging with unabated force, they finally gave up all hope of being saved. That was the result of courting danger without necessity, of pure presumptuousness.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Act 27:14. Euroclydon Among many other particulars respecting the air and weather of Syria, &c. we are told that the westerly winds there are generally attended with rain. (See Luk 12:54. 1Ki 18:41; 1Ki 18:46.) But the easterly winds are usually dry, notwithstanding they are sometimes exceedingly hazyand tempestuous; at which times they are called by the sea-faring people, levanters, being not confined to any single point, but blowing in all directions, from the north-east, round by the north to the south-east. The great wind, or mighty tempest, or vehement east wind, described by the prophet Jonah (i. 4 Act 4:8.), appears to have been one of these levanters; as was also, in all probability, the Euroclydon here mentioned: for St. Luke describes it to be , a violent or tempestuous wind, bearing away all before it; and, from the circumstances which attended it, appears to have varied very little throughout the whole period of it from the true east point. For after the ship could not , bear, or, in the mariner’s term, luff up against it, (Act 27:15.) but they were obliged to let her drive, we cannot conceive, as there are no remarkable currents in that part of the sea, and as the rudder could be of little use, that it could take any other course than as the winds alone directed it. Accordingly, in the description of the storm, we find the vessel was first of all under the island Clauda, (Act 27:16.) which is a little to the southward of the parallel of that part of the coast of Crete, from whence it may be supposed to have been driven; then it was tossed along the bottom of the gulph of Adria, (Act 27:27.) and afterwards broken in pieces (Act 27:41.) at Melita, which is a little to the northward of the parallel above mentioned; sothat the direction and course of this particular euroclydon seems to have been first at east by north, and afterwards pretty nearly east by south. Virgil elegantly describes one of these Levanters thus:
ubi navigiis violentior incidit Eurus, Nosse, quot Ionii veniant ad litora fluctus. Georg. 2. 5. 107, 108.
Number, when the blustering Eurus roars, The billows beating on Ionian shores. DRYDEN.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 27:14 . ] intransitive: fell upon , threw itself against it; often in the classical writers after Homer.
] refers to the nearest antecedent , not (Luther) to .
] The adjective is formed from , a whirlwind , and is found also in Eustathius. See Wetstein.
] the broad-surging , from , breadth , and . It is usually explained: Eurus fluctus excitans , from (the south-east wind) and . But this compound would rather yield an appellation unsuitable for a wind: south-east wave, fluctus Euro excitatus . , [171] from , according to the analogy of , , , etc., would certainly be more suitable to the explanation broad-surging ; but on this very account the reading in B ** 40, 133, is not to be approved with Griesbach, but to be considered as a correction. Lachmann and Bornemann, followed by Ewald, Smith, and Hackett, have , according to A (Vulg. Cassiod.: Euroaquilo ), which also Olshausen, after Erasmus, Grotius, Mill, Bengel, and others, approves (the best defence of this reading is by Bentley, in Wolf, Cur. ). This would be the east-north-east wind ; the compound formed, as in (Gel. ii. 22. 10), euroauster , euroafricus . But the words of the text lead us to expect a special actual name ( . ) of this particular whirlwind, not merely a designation of its direction . It is difficult also to comprehend why such an easily explicable name of a wind as Euroaquilo , , should have been converted into the difficult and enigmatic . Far more naturally would the converse take place, and the , not being understood, would be displaced by the similar formed according to the well-known analogy of . . . ; so that the latter form appears a product of old emendatory conjecture. Besides, , if it were not formed by a later hand from the original , would be an improbable mixture of Greek and Latin, and we do not see why the name should not have had some such form as ; = aquilo , is nowhere found.
[171] Defended by Toup, Emend. in Suidam , III. p. 506. Comp. Etym. M. p. 772, 31: , ; .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
Ver. 14. Called Euroclydon ] A stormy blast coming from the east,
” Una Eurusque Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis
Africus, et vastos volvunt ad littora fluctus.
(Virg. Aeneid. ii. 28.) This wind is by Pliny called Navigantium pestis, the mariner’s misery. How happy is the Church to whom, what wind soever bloweth, blows good and comfort, Son 4:16 . As for others, like as here, after a soft south wind arose Euroclydon; so to them after a false peace will be a sad storm, Tranquillitas ista tempestas erit.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14. ] These difficult words have been taken in three ways: (1) (The common interpretation) referring to just mentioned. Thus they might mean, ( ) ‘ drove ( us ) against Crete ,’ or ( ) ‘ struck ( blew ) against Crete ,’ i.e. in the direction of Crete. Now of these, ( ) is contrary to the expressed fact: they were not driven against Crete . And ( ) is as inconsistent with the implied fact. Had the wind blown in the direction of Crete at all, they, who gave themselves up to it, and were driven before it ( , Act 27:15 ), must have been stranded on the Cretan coast, which they were not . (2) referring to the ship , understood. This is adopted by Dr. Bloomfield and Mr. Smith. (The latter, I find by a letter received since this note was written, now understands it as I have explained it below.) But not to mention the harshness occasioned by having to supply a subject for which has never yet been mentioned, a decisive objection against this rendering is, that the ship throughout the narrative is , not , in every place except Act 27:41 , and . occurs in the very next clause, which, had this been meant of the ship, would certainly have been expressed , or . (3) referring to . In that case must either ( ) = , as Plato, Euthyph. 15 E, , which is harsh, and hardly allowable; or ( ) be understood, taking the neuter sense of ( , Il. . 722), as meaning ‘ blew against it ,’so as to thwart their design. And so Luther: ‘ erhob sich wider ihr Bornehmen .’ But this mixture of literal and figurative is also harsh, and hardly allowable. (4) A method has occurred to me of rendering the words, which seems to remove all harshness, whether of reference in , or of construction. There can be no question that the obvious reference of is to Crete . What then is ? applied to wind may be understood as above, neuter, or reflective, ‘ blew,’ ‘rushed .’ Assuming this, and that there is no object to be supplied between and the preposition, may surely be rendered, as in , , , &c., viz. down (from) Crete , ‘ down the high lands forming the coast .’ It is a common expression in lake and coasting navigation, that ‘a gust came down the valleys.’ And this would be exactly the direction of the wind in question. When they had doubled, or perhaps were now doubling, Cape Matala, the wind suddenly changed, and the typhoon came down upon them from the high lands ; at first, as long as they were sheltered, only by fits down the gullies, but as soon as they were in the open bay past the cape, with its full violence. This, the hurricane rushing down the high lands when first observed, and afterwards , seems to me exactly to describe their changed circumstances in passing the cape. A confirmation of this interpretation may be found by Luke himself using to express the descending of a squall from the hills on the lake of Gennesareth, Luk 8:23 , where Matt. and Mark have only and . Mr. Smith also suggests , Luk 8:33 , as confirmatory. The above is also Dean Howson’s view. See, in the excursus appended to the Prolegg. to Acts, the confirmation of this view in what actually happened to the Rev. G. Brown’s party.
] “The sudden change from a south wind to a violent northerly wind, is a common occurrence in these seas. (Captain J. Stewart, R.N., in his remarks on the Archipelago, observes, “It is always safe to anchor under the lee of an island with a northerly wind, as it dies gradually away; but it would be extremely dangerous with southerly winds, as they almost invariably shift to a violent northerly wind .”) The term ‘ typhonic ’ indicates that it was accompanied by some of the phnomena which might be expected in such a case, viz. the agitation and whirling motion of the clouds caused by the meeting of the opposite currents of air when the change took place, and probably also of the sea, raising it in columns of spray. Pliny (ii. 48), speaking of ‘repentini flatus,’ says, ‘vorticem faciunt qui Typhon vocatur:’ Aul. Gell. xix. 1, ‘Turbines etiam crebriores et figur qudam nubium tremend quas vocabant.’ ” Smith, p. 60.
] I have adopted the reading of [157] [158] [159] , according to my principle of going, in all cases where there is no overpowering objection, by our most ancient MSS. It may be that had become in common parlance corrupted into , an anomalous word, having no assignable derivation, but perhaps arising from the Greek sailors having changed the Latin termination into one having significance for themselves. Mr. Smith, in his appendix, ‘On the Wind Euroclydon,’ has satisfactorily answered the objections of Bryant to the compound , by shewing that properly, was not the S.E., but the E. wind; and that compounds of Greek and Latin in the names of winds are not unknown, e.g. Euro-Auster.
[157] The MS. referred to by this symbol is that commonly called the Alexandrine, or CODEX ALEXANDRINUS. It once belonged to Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Alexandria and then of Constantinople, who in the year 1628 presented it to our King Charles I. It is now in the British Museum. It is on parchment in four volumes, of which three contain the Old, and one the New Testament, with the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. This fourth volume is exhibited open in a glass case. It will be seen by the letters in the inner margin of this edition, that the first 24 chapters of Matthew are wanting in it, its first leaf commencing , ch. Mat 25:6 : as also the leaves containing , Joh 6:50 , to , Joh 8:52 . It is generally agreed that it was written at Alexandria; it does not, however, in the Gospels , represent that commonly known as the Alexandrine text, but approaches much more nearly to the Constantinopolitan, or generally received text. The New Testament, according to its text, was edited, in uncial types cast to imitate those of the MS., by Woide, London, 1786, the Old Testament by Baber, London, 1819: and its N.T. text has now been edited in common type by Mr. B. H. Cowper, London, 1861. The date of this MS. has been variously assigned, but it is now pretty generally agreed to be the fifth century .
[158] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle; it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as ‘Verc’): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are (1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as ‘Blc’); (2) that of Birch (‘Bch’), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798, Apocalypse, 1800, Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (‘Btly’), by the Abbate Mico, published in Ford’s Appendix to Woide’s edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus’ Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentley’s books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (‘Rl’), and are preserved amongst Bentley’s papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20) 1 . The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgon’s “Letters from Rome,” London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).
[159] The CODEX SINAITICUS. Procured by Tischendorf, in 1859, from the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Codex Frederico-Augustanus (now at Leipsic), obtained in 1844 from the same monastery, is a portion of the same copy of the Greek Bible, the 148 leaves of which, containing the entire New Testament, the Ep. of Barnabas, parts of Hermas, and 199 more leaves of the Septuagint, have now been edited by the discoverer. A magnificent edition prepared at the expense of the Emperor of Russia appeared in January, 1863, and a smaller edition containing the N.T. &c., has been published by Dr. Tischendorf. The MS. has four columns on a page, and has been altered by several different correctors, one or more of whom Tischendorf considers to have lived in the sixth century. The work of the original scribe has been examined, not only by Tischendorf, but by Tregelles and other competent judges, and is by them assigned to the fourth century . The internal character of the text agrees with the external, as the student may judge for himself from the readings given in the digest. The principal correctors as distinguished by Tischendorf are: A, of the same age with the MS. itself, probably the corrector who revised the book, before it left the hands of the scribe, denoted therefore by us -corr 1 ; B (cited as 2 ), who in the first page of Matt. began inserting breathings, accents, &c., but did not carry out his design, and touched only a few later passages; C a (cited as 3a ) has corrected very largely throughout the book. Wherever in our digest a reading is cited as found in 1 , it is to be understood, if no further statement is given, that C a altered it to that which is found in our text; C b (cited as 3b ) lived about the same time as C a , i.e. some centuries later than the original scribe. These are all that we need notice here 6 .
The direction of the wind is established by Mr. S., from what follows, to have been about half a point N. of E.N.E. ; and the subsequent narrative shews that the wind continued to blow from this point till they reached Malta .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 27:14 . , cf. Act 20:12 . , Luk 15:15 , Act 1:5 , “observe the ‘Litotes’ of with an adjective or adverb, four times in ‘We’ sections, twelve in rest of Acts, twice in Luk 7:6 ; Luk 15:13 , rare in rest of N.T.,” Hawkins, p. 153. : intransitive, as often in classical Greek since Homer: “there beat down from it,” R.V., i.e. , from Crete and its mountains over 7,000 feet in height; so also Blass, Holtzmann, Ramsay, Zckler, Page, Rendall, Wendt, Weiss, Knabenbauer, and J. Smith, in later editions, see p. 100, 4th edition; a graphic description of a common experience in the Cretan waters; as the ship crossed the open bay between Cape Matala and Phnice, the wind suddenly shifting to the north, a violent hurricane (strictly from east-north-east) burst upon them from Mount Ida, cf. St. Luke’s , Luk 8:23 , of a squall descending from the hills on the Lake of Gennesaret, and , Luk 8:33 , cf. Mat 8:32 (J. Smith, Weiss, Zckler). Breusing, p. 164 (so Hackett, Lewin, Farrar), takes as = against the ship, but the word is used for ship, and not until Act 27:41 . Luther regarded as agreeing with (so Tyndale and Cranmer). : formed from , turbo , denoting not the direction, but the vehemence of the wind (Breusing, Page), a heavy, eddying squall (J. Smith, Ramsay), vorticosus (Bentley). , see critical note. If we read with [412] [413] [414] * , render “which is called Euraquilo,” R.V. Perhaps the irregularly formed Euraquilo occasioned the corrections. V. Euroaquilo. Blass calls it vox hybrida from and Aquilo ( qui Latin = , ut , Act 18:2 ), strictly the “East-north-east” wind (Breusing thinks “North-east” sufficient; so Wycliffe and Tyndale in their translations). Such a wind would drive the ship into the African Syrtis as the pilot feared, Act 27:17 , and the word is apposite to the context, to all the circumstances, and is so well attested as to fairly claim admission as the word of St. Luke. The Latin had no name for the Greek blowing between Aquilo and Eurus, and it is quite possible that the Roman seamen, for want of a specific word, might express this wind by the compound Euro-Aquilo; cf. , which seems to point to some popular name given to the wind; for similar compounds cf. and Euro-Auster, and Gregalia, the name given to the same wind by the Levantines, as Euripus has become Egripou (Renan, Saint Paul , p. 551); see Bentley, Remarks on a late Discourse on Freethinking , p. 97, quoted at length by Breusing, “Euraquilo” Hastings’ B.D. and B.D., i.
[412] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[413] Codex Alexandrinus (sc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).
[414] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
But not long after. Literally But after not much (time).
arose against it = beat down from it (i.e. Crete).
arose. Greek. ballo. App-174. This verb is sometimes used intransitively.
against = down. Greek. kata. App-104.
tempestuous = typhonic. Greek. tuphonikos. Onlyhere.
Euroclydon. The texts (not the Syriac) read Eurakulon, which means north-north-east wind. But if so, it would hardly have been introduced by the words “which is called”. It was evidently a hurricane, not uncommon in those waters, and called “Euroclydon” locally and by the sailors.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14. ] These difficult words have been taken in three ways: (1) (The common interpretation) referring to just mentioned. Thus they might mean, () drove (us) against Crete, or () struck (blew) against Crete, i.e. in the direction of Crete. Now of these, () is contrary to the expressed fact:-they were not driven against Crete. And () is as inconsistent with the implied fact. Had the wind blown in the direction of Crete at all, they, who gave themselves up to it, and were driven before it ( , Act 27:15), must have been stranded on the Cretan coast, which they were not. (2) referring to the ship, understood. This is adopted by Dr. Bloomfield and Mr. Smith. (The latter, I find by a letter received since this note was written, now understands it as I have explained it below.) But not to mention the harshness occasioned by having to supply a subject for which has never yet been mentioned,-a decisive objection against this rendering is, that the ship throughout the narrative is , not , in every place except Act 27:41,-and . occurs in the very next clause, which, had this been meant of the ship, would certainly have been expressed , or . (3) referring to . In that case must either () = , as Plato, Euthyph. 15 E, , which is harsh, and hardly allowable; or () be understood, taking the neuter sense of ( , Il. . 722), as meaning blew against it,so as to thwart their design. And so Luther: erhob sich wider ihr Bornehmen. But this mixture of literal and figurative is also harsh, and hardly allowable. (4) A method has occurred to me of rendering the words, which seems to remove all harshness, whether of reference in , or of construction. There can be no question that the obvious reference of is to Crete. What then is ? applied to wind may be understood as above, neuter, or reflective, blew, rushed. Assuming this, and that there is no object to be supplied between and the preposition, may surely be rendered, as in ,- ,- , &c., viz. down (from) Crete, down the high lands forming the coast. It is a common expression in lake and coasting navigation, that a gust came down the valleys. And this would be exactly the direction of the wind in question. When they had doubled, or perhaps were now doubling, Cape Matala, the wind suddenly changed, and the typhoon came down upon them from the high lands;-at first, as long as they were sheltered, only by fits down the gullies, but as soon as they were in the open bay past the cape, with its full violence. This, the hurricane rushing down the high lands when first observed, and afterwards , seems to me exactly to describe their changed circumstances in passing the cape. A confirmation of this interpretation may be found by Luke himself using to express the descending of a squall from the hills on the lake of Gennesareth, Luk 8:23, where Matt. and Mark have only and . Mr. Smith also suggests , Luk 8:33, as confirmatory. The above is also Dean Howsons view. See, in the excursus appended to the Prolegg. to Acts, the confirmation of this view in what actually happened to the Rev. G. Browns party.
] The sudden change from a south wind to a violent northerly wind, is a common occurrence in these seas. (Captain J. Stewart, R.N., in his remarks on the Archipelago, observes, It is always safe to anchor under the lee of an island with a northerly wind, as it dies gradually away; but it would be extremely dangerous with southerly winds, as they almost invariably shift to a violent northerly wind.) The term typhonic indicates that it was accompanied by some of the phnomena which might be expected in such a case, viz. the agitation and whirling motion of the clouds caused by the meeting of the opposite currents of air when the change took place, and probably also of the sea, raising it in columns of spray. Pliny (ii. 48), speaking of repentini flatus, says, vorticem faciunt qui Typhon vocatur: Aul. Gell. xix. 1, Turbines etiam crebriores et figur qudam nubium tremend quas vocabant. Smith, p. 60.
] I have adopted the reading of [157] [158] [159], according to my principle of going, in all cases where there is no overpowering objection, by our most ancient MSS. It may be that had become in common parlance corrupted into , an anomalous word, having no assignable derivation, but perhaps arising from the Greek sailors having changed the Latin termination into one having significance for themselves. Mr. Smith, in his appendix, On the Wind Euroclydon, has satisfactorily answered the objections of Bryant to the compound ,-by shewing that properly, was not the S.E., but the E. wind; and that compounds of Greek and Latin in the names of winds are not unknown, e.g. Euro-Auster.
[157] The MS. referred to by this symbol is that commonly called the Alexandrine, or CODEX ALEXANDRINUS. It once belonged to Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Alexandria and then of Constantinople, who in the year 1628 presented it to our King Charles I. It is now in the British Museum. It is on parchment in four volumes, of which three contain the Old, and one the New Testament, with the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. This fourth volume is exhibited open in a glass case. It will be seen by the letters in the inner margin of this edition, that the first 24 chapters of Matthew are wanting in it, its first leaf commencing , ch. Mat 25:6 :-as also the leaves containing , Joh 6:50,-to , Joh 8:52. It is generally agreed that it was written at Alexandria;-it does not, however, in the Gospels, represent that commonly known as the Alexandrine text, but approaches much more nearly to the Constantinopolitan, or generally received text. The New Testament, according to its text, was edited, in uncial types cast to imitate those of the MS., by Woide, London, 1786, the Old Testament by Baber, London, 1819: and its N.T. text has now been edited in common type by Mr. B. H. Cowper, London, 1861. The date of this MS. has been variously assigned, but it is now pretty generally agreed to be the fifth century.
[158] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle;-it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon;-nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as Verc): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are-(1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as Blc); (2) that of Birch (Bch), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798,-Apocalypse, 1800,-Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (Btly), by the Abbate Mico,-published in Fords Appendix to Woides edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentleys books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (Rl), and are preserved amongst Bentleys papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20)1. The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgons Letters from Rome, London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).
[159] The CODEX SINAITICUS. Procured by Tischendorf, in 1859, from the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. The Codex Frederico-Augustanus (now at Leipsic), obtained in 1844 from the same monastery, is a portion of the same copy of the Greek Bible, the 148 leaves of which, containing the entire New Testament, the Ep. of Barnabas, parts of Hermas, and 199 more leaves of the Septuagint, have now been edited by the discoverer. A magnificent edition prepared at the expense of the Emperor of Russia appeared in January, 1863, and a smaller edition containing the N.T. &c., has been published by Dr. Tischendorf. The MS. has four columns on a page, and has been altered by several different correctors, one or more of whom Tischendorf considers to have lived in the sixth century. The work of the original scribe has been examined, not only by Tischendorf, but by Tregelles and other competent judges, and is by them assigned to the fourth century. The internal character of the text agrees with the external, as the student may judge for himself from the readings given in the digest. The principal correctors as distinguished by Tischendorf are:-A, of the same age with the MS. itself, probably the corrector who revised the book, before it left the hands of the scribe, denoted therefore by us -corr1; B (cited as 2), who in the first page of Matt. began inserting breathings, accents, &c., but did not carry out his design, and touched only a few later passages; Ca (cited as 3a) has corrected very largely throughout the book. Wherever in our digest a reading is cited as found in 1, it is to be understood, if no further statement is given, that Ca altered it to that which is found in our text; Cb (cited as 3b) lived about the same time as Ca, i.e. some centuries later than the original scribe. These are all that we need notice here6.
The direction of the wind is established by Mr. S., from what follows, to have been about half a point N. of E.N.E.; and the subsequent narrative shews that the wind continued to blow from this point till they reached Malta.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 27:14. ) viz. so , Act 27:15; . Act 27:43. Intransitive.-) The modern Greek Version has, , upon Crete and from Crete against us.- , a Typhon-like [tempestuous] wind) Aristotle, de mundo, writes, , . It is called so from (to smoke), for , as for . Typhon, in Pliny, means the hurricane (, the hurricane caused by clouds meeting and bursting) descending like a thunderbolt, the especial bane of sailors: l. ii. c. 48 and 49; and when, moreover, there is rather a stormy blast than a wind. On this account, it is therefore conjointly called .-) that is, the east wind (Eurus) exciting the billows. An appropriate compound; the forming one part of it, because of the , and the forming the other part, because of the . [See App. Crit. P. ii. on this passage, which refutes, by more than one reason, the reading , which many advocate.-Not. Crit.]
[152]
[152] Others prefer , from the MS. Petav., as Ernesti suggests, Bibl. Th. T. viii. p. 24.-E. B.
is read by AB (according to Lachm.: but B corrected, acc. to Tisch.) Vulg. (Euroaquilo) and Thcb. of the Rec. Text and Tisch. has the sanction of the two Syr. Versions alone among the oldest authorities. Bentley, in his Letter to F. H., D. D., signed Phileleutherus Lipsiensis, ably supports . The wind Euroclydon was never heard of before. and , presenting a disparity of ideas, would never be joined in one compound; but exactly suits the sense. Eurus is often taken (Gellius ii. 22) for the middle equinoctial East, the same as Solanus. Between the two cardinal winds, Septentrio and Eurus, there are two at stated distances, Aquilo and . The Latins, having no name for (Seneca, Nat. Qust. 16), expressed the wind blowing between Aquilo and Eurus by the compound Euro-Aquilo, on the analogy of the Greek , the middle wind between Eurus and Notus. The is well called by Luke , whirling; for the proverb shows that this was the peculiar character of in those climates, . So Luthers and the Danish Version, North-east. More strictly it is the East-north-east, the very wind which would drive a ship from Crete to the African Syrtis, according to the pilots fears, ver. 17.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Savior of the Ships Company
Act 27:14-26
The crew, being greatly exhausted by severe exertion and want of food, were the more willing to listen to the Apostle when he came to the front with his wise counsels and good cheer. They had previously ignored His advice, but were glad and wise enough to take it on this second occasion.
How calm faith makes us! We can sleep soundly amid the roar of the storm and dream of angels when our hearts are stayed on God. His messengers can cleave their way through the murkiest skies and most drenching storms, to succor those who need their help. What a beautiful confession that was: Whose I am and whom I serve! Can we all appropriate it? The first clause is literally true of us all. We belong to Christ by creation and redemption. But do we acknowledge His ownership and place our all in His service?
In the midst of the excitement, Paul was able to give thanks. Let not the good habit of grace before meals drop out of our practice or homes. What a magnificent sentence is this also-I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Yes, there is no peace outside of that faith. And it shall be, O believer, your happy experience!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
not: Exo 14:21-27, Jon 1:3-5
arose: or beat
a tempestuous: Psa 107:25-27, Eze 27:26, Mat 8:24, Mar 4:37
Euroclydon: Probably, as Dr. Shaw supposes, one of those tempestuous winds called levanters, which blow in all directions, from ne round by e to se
Reciprocal: Luk 8:23 – came Jam 3:4 – are driven
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4
Act 27:14. The chief characteristic of Euroclydon was that of churning up the water into huge waves, which accounts for the difficulties they had with the body of the ship. Thayer defines the word, “A S. E. wind raising mighty waves.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 27:14. But not long after. How suddenly violent changes may take place when we least expect them, and when we have thought that already we have gained our purpose! Every part of the narrative before us, and this part very particularly, admits of being turned into an admirable sermon. As to the actual facts of the case, the sailing books which contain directions for navigating these coasts tell us that it very often happens that after a gentle southerly wind a violent gale from the north-east comes on suddenly. As to the exact point where the change took place in the instance under consideration, we cannot precisely determine this; but it was evidently not long after they rounded Cape Matala, when they would be closest to the shore.
There arose against it. The translation in the Authorised Version is incorrect. The phrase cannot refer to the ship, the word for which, employed throughout, is . The meaning is that the storm came down from the island. The land here is very high, and the gale suddenly swept down one of the gullies among the mountains, in a south-westerly direction.
A tempestuous wind named Euroclydon. The word translated tempestuous is very strong. It was a typhonic wind, a hurricane. As to the precise direction in which the wind blew, and the name which is given to it, we encounter here a very interesting question. The manuscripts vary as to the reading, and are rather evenly balanced between Euroclydon and Euro Aquilo. There is a presumption at first sight in favour of the former word, partly because it is a very strange word, and partly because the phrase a wind called Euroclydon seems to call attention to a popular name of the wind used by the sailors on this occasion. Moreover, there is this objection to the other word, that it appears to be made up half of Greek and half of Latin. The Sinaitic MS., however, it must be admitted, has recently turned the scale in favour of Euro Aquilo. Whatever may be our conclusion in this matter, two things are clear,first, either word shows that the gale blew more or less from the east; while, secondly, the fact that it came down from the island, and drove the ship to the southward (see below), shows that it blew more or less from the north. In popular language, it was a north-easterly gale. We shall see more precisely, when we come to sum up the evidence, that the quarter from which it blew was east-northeast.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
14-17. (14) “But not long after, a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon, struck, against her, (15) and the ship being seized by it, and unable to face the wind, we gave up and were driven by it. (16) And running under the lee of an island called Clauda, with difficulty we were able to secure the boat. (17) When they had taken it up, they used helps, undergirding the ship. And fearing lest they should fall into the Syrtis, they lowered the sail, and so were driven.” It was just as they were rounding Cape Matala, and expected to be borne by the southern wind directly to Phoenix, that they were whirled away by this tempest. The direction from Crete to Clauda is south-west; the wind, therefore, must have been from the north-east. This is indicated by the name Euroclydon, which Bloomfield translates “the wave-stirring easter.” Such a wind, varying from north-east to south-east, is said still to prevail in those seas.
While passing under the lee of Clauda, the island checked the violence of the storm, and enabled them to take some precautions which were impossible in the open sea. The first of these was to “secure the boat,” which had thus far drifted astern, and was likely to be dashed in pieces. The second was to undergird the ship, a process called frapping in modern style, which consists in passing heavy cables under the hull, and fastening them securely on the deck, to prevent the timbers from parting under the force of the waves. The third precaution was to lower the sails, so as to prevent the vessel being driven too rapidly before the wind.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
14. Not long afterward a typhoonic wind, called uraquillo, set in against them. The wind had been from the west much of the time since their voyage, and then from the south. Now this awful tempest sets against them from the northeast. The E. V. calls it euroclydon, from euros, the east wind, and kludoon, a wave. This is a mistake. A wind directly from the east would have dashed them quickly against the mainland of Greece, as Crete is but a short distance. The word is euraquillo, from euros, the east wind, and aquilo, the north wind, hence it means the northeast wind, which is in perfect harmony with the facts in the case, as it drove them directly to the west of Malta.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
27:14 But not long after there arose against {c} it a tempestuous wind, called {d} Euroclydon.
(c) By Crete, from whose shore our ship was driven by that means.
(d) Northeast wind.