Acts 27:41

41 But they chaunsed on a place which had the see on bothe the sydes and thrust in the ship. And the foore parte stucke fast and moved not but ye hynder brake with the violence of the waves.

Acts 27:41 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:41

And falling into a place where two seas met
An "isthmus", on each side of which the sea ran; and which the inhabitants of Malta, as Beza says, show to this day, and call it, "la Cala de San Paulo", or the Descent of Saint Paul. The meeting of these two seas might occasion a great rippling in the sea like to a large eddy, or counter tide; and here might be a sand on which

they ran the ship aground;
for this place where the two seas met, as the same annotator observes, could not be the shore itself; for otherwise, to what purpose should they cast themselves into the sea, as they afterwards did, if the head of the ship struck upon the shore, and stuck fast there? but must rather mean a shelf of sand, opposite, or near the entrance into the bay, and where the shipwreck was.

And the fore part stuck fast, and remained unmovable;
so that there was no getting her off:

but the hinder part was broken by the violence of the waves;
that is, the stern; by which means there were boards and broken pieces for the company to get ashore upon.

Acts 27:41 In-Context

39 Whe yt was daye they knew not ye lande but they spied a certayne haven with a banke into ye which they were mynded (yf yt were possible) to thrust in the ship.

40 And when they had taken vp the ancres they comytted them selves vnto the see and lowsed the rudder bondes and hoysed vp ye mayne sayle to the wynde and drue to londe.

41 But they chaunsed on a place which had the see on bothe the sydes and thrust in the ship. And the foore parte stucke fast and moved not but ye hynder brake with the violence of the waves.

42 The soudears counsell was to kyll ye presoners lest eny of them when he had swome out shulde fle awaye.

43 But the vndercaptayne willinge to save Paul kept the from their purpose and commaunded that they yt could swyme shulde cast the selves first in to ye see and scape to londe.