The Bible Study New Testament

Acts 27:39-44

A bay with a beach. This would be the safest place to run aground. These sailors may have landed on Malta many times before, but did not recognize this part of the coast. So they out off the anchors. They wanted the ship to be as light as possible. The steering oars. The two paddle-rudders which these ships steered by. They had to use these to steer into the bay. Then they raised the sail. Only the small sail at the front of the ship would help in these circumstances. But the ship hit a sandbank. This is a bank or ridge washed up by two seas coming together. The bay turned out to be a narrow channel not more than 300 feet wide, between the island of Salmonetta and the coast of Malta. The ship stuck on the sandbar and the violence of the waves break the ship in pieces. To kill all the prisoners. Roman soldiers would rather kill a prisoner than allow him to escape. But guards who lost their prisoners were killed themselves (see note on Acts 16:27). This shows their attitude toward human life. But the army officer. This man shows a different character. He had treated Paul with respect, and he may now feel some sense of awe toward the one who said his God promised their lives would not be lost, He issues orders for them to abandon ship. They all reach shore safely. This was not Paul's first shipwreck (2 Corinthians 11:25). Scholars say Luke's description of the storm and shipwreck accurately show conditions on the ancient sea.

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The Bible Study New Testament

Acts 27:39-44

Old Testament

New Testament