Acts 27:21

When they had been long without food (pollh te asitia uparcoush). Genitive absolute, the old word asitia from asito (verse Luke 33 ) a privative and sito, food, here alone in N.T. Literally, "There being much abstinence from food." They had plenty of grain on board, but no appetite to eat (sea-sickness) and no fires to cook it (Page). "Little heart being left for food" (Randall). Galen and other medical writers use asitia and asito for want of appetite. Stood forth (staqei). As in Luke 1:15 ; Luke 2:14 ; Luke 17:22 . Pictorial word (Page) that sets forth the vividness and solemnity of the scene (Knowling). Ye should have hearkened unto me (edei men peiqarchsanta moi). Literally, "It was necessary for you hearkening unto me not to set sail (mh anagesqai)." It was not the "I told you so" of a small nature, "but a reference to the wisdom of his former counsel in order to induce acceptance of his present advice" (Furneaux). The first aorist active participle is in the accusative of general reference with the present infinitive anagesqai. And have gotten this injury and loss (kerdhsai te thn ubrin tauthn kai thn zhmian). This Ionic form kerdhsai (from kerdaw) rather than kerdhnai or kerdanai is common in late Greek (Robertson, Grammar, p. 349). The Revised Version thus carries over the negative mh to this first aorist active infinitive kerdhsai from kerdaw (cf. on Matthew 16:26 ). But Page follows Thayer in urging that this is not exact, that Paul means that by taking his advice they ought to have escaped this injury and loss. "A person is said in Greek 'to gain a loss' when, being in danger of incurring it, he by his conduct saves himself from doing so." This is probably Paul's idea here.