Acts 27:15

15 And [when] the ship was caught and [was] not able to head into the wind, we gave way [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 And [when] a southwest wind began to blow gently, [because they] thought [they] could accomplish their purpose, they weighed anchor [and] sailed close along Crete.

14 But not long afterward a wind like a hurricane, called the northeaster, rushed down from it.

15 And [when] the ship was caught and [was] not able to head into the wind, we gave way [and] were driven [along].

16 And running under the lee of a certain small island called Cauda, we were able with difficulty to get the ship's boat under control.

17 [After] hoisting {it up}, they made use of supports to undergird the ship. And [because they] were afraid lest they run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor [and] thus were driven [along].

Footnotes

• [a] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("was caught")
• [b] *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("gave way") has been translated as a finite verb