Bible Strands
Acts 27:26
However, we must run aground on some island.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the soldiers, sailors, and prisoners aboard the vessel, declaring the outcome of their voyage before the storm reaches its fourteenth night.
The words — The Greek δεῖ (dei) denotes divine necessity, while ἐκπεσεῖν (ekpesein) literally means to fall out or run aground.
The thread — The prophecy of running aground connects to the crew’s earlier fear of sandbars (Acts 27:17), their subsequent anchoring to avoid rocks (Acts 27:29), and the fulfillment of the event on Malta (Acts 28:1).
Why it lands — The text states that survival depends on divine timing rather than human navigation, which requires the reader to accept that historical outcomes follow God’s decree rather than human 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
Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.
Cross-references
- Acts 28:1 Once we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta.
- Acts 27:17 After hoisting it up, the crew used ropes to undergird the ship. And fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and were driven along.
- Acts 27:29 Fearing that we would run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.