29: XXV. 25. were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. teh. xxiii. 9. 32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto 8 ch. xxv. 11. Cæsar. a 25. XXVII. 1 And when it was determined that we should a ch. xxv. 12, sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. 2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, i we launched, meaning to sail by the coast of Asia; [j one] › Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. b ch. xix. 20. 3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius C c xxiv. 23: courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go ch i read and render, which was about to sail by the coasts of Asia, we launched (i. e. put to sea). jomit. had charge of him. This exception may be regarded as a proof of the perfect courtesy of the great Apostle. 31. doeth nothing] said generally, of his life and habits. No definite act was alleged against him: and his apologetic speech was in fact a sample of the acts of which he was accused. 32.] Agrippa in these words delivers his judgment as a Jew: For aught I see, as regards our belief and prac tices, he might have been set at liberty.'But now he could not: for "by an appeal the power of the judge, from whom the appeal lies, is taken away, for acquittal as for condemnation. The whole cause in its integrity must be reserved for the superior court." Grotius. CHAP. XXVII. 1-XXVIII. 31.] PAUL'S VOYAGE TO ROME AND SOJOURN THERE. I cannot but express the benefit I have derived in my commentary on this section, from Mr. Smith's now well-known treatise on the voyage and shipwreck of St. Paul: as also from various letters which he has from time to time put into my hands, tending further to elucidate the subject. The substance of these will be found embodied in an Appendix following the chronological table in the Introduction to the Acts. 1. that we should sail] Here we have again the first person, the narrator having, in all probability, remained in Palestine, and in the neighbourhood of Paul, during the interval since ch. xxi. 18. band] There is some difficulty in determining what this cohort was. More than one of the legions at different times bore the honorary title 'Augusta :' but of a 'cohort Augusta,' or 'Augustana,' we never hear. It appears likely (see my Greek Test.) that there was a band of picked men called by this name and stationed at Rome for the special body-guard of the emperor. To this Julius seems to have belonged,-to have been sent on some service into Asia, and now to have been returning to Rome. 2. of Adramyttium] Adramyttium 66 was a seaport with a harbour in Mysia, an Athenian colony. It is now a village called Endramit. Grotius, Drusius, and others erroneously suppose Adrumetum to be meant, on the north coast of Africa. Aristarchus] See ch. xix. 29; xx. 4; Col. iv. 10; Philem. 24. In Col. iv. 10, Paul calls him his fellow-prisoner, but perhaps only figuratively: the same term is applied to Epaphras, Philem. 23, where follows Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers." 3. Sidon] This celebrated city is generally joined in the New Test. with Tyre, from which it was distant twentyfive miles, and of which it was probably the mother city. It was within the lot of the tribe of Asher (Josh. xix. 28), but never conquered by the Israelites (Judg. i. 31; iii. 3). From the earliest times the Sidonians were renowned for their manufactures of glass, linen, silversmith's work, and for the hewing of timber (1 Kings v. 6; Ezra iii. 7). In ancient times, Sidon seems to have they delivered Paul] Who? perhaps the assessors with whom Festus took counsel on the appeal, ch. xxv. 12: but more likely the plural is used indefinitely, unto his friends to refresh himself. 4 And when we had been under Tyre, and to have furnished to Tyre. On this it may be well to quote (from Smith) the testimony of M. de Parés, a French navigator, who, on his voyage from Syria to Marseilles, informs us that after making Cyprus, "the winds from the west, and consequently contrary, which prevail in these places during the summer, forced us to run to the north. We made for the coast of Caramania (Cilicia), in order to meet the northerly winds, which we found accordingly." 5. Myra] It was, says Strabo, on a high hill, about three miles from the sea. The neighbourhood is full of magnificent ruins; see Sir C. Fellows's Lycia, ch. ix. The name still remains. The various readings merely shew that the copyists were unacquainted with the place. 6.] The Alexandrian ship may have been laden with corn for Rome; but this cannot be inferred from ver. 38, for the ship had been lightened before, ver. 18.— On her size, see below, ver. 37.- Most probably this ship had been prevented taking the direct course to Italy, which was by the south of Crete, by the prevailing westerly winds. Under such circumstances, says Mr. Smith (p. 32), “ships, particularly those of the ancients, unprovided with a compass, and ill calculated to work to windward, would naturally stand to the N. till they made the land of Asia Minor, which is peculiarly favourable for such a mode of navigation, because the coast is bold and safe, and the elevation of the mountains makes it visible at a great distance; it abounds in harbours, while the sinuosities of its shores and the westerly current would enable them, if the wind was at all off the land, to work to windward, at least as far as Cnidus, where these advantages ceased. Myra lies due N. from Alexandria, and its bay is well calculated to shelter a windbound ship. The Alexandrian ship was not, therefore, out of her course at Myra, even if she had no call to touch there for the purposes of commerce. 7. when we had sailed slowly] It is evident that the ship was encountering an adverse wind. The distance from Myra to Cnidus is only and 1 scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; 8 and, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Laséa. 9 Now when much time was spent, and when m sailing 1 render, with difficulty. 130 geogr. miles, which, with a fair wind, would not take more than one day. Mr. Smith shews that the wind was N.W., or within a few points of it. "We learn from the sailing directions for the Mediterranean, that, throughout the whole of that sea, but mostly in the eastern half, including the Adriatic and Archipelago, N.W. winds prevail in the summer months; .. the summer trade winds come from the N.W. (p. 197); which agrees with Aristotle's account of these winds. According to Pliny (ii. 47), they begin in August, and blow for forty days." with difficulty] not as E. V., 'scarce,' which being also an adverb of time, gives the erroneous idea to the English reader that the ship had scarcely reached Cnidus when the wind became unfavourable. Cnidus] Cnidus is a peninsula at the entrance of the Ægean Sea, between the islands of Cos and Rhodes, having a lofty promontory and two harbours. "With N.W'. winds the ship could work up from Myra to Cnidus; because, until she reached that point, she had the advantage of a weather shore, under the lee of which she would have smooth water, and as formerly mentioned, a westerly current; but it would be slowly and with difficulty. At Cnidus that advantage ceased." Smith, p. 37. we sailed under (see above on ver. 4) Crete...] "Unless she had put into that harbour (Cnidus), and waited for a fair wind, her only course was to run under the lee of Crete, in the direction of Salmone, which is the eastern extremity of that island."-Salmone (Capo Salomon) is described by Strabo as a sharp headland looking toward Egypt and the Rhodian Archipelago. Pliny calls it Sammonium. 8. hardly passing it] "After passing this point (Salmone), the difficulty they experienced in navigating to the westward along the coasts of Asia, would recur; but as the south side of Crete is also a weather shore with N.W. winds, they would be able to work up as far as Cape Matala. Here the land trends suddenly to the N., and the advantages of a weather shore cease, and their only resource was to make for a harbour. Now Fair Havens is the harbour nearest to Cape Matala, the m render, the voyage. farthest point to which an ancient ship could have attained with N.W-ly winds." Smith, as above. fair havens] The situation of this anchorage was ascertained by Pococke, from the fact of the name still remaining. In searching after Lebena farther to the west, I found out a place which I thought to be of greater consequence, because mentioned in Holy Scripture, and also honoured by the presence of St. Paul, that is, the Fair Havens, near unto the city of Lasea;' for there is another small bay about two leagues to the E. of Matala, which is now called by the Greeks good or fair havens." Cited by Mr. Smith, who adds: "The most conclusive evidence that this is the Fair Havens of Scripture, is, that its position is precisely that where a ship circumstanced as St. Paul's was must have put in. I have already shewn that the wind must have been about N.W.;-but with such a wind she could not pass Cape Matala: we must therefore look near, but to the E. of this promontory, for an anchorage well calculated to shelter a vessel in N.W. winds, but not from all winds, otherwise it would not have been, in the opinion of seamen (ver. 12), an unsafe winter harbour. Now here we have a harbour which not only fulfils every one of the conditions, but still retains the name given to it by St. Luke." Smith, p. 45. Laséa] This place was, until recently, altogether unknown; and from the variety of readings, the very name was uncertain. Pliny mentions Lasos among the cities of Crete, but does not indicate its situation. There is a Lisia named in Crete in the Peutinger Table, which may be the same. [On the very interesting discovery of Lasea by the Rev. G. Brown in the beginning of the year 1856, see the Appendix at the end of the Introduction to Acts. The ruins are on the beach, about two hours eastward of Fair Havens.] 9. much time] Not 'since the beginning of our voyage,' as Meyer :-the time was spent at the anchorage. the voyage] viz. to Rome,which henceforth was given up as hopeless for this autumn and winter. And by observing this, we avoid a difficulty which has been supposed to attend the words. was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, 10 and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. 11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. 12 And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenicé, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and • lieth toward the south west and north west. 13 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by ni.e. the captain or steersman. • render, looketh toward the north east and the south east : Sailing was not unsafe so early as this see note. seventeen centuries before." Mr. Smith gives an inscription, making it highly probable that Alexandrian ships did winter at Lutro. looking to the north east and the south east] looking (literally) down the S.W. and Ñ.W. winds; i. e. is the direction of these winds, viz. N.E. and S.E. For the S.W. and N.W. here mentioned in the original are not quarters of the compass, but winds; and down, used with a wind, denotes the direction of its blowing,-down the wind. This interpre tation, which I was long ago persuaded was the right one, I find now confirmed by the opinion of Mr. Smith. The harbour of Lutro satisfies these conditions: and is otherwise even more decisively pointed out as being the spot, by the mention in the Geographers of the island Clauda as connected with it. From these data and others mentioned in my Greek Test., it is almost demonstrated that the port of Phoenice is the present port of Lutro. Mr. Smith has kindly sent me the following extract from a letter containing additional confirmation of the view: Loutro is an excellent harbour; you open it unexpectedly, the rocks stand apart and the town appears within. During the Greek war, when cruising with Lord Cochrane, ...... chased a pirate schooner, as they thought, right upon the rocks; suddenly he disappeared, and when rounding in after him,-like a change of scenery, the little basin, its shipping, and the town of Loutro, revealed themselves.' blew softly] The S. wind was favourable for them in sailing from Fair Havens to Phonice. supposing that they had (as good as) obtained their purpose; 13. Crete. 14 But not long after there Parose against it a tempestuous wind, called a Euroclydon. 15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up r into the wind, we a certain island let her drive. 16 And running under which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the Prender, blew down from it. rrender, against. i. e. that it would now be a very easy matter to reach Phoenice. loosing thence] The word may be understood either of weighing anchor, or of setting sail. They crept close along the land till they passed Cape Matala. A ship which could not lie nearer to the wind than seven points, would just weather that point which bears W. by S. from the entrance of Fair Havens. We see therefore the propriety of the expression they sailed close by Crete,' which the author uses to describe the first part of their passage." Smith, p. 56. 14. there blew down from it] The words in the Greek, of which this appears to be the right rendering, are not easy. I have cliscussed them in my Greek Test.: and there first proposed the sense thus given, viz. that the wind blew 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 catching the ship, seems to me exactly to describe their changed circumstances in passing the cape. A confirmation of this interpretation may be found by St. Luke himself using the word "came down" to express the descending of a squall from the hills on the lake of Gennesareth, Luke viii. 23. The above is also Mr. Howson's view, and has been adopted by Mr. Smith. See, in the Appendix appended to the Introduction to Acts, the confirmation of this view in what actually happened to the Rev. G. Brown's party. a tempestuous (literally, typhonic) wind] "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 phænomena 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, speaking of sudden gusts, says, they make an eddy which is called Typhion." Smith, p. 60. Euracylon] pronounced Eurakylon. This is the reading of the Alexandrian, Vatican, and Sinaitic MSS. It is a compound word, signifying NorthEasterly. 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. 15. caught] hurried away, 'borne along,' by it. bear up against] literally, look in the face of. we let her drive] literally, we gave up, and were driven. 16. running under] i. e. running under the lee of. "St. Luke exhibits here, as on every other occasion, the most perfect command of nautical terms, and gives the utmost precision to his language by selecting the most appropriate :-they ran before the wind to leeward of Clauda, hence it is running under they sailed with a side wind to leeward of Cyprus and Crete: hence it is 'sailed under" " (Smith, p. 61, note). Clauda] Here again, there can be little doubt that the name of the island was Cauda or Gauda, as we have in some MSS., or, as in Pliny and Mela, Gaudos: but Ptolemy has Claudos, and the corruption was very obvious.-The island is the modern Gozzo. we had much work to come by the boat] "Upon reaching Clauda, they availed themselves of the smooth water under its lee, to prepare the ship to resist the fury of the storm. Their first care was to secure the boat by hoisting |
