Acts 27:14

there arose against it The word "it" must mean the last-mentioned subject, the island Crete. Thus the A. V. would state that the south wind, which already had begun to blow, became tempestuous, and dashed against the island. But if so, it must have carried the vessel with it. Whereas, what really happened was that they were driven southward to the island of Clauda. It is therefore better to take the preposition = down from, a sense which it often has in such a construction, than to give the verb the more literal meaning from the margin of A. V., and to construe (with R. V.) "there beat down from it, &c." The wind suddenly changed from south to north, and coming over the land carried the vessel southward away from Crete. Such changes are not unusual in the Mediterranean (Smith's Voyage of St Paul, p. 99).

a tempestuous wind The adjective is one from which the word "typhoon" is derived.

called Euroclydon (R. V."which is called Euraquilo"). This reading of R. V.is supported by the oldest MSS., and has the Vulgate "Euroaquilo" in its favour, and it exactly describes the wind which would carry the vessel in the direction indicated. It is known in Greek by the name "Cœcias" and is a north-east wind. Some have thought that the reading of the A. V., which has the support of many MSS., arose from a corruption in the mouths of sailors. For the word "Euraquilo" is a hybrid, the first portion being Greek, the latter Latin. The form in the Text Rec. gives it a look of being all Greek, and the words "which is called" seem to intimate that the name was one known to the sailors, rather than a word of general use. Whereas "Euraquilo" would have needed no such introductory expression, but have been understood at once by its etymology.