Acts 27:13

13 And a light breeze from the south sprang up, so that they supposed they were now sure of their purpose. So weighing anchor they ran along the coast of Crete, hugging the shore.

Acts 27:13 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 27:13

And when the south wind blew softly
Or moderately, which was a good wind for them:

supposing that they, had obtained their purpose;
that things would succeed according to their wish, and favour their design:

loosing thence;
from the Fair Havens; the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions render it, "loosing from Assos"; which could not be Assos of Troas, mentioned in ( Acts 20:13 ) which was many miles from hence; rather Asum, a town in Crete, of which Pliny ^F18 makes mention, though, according to him, it seems to be an inland town; wherefore it is best to take the word (asson) , to be an adverb, and render it "thence", as we do; or join it with the next word, and render it,

they came near, or they sailed close by Crete;
along the shore, the wind favouring them, that they were in no danger of being dashed upon it, it being a soft gentle wind.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 12.

Acts 27:13 In-Context

11 But Julius let himself be persuaded by the pilot and by the owner rather than by Paul's arguments;

12 and as the harbour was inconvenient for wintering in, the majority were in favour of putting out to sea, to try whether they could get to Phoenix--a harbour on the coast of Crete facing north-east and south-east--to winter there.

13 And a light breeze from the south sprang up, so that they supposed they were now sure of their purpose. So weighing anchor they ran along the coast of Crete, hugging the shore.

14 But it was not long before a furious north-east wind, coming down from the mountains, burst upon us and carried the ship out of her course.

15 She was unable to make headway against the gale; so we gave up and let her drive.