Bible Strands
Acts 27:15
Unable to head into the wind, the ship was caught up. So we gave way and let ourselves be driven along.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul and his companions are aboard a merchant vessel caught in the Northeaster cyclone near Crete. The narrator records the ship's inability to sail against the gale and the crew's decision to surrender control to the storm.
The words — The Greek συναρπασθέντος (sunarpasthentos) translates to "having been seized" or "caught up," while ἀντοφθαλμεῖν (antophthalmein) means "to face into the wind." These terms describe the vessel's violent capture by the gale and its physical incapacity to steer against it.
The thread — The image of a vessel driven by relentless winds appears in Acts 27:27, where the ship continues drifting across the Adriatic Sea, and in James 3:4, which contrasts the sea's strong winds with a ship's small rudder.
Why it lands — The text states that human steering fails when a storm's force exceeds the ship's capacity, so the crew yields to being driven. This demands recognition that survival sometimes requires ceasing resistance and accepting circumstances beyond personal control.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.
Cross-references
- Acts 27:27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea. About midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.
- James 3:4 Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.