Acts 27:9

9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.^[a] So Paul warned them,

Acts 27:9 in Other Translations

9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,

9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,

9 We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.

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,

9 And when much time was spent, and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast was now already gone by, Paul admonished them,

9 We had lost so much time that the day of fasting had already past. Sailing was now dangerous, so Paul advised them,

9 By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous. Since the Fast was already over, Paul gave his advice

9 A lot of time had passed. Sailing had already become dangerous. By now it was after the Day of Atonement, a day of fasting. So Paul gave them a warning.

Acts 27:9 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:9

Now when much time was spent
In sailing against the wind, or by staying at the Fair Havens; for so the Syriac version renders it, "where we stayed a long time"; and the Ethiopic version, "and there we remained many days": it follows,

and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already
past;
the Syriac version reads, "the fast of the Jews"; this was the day of atonement, which was the grand fast of the Jews, on which day they afflicted their souls, ( Leviticus 23:27 ) in memory of the worshipping of the golden calf; on that day they neither eat nor drink, nor do any work, neither do they wash, nor are they anointed, nor do they bind on their shoes, or make use of the marriage bed; nor do they read anything but sorrowful things, as the Lamentations of Jeremiah, until the setting of the sun, and the rising of the stars; and hence this day is called by them (Mwu Mwy) , "the day of fasting", and (lwdgh Mwu) , "the great fast, and the day of the fast of atonement, and the fast of the atonement" ^F11: now this day was on the 10th of the month Tisri, which answers to the latter part of our September, and the former part of October; so that it was now Michaelmas time, when winter was coming on, and sailing began to be dangerous; about this time of the year the Pleiades set, which brings on tempestuous weather, and unfit for sailing:

Paul admonished them,
or gave them some advice to continue where they were.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F11 Vid. Schindler. Lex. Pentaglott. p. 890. & Maimon. Shebitat Ashur, c. 1. sect. 1, 4, 5, 6. & Misa. Yoma, c. 8. sect. 1.

Acts 27:9 In-Context

7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them,

10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”

11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 16:29-31; Leviticus 23:27-29; Numbers 29:7

Footnotes

• [a] That is, Yom Kippur