Acts 27:21 - Exposition

And when they had been long without food for but after long abstinence, A.V. and T.R.; then Paul for Paul, A.V.; set sail for loosed, A.V. ; and gotten for to have gained, A.V.; injury for harm, A.V. Long without food ( πολλῆς ἀσιτίας ὑπαρχούσης ). ἀσιτία is only found here in the Bible; but it was the common medical term for loss of the appetite, and such is the most natural rendering here. There is nothing about "long abstinence" in the text, nor does the verb ὑπαρχούσης admit of being translated " when they had been." It describes a present condition. The literal rendering is, when there was a great (or, general ) loss of appetite among the crew. The terror, the discomfort, the sea-sickness, the constant pressure of danger and labor, the difficulty of cooking, the unpalatableness of the food, combined to take away relish of their food, and they were becoming weak for want of nourishment. Have gotten ( κερδῆσαι ) . Schleusner, Bengel, Meyer, Alford, and the 'Speaker's Commentary' explain this as equivalent to "have avoided," or "have escaped," and quote Josephus ('Ant. Jud,' 2. 3.2), τὸ μιανθῆναι τὰς χεῖρας κερδαίνειν , "To avoid staining their hands;" and ' Bell. Jud.,' 2. 16.4 (towards the close of Agrippa's speech), τῆς ἥττης ὄνειδος κερδήσετε ," You will gain (i.e. avoid) the disgrace of defeat," like the use in Latin of lucrifacere. But it is simpler on the whole to understand it in the sense of "getting" as the fruit of your own conduct. We should say in English, "What have yon gained by this? Nothing but loss and shame." Compare too the phrase τὰ ὀψώνια τῆς ἀμαρτίας θάνατος ( Romans 6:23 ). So Liddell and Scott give us one use of κερδαίνειν , to gain a loss, 1. e. reap disadvantage, and quote from Euripides, 'Hecuba,' 1. 518 (516, Scholefield), διπλᾶ δάκρυα κερδᾶναι , "to gain double weeping." Injury ( ὕβριν ); see Acts 27:10 , note. In the A.V. "to have gained" observe the same idiom as in Acts 27:10 , "and there to winter."