Acts 27:39

When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they sighted a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The narrator records the crew’s actions at dawn during a storm-driven voyage. They fail to identify the coastline but spot a bay with a sandy beach and resolve to beach the ship.

The words — The Greek ἐπεγινώσκον (epeginōskon) literally means "they were recognizing," describing their failure to identify the terrain despite daylight.

The thread — This failed reconnaissance directly precedes the safe landing in Acts 28:1, where the survivors are identified as having reached the island of Malta.

Why it lands — The text requires a reader to note the shift from failed observation to immediate tactical execution, without attributing the outcome to divine intervention or human virtue.

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

Cross-references

Acts 28:1 Once we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta.