Acts 27:6

6 And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy [and] put us {on board} it.

Acts 27:6 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:6

And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria
Alexandria was the chief city in Egypt, built by Alexander the great, from whom it took its name; it was situated near the sea, and had a famous haven or port, which R. Benjamin F14 calls (hayrdnokla lv lmnh) , "the port of Alexandria"; from hence ships were sent into several parts for trade and commerce, and one of these Julius found at Myra: the top sail was a distinguishing sign of a ship of Alexandria, for none might spread their top sails but ships of Alexandria F15; these were not obliged to strike sail when they came into a port: the Jewish writers make frequent mention of (tyrdnokla hnypo) , "a ship of Alexandria" F16; by which they intend a ship of a large bulk, which had a cistern in it for fresh water for a long voyage; and by this they distinguish ships of bulk from those small ones, that were used about their coasts; a ship of Alexandria with them was a ship that went from the land of Israel to Alexandria; whereas here it seems to design one that belonged to Alexandria, and went from thence to other parts: and this ship was

sailing into Italy;
and it was usual for ships to go from Alexandria to Puteoli in Italy, and from thence to Alexandria upon trade and business F17

and he put us therein;
the centurion removed Paul and his companions, and the rest of the prisoners, with whatsoever soldiers were under his care, out of the ship of Adramyttium, into the ship of Alexandria; that is, he ordered them to remove out of one into the other.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 Itinerar. p. 121.
F15 Senec. Ep. 77. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 4. c. 2.
F16 T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 35. 1. & Erubin, fol. 14. 2. & Gloss. in ib. Misn. Ohalot, c. 8. sect. 1. & Celim, c. 15. sect. 1. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
F17 Senec. Ep. 77. Philo in Flaccum, p. 968, 969.

Acts 27:6 In-Context

4 And from there we put out to sea [and] sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against [us].
5 And [after we] had sailed across the open sea along Cilicia and Pamphylia, we put in at Myra in Lycia.
6 And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy [and] put us {on board} it.
7 And sailing slowly, in many days and with difficulty we came to Cnidus. [Because] the wind did not permit us to go further, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.
8 And sailing along its coast with difficulty, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near which was the town [of] Lasea.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("found") has been translated as a finite verb
  • [b]. Literally "into"
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