Acts 27:8

8 and docked at Good Harbor (appropriate name!).

Acts 27:8 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:8

And hardly passing it
That is, Salmone, with great difficulty, because of the winds:

came unto a place which is called the Fair Havens;
called by other writers Cale Acte, or the fair shore, and is placed by Ptolomy F3 in Eubaea, and by Herodotus F4 in Sicily; but by Stephanus F5 is said to be a city of the Cretians, and which agrees with this account;

nigh whereunto was the city of Lasae;
there was a city in Crete called by Solinus F6 Lisson, and by Ptolomy F7 Lyssus, which he places on the south side of the island; and by Pliny F8 Lasos, which comes pretty near to this name, but then he places it in the midland part of Crete; who also makes mention of an island called Lasia over against Troezenium, and another that was one of the Cyclades; the Syriac version here read, "Lasia": Jerom F9 says, Lasea is a city on the shore of the island of Crete, near the place which is called the Fair Havens, as Luke himself explains it; for which some corruptly read "Thalassa"; as do the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions; and the Alexandrian copy "Alassa": Beza conjectures that it is the same with Eloea, which Pliny makes mention of in the above cited place, as a city in Crete.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 De ordis Situ. l. 3. c. 15.
F4 L. 6. c. 22.
F5 De urbibus.
F6 Polyhist. c. 16.
F7 Ib. l. 3. c. 17.
F8 L. 4. c. 12.
F9 De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. D.

Acts 27:8 In-Context

6 There the centurion found an Egyptian ship headed for Italy and transferred us on board.
7 We ran into bad weather and found it impossible to stay on course. After much difficulty, we finally made it to the southern coast of the island of Crete
8 and docked at Good Harbor (appropriate name!).
9 By this time we had lost a lot of time. We had passed the autumn equinox, so it would be stormy weather from now on through the winter, too dangerous for sailing. Paul warned,
10 "I see only disaster ahead for cargo and ship - to say nothing of our lives! - if we put out to sea now."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.