20 And neither sun nor stars appearing for many days, and no small storm lying on us, in the end all hope of our being saved was taken away.
that ye were at that time without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward the heavens, that there may be darkness in the land of Egypt -- so that one may feel darkness. And Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens; and there was a thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place, for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
For he speaketh, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof: They mount up to the heavens, they go down to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble; They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and they are at their wits' end:
Thou wast wearied by the multitude of thy ways; [but] thou saidst not, It is of no avail. Thou didst find a quickening of thy strength; therefore thou wast not sick [of it].
And he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off!
But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest upon the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
And they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that because of me this great tempest is upon you. But the men rowed hard to regain the land; but they could not; for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. And they cried unto Jehovah and said, Ah, Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee.
and behold, [the water] became very agitated on the sea, so that the ship was covered by the waves; but *he* slept. And the disciples came and awoke him, saying, Lord save: we perish.
But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 27
Commentary on Acts 27 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 27
This whole chapter is taken up with an account of Paul's voyage towards Rome, when he was sent thither a prisoner by Festus the governor, upon his appeal to Caesar.
Act 27:1-11
It does not appear how long it was after Paul's conference with Agrippa that he was sent away for Rome, pursuant to his appeal to Caesar; but it is likely they took the first convenience they could hear of to do it; in the mean time Paul is in the midst of his friends at Caesarea-they comforts to him, and he a blessing to them. But here we are told,
Act 27:12-20
In these verses we have,
Act 27:21-44
We have here the issue of the distress of Paul and his fellow-travellers; they escaped with their lives and that was all, and that was for Paul's sake. We are here told (v. 37) what number there were on board-mariners, merchants, soldiers, prisoners, and other passengers, in all two hundred and seventy-six souls; this is taken notice of to make us the more concerned for them in reading the story, that they were such a considerable number, whose lives were now in the utmost jeopardy, and one Paul among them worth more than all the rest. We left them in despair, giving up themselves for gone. Whether they called every man on his God, as Jonah's mariners did, we are not told; it is well if this laudable practice in a storm was not gone out of fashion and made a jest of. However, Paul among these seamen was not, like Jonah among his, the cause of the storm, but the comforter in the storm, and as much a credit to the profession of an apostle as Jonah was a blemish to the character of a prophet. Now here we have,