Acts 27:27-29

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 27:27 tn Here “being driven” has been used to translate διαφέρω (diapherō) rather than “drifting,” because it is clear from the attempt to drop anchors in v. 29 that the ship is still being driven by the gale. “Drifting” implies lack of control, but not necessarily rapid movement.
2. Acts 27:27 sn The Adriatic Sea. They were now somewhere between Crete and Malta.
3. Acts 27:27 tn Grk “suspected that some land was approaching them.” BDAG 876 s.v. προσάγω 2.a states, “lit. ὑπενόουν προσάγειν τινά αὐτοῖς χώραν they suspected that land was near (lit. ‘approaching them’) Ac 27:27.” Current English idiom would speak of the ship approaching land rather than land approaching the ship.
4. Acts 27:28 tn Grk “Heaving the lead, they found.” The participle βολίσαντες (bolisantes) 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.
5. Acts 27:28 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).
6. Acts 27:28 tn L&N 15.12, “βραχὺ δὲ διαστήσαντες ‘when they had gone a little farther’ Ac 27:28.”
7. Acts 27:28 sn Here the depth was about 90 ft (27 m).
8. Acts 27:29 tn Grk “fearing.” The participle φοβούμενοι (phoboumenoi) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
9. Acts 27:29 tn Grk “against a rough [rocky] place.” L&N 79.84 has “φοβούμενοί τε μή που κατὰ τραχεῖς τόποις ἐκπέσωμεν ‘we were afraid that we would run aground on the rocky coast’ Ac 27:29.”
10. Acts 27:29 tn Grk “throwing out…they.” The participle ῥίψαντες (rhipsantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
11. Acts 27:29 tn BDAG 417 s.v. εὔχομαι 2 states, “wish…τὶ for someth.…Foll. by acc. and inf….Ac 27:29.” The other possible meaning for this term, “pray,” is given in BDAG 417 s.v. 1 and employed by a number of translations (NAB, NRSV, NIV). If this meaning is adopted here, then “prayed for day to come” must be understood metaphorically to mean “prayed that they would live to see the day,” or “prayed that it would soon be day.”
12. Acts 27:29 tn Grk “and wished for day to come about.”sn And wished for day to appear. The sailors were hoping to hold the ship in place until morning, when they could see what was happening and where they were.