Acts 27:17 - Exposition

And when they had hoisted it up for which when they had taken up, A.V.; be cast upon the Syrtis for fall into the quick-sands, A.V.; they lowered the gear for strake sail, A.V. Helps ; βοηθείαις , in the New Testament only here and Hebrews 4:16 ; but frequent in medical language, for "bandages, "ligaments," "muscles," and all kinds of supports both artificial and natural, and generally to medical aid. Undergirding the ship ; ὑποζωννύντες , only here in the Bible; but found, as well as its derivative ὑπόζωμα , in classical Greek, in the same sense as it has here. In medical language it is used of certain membranes which "under gird" and so strengthen and hold together certain parts of the human body, and specially was applied to the πλευρά . As regards the nautical sense in which St. Luke here uses the word, Dean Howson, in his excellent chapter (23.) on the 'Navigation and Ships of the Ancients,' writes as follows:—"In consequence of the extreme danger to which the ships of the ancients were exposed from leaking, it was customary to take to sea, as part of their ordinary gear, ὑποζώματα , undergirders, which were simply ropes for passing round the hull of the ship, and thus preventing the planks from starting;" and he adds in a note that "within the last twenty years marble tables had been dug up in the Piraeus, containing a list of Athenian ships and an inventory of their tackle, and that they all carried, as part of their "hanging gear," ὑποζώματα . Another great ship described by Athenaeus carried twelve such. The operation of undergirding is still occasionally performed, and is called by seamen "frapping." The German word is umgurten (Howson). Among ether recent examples the Albion was frapped with iron chains after the battle of Navarino. Cast upon the Syrtis . The wind was driving them straight toward the Syrtis Major, "the Goodwin Sands of the Mediterranean" (Farrar), and another twenty-four hours of such a gale might bring them there. The Syrtis Major was a wide gulf off the northern coast of Africa, now the Gulf of Sidra, lying between Tunis and Tripoli, considered very dangerous from its rocks and shoals. Be east upon ( ἐκπέσωσι ) . The verb ἐκπίπτειν is the classical word (Homer, Herodotus, Euripides) for being driven or thrown ashore, and is used in this sense in verses 26, 29 of this chapter, and in a slightly different sense in verse 32. They lowered the gear ( χαλάσαντες ) . σκεῦος is a very common word, variously rendered "goods," "stuff," "vessel," according to the material to which it is applied ( Matthew 12:29 ; Luke 8:16 ; Luke 17:31 , etc.). In the LXX . it is used of agricultural implements ( 1 Samuel 13:20 , 1 Samuel 13:21 ), of weapons of hunting ( Genesis 27:3 ), of household furniture ( Genesis 31:37 ), weapons of war ( Deuteronomy 1:41 ), instruments of music ( 2 Chronicles 5:13 ). This is the only passage in the Bible where it is used in its technical sense as a nautical term. In classical Greek, when applied generally to ships, it means the whole tackling, sails, ropes, yards, stores, engines, etc. The meaning, of course, is narrowed when applied to some particular part of the ship. Here, on the whole, it seems to mean the "great yard," or, if that had been already lowered, the heavy "head-gear," ropes, pulleys, and the like, which, under the circumstances, would contribute to make the ship roll and be unsteady. The word rendered "lowered" is χάλασαι . It is rendered "let down" in Mark 2:4 ; Luke 5:4 , Luke 5:5 ; Acts 9:25 ; 2 Corinthians 11:33 ; and 2 Corinthians 11:30 of this chapter (A.V.). In the R.V. it is sometimes rendered "let down" and sometimes "lowered." In the LXX . it is used in the sense of "spreading" a sail ( Isaiah 33:23 ), which would be equivalent to "let down," if the sails were reefed at the top of the mast; and of "letting down" ( Jeremiah 38:6 ). The R.V., therefore, is correct. The object of what they did was to enable the ship to go as near the wind as possible, and with as little straining and rolling as possible. The operation is called by sailors "lying to." Were driven (see 2 Corinthians 11:15 ).