What Does Acts 27:14 Mean?

(14) **There arose** **against it . . .**—The Greek pronoun is in the feminine, and as the noun used for ship is, throughout the narrative, in the neuter, the difference of gender presents a difficulty. Grammatically the pronoun seems to refer to Crete, and if referred to it, the sentence admits of three possible constructions: (1) the wind *drove us against* Crete; or (2), *blew against* Crete; or (3), *drove down on us from* Crete. Of these, (1) and (2) are at variance with the facts of the case, as the gale blew the ship away from Crete to the south, while (3), which is as tenable grammatically, exactly agrees with them. Some translators (*e.g., *Luther) have, however, referred the pronoun to the noun “purpose,”—“the wind blew against their purpose;” but this gives a less satisfactory sense. Of the English versions Wiclif gives “was against it,” leaving the sense ambiguous. Tyndale and Cranmer follow Luther, “there arose against their purpose.” The Geneva adopts the first of the above readings, “there arose against Candie,” and is followed by the Rhemish, “drove against it.” **A tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.**—The Greek adjective *typhonic* is perpetuated in the modern “typhoon,” as applied to whirlwinds like that now described. The “vortex” of such a wind is indeed its distinguishing feature. The name *Euroclydon, *which is fairly represented by such a word as “wide-wave,” or “broad-billow,” is not found elsewhere, and, if the reading be genuine, must be looked on as a term which St. Luke reported as actually used by the sailors on board. Some of the best MSS., however, give the form *Euro-aquilo, *which, though a somewhat hybrid word unknown to Greek and Latin writers, fits in, as meaning north-east, or, more strictly, east by north, with all the phenomena described. The earlier English—Wiclif, Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva—all give “north-east,” while the Rhemish reproduces the term *Euro-aquilo, *without attempting to translate. A sudden change from south to north, with a great increase of violence, is a common phenomenon in the autumnal storms of the Mediterranean, and in this instance the blast would seem to have rushed down on the ship from the hills of Crete.