Acts 27:15

15 The ship was caught up and unable to face the wind, so we gave way to it and were driven along.

Acts 27:15 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:15

And when the ship was caught
By the wind, snatched up by it, and forcibly carried away:

and could not bear up into the wind;
and against it, or look it in the face, as the word signifies; could not ply to windward, the wind being so high and the sea so strong:

we let her drive;
about the sea, at pleasure, it being in vain to attempt to get her forward against the wind, or to direct her course.

Acts 27:15 In-Context

13 When a gentle southerly breeze began to blow, they thought that they had their goal within grasp; so they raised the anchor and started coasting by Crete close to shore.

14 But before long there struck us from land a full gale from the northeast, the kind they call an Evrakilon.

15 The ship was caught up and unable to face the wind, so we gave way to it and were driven along.

16 As we passed into the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with strenuous effort to get control of the lifeboat.

17 They hoisted it aboard, then fastened cables tightly around the ship itself to reinforce it. Fearing they might run aground on the Syrtis sandbars, they lowered the topsails and thus continued drifting.