Acts 27:28
ContextNETBible | They took soundings 1 and found the water was twenty fathoms 2 deep; when they had sailed a little farther 3 they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms 4 deep. |
NET © Notes |
1 tn Grk “Heaving the lead, they found.” The participle βολίσαντες (bolisante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. See also BDAG 180 s.v. βολίζω. Although the term is used twice in this verse (and thus is technically not a NT hapax legomenon), it occurs nowhere else in the NT. 2 sn A fathom is about 6 feet or just under 2 meters (originally the length of a man’s outstretched arms). This was a nautical technical term for measuring the depth of water. Here it was about 120 ft (36 m). 3 tn L&N 15.12, “βραχὺ δὲ διαστήσαντες ‘when they had gone a little farther’ Ac 27:28.” 4 sn Here the depth was about 90 ft (27 m). |