27:27 When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven 28 across the Adriatic Sea, 29 about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land. 30
1 tn Or “the favor.”
2 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.
3 tn This clause is a first class condition. It assumes for the sake of argument that this is what they were being questioned about.
4 tn Or “questioned.” The Greek term ἀνακρίνω (anakrinw) points to an examination similar to a legal one.
5 tn Or “for an act of kindness.”
6 tn Or “delivered” (σέσωται [seswtai], from σώζω [swzw]). See 4:12.
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
9 tn Literally a relative pronoun, “who.” In English, however, a relative clause (“bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, who were all being healed”) could be understood to refer only to the second group (meaning only those troubled by unclean spirits were being healed) or even that the unclean spirits were being healed. To avoid this ambiguity the pronoun “they” was used to begin a new English sentence.
10 sn They were all being healed. Note how the healings that the apostles provided were comprehensive in their consistency.
11 tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
12 tn “Hurt unfairly” conveys a better sense of the seriousness of the offense against the Israelite than “treated unfairly,” which can sometimes refer to slight offenses, or “wronged,” which can refer to offenses that do not involve personal violence, as this one probably did.
13 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Or “he defended,” “he retaliated” (BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμύνομαι).
15 tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.
16 tn Or “the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
17 tn On the heavens “opening,” see Matt 3:16; Luke 3:21; Rev 19:11 (cf. BDAG 84 s.v. ἀνοίγω 2). This is the language of a vision or a revelatory act of God.
18 tn Or “a large linen cloth” (the term was used for the sail of a ship; BDAG 693 s.v. ὀθόνη).
19 tn Or “coming down.”
20 tn Or “to the ground.”
21 tn Grk “For indeed.” The ascensive force of καί (kai) would be awkward to translate here.
22 tn The term translated “rioting” refers to a revolt or uprising (BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 2, 3). This would threaten Roman rule and invite Roman intervention.
23 tn Or “to account for.” Grk “since there is no cause concerning which we can give account concerning this disorderly gathering.” The complexity of the Greek relative clause (“which”) and the multiple prepositions (“concerning”) have been simplified in the translation consistent with contemporary English style.
24 tn Or “commotion.” BDAG 979 s.v. συστροφή 1 gives the meaning “a tumultuous gathering of people, disorderly/seditious gathering or commotion…Ac 19:40.”
25 tn Grk “no small storm” = a very great storm.
26 tn Grk “no small storm pressing on us.” The genitive absolute construction with the participle ἐπικειμένου (epikeimenou) has been translated as parallel to the previous genitive absolute construction (which was translated as temporal). BDAG 373 s.v. ἐπίκειμαι 2.b states, “of impersonal force confront χειμῶνος ἐπικειμένου since a storm lay upon us Ac 27:20.” L&N 14.2, “‘the stormy weather did not abate in the least’ or ‘the violent storm continued’ Ac 27:20.” To this last was added the idea of “battering” from the notion of “pressing upon” inherent in ἐπίκειμαι (epikeimai).
27 tn Grk “finally all hope that we would be saved was abandoned.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one to simplify the translation. This represents a clearly secular use of the term σῴζω (swzw) in that it refers to deliverance from the storm. At this point those on board the ship gave up hope of survival.
28 tn Here “being driven” has been used to translate διαφέρω (diaferw) rather than “drifting,” because it is clear from the attempt to drop anchors in v. 29 that the ship is still being driven by the gale. “Drifting” implies lack of control, but not necessarily rapid movement.
29 sn The Adriatic Sea. They were now somewhere between Crete and Malta.
30 tn Grk “suspected that some land was approaching them.” BDAG 876 s.v. προσάγω 2.a states, “lit. ὑπενόουν προσάγειν τινά αὐτοῖς χώραν they suspected that land was near (lit. ‘approaching them’) Ac 27:27.” Current English idiom would speak of the ship approaching land rather than land approaching the ship.