But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;
the fourteenth.
Acts 27:18-20 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; …
Adria.
the shipmen.
Acts 27:30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,
1 Kings 9:27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
Jonah 1:6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea
The "Adriatic Sea" in ancient times referred to a broader area than the modern Adriatic, encompassing parts of the central Mediterranean. This phrase indicates the lack of control the sailors had over the ship, emphasizing the power of the storm. Historically, this region was known for its treacherous waters, and the mention of being "driven" suggests a sense of helplessness and reliance on divine providence.
About midnight
"Midnight" often symbolizes a time of transition or divine intervention in the Bible. For instance, the Israelites were delivered from Egypt at midnight (Exodus 12:29-31). This timing sets the stage for a significant change in the narrative, suggesting that God’s intervention is imminent.
the sailors sensed they were approaching land
The sailors' ability to "sense" land indicates their experience and skill, as they likely detected changes in the sea or wind patterns. This moment of realization is crucial, as it marks a turning point from despair to hope. In a broader biblical context, land often represents safety and refuge, contrasting with the chaos of the sea. This phrase foreshadows the eventual deliverance and safety that God provides, aligning with themes of salvation and divine guidance throughout Scripture.
– Fourteen days of relentless storm underline both the severity of the trial and the exact fulfillment of Paul’s earlier warning that “this voyage will be with much damage and great loss” (Acts 27:10).
– The length of time also matches Paul’s later statement: “Today is the fourteenth day you have continued in suspense and gone without food” (Acts 27:33). God’s Word proves accurate down to the calendar.
– Endurance in prolonged hardship reflects the pattern seen in Scripture: Noah endured the forty-day flood (Genesis 7:12), Elijah walked forty days to Horeb (1 Kings 19:8), and believers are urged to “count it all joy” when trials are prolonged (James 1:2-4).
– “Driven” highlights total human helplessness; the storm, introduced in Acts 27:14, is still in charge. Yet aboard the ship is Paul, whose God “stills the roaring of the seas” (Psalm 65:7).
– The Adriatic Sea designation fixes the narrative in real geography, emphasizing historical reliability. Luke consistently ties events to verifiable places (e.g., Acts 16:12; 18:18), showing that the Lord works in actual history, not myth.
– Even while the vessel is out of control, Paul rests in God’s promise: “Not one of you will be lost” (Acts 27:22). God’s sovereignty and human chaos can coexist; the former always prevails.
– Midnight often represents the deepest darkness just before deliverance: Israel’s Passover rescue (Exodus 12:29), Samson’s escape (Judges 16:3), and Paul’s own prison praise in Philippi “about midnight” (Acts 16:25-26).
– God’s timing rarely aligns with human preference, but at the moment of greatest need He moves. Psalm 119:62 says, “At midnight I rise to give You thanks.” Luke again underscores the theme: deliverance comes when hope looks dimmest.
– Seasoned mariners could read the wind, waves, and perhaps hear breakers; natural perception now hints at God’s promised rescue drawing near.
– Their sensing is soon confirmed by soundings (Acts 27:28). Observation and faith converge: what God declared through Paul is now tangible.
– Yet human instincts alone prove insufficient; some sailors later try to abandon ship (Acts 27:30). God uses physical signs, but full salvation requires trusting His revealed word, just as Jesus urged Thomas to believe beyond sight (John 20:29).
Acts 27:27 spotlights God’s faithfulness amid extended, uncontrollable trial. After two unbearable weeks, in the darkest hour, tangible signs of deliverance appear exactly as God said. The verse encourages believers to endure, trust divine promises over circumstances, and look for God’s rescue even when still “driven” by forces beyond control.
(27) When the fourteenth night was come.--The time is apparently reckoned from their leaving the Fair Havens. (Comp. Acts 27:18-19; Acts 27:33.)As we were driven up and down in Adria.----The name was used as including more than the Gulf of Venice, to which the name Adriatic has been confined by more recent geographers. So Ptolemy (iii. 16) speaks of the Adria as washing the south coast of the Peloponnesus and the east coast of Sicily (iii. 4). So Josephus (Life, c. 3), narrating his shipwreck, just two years after St. Paul's, on his voyage from Judaea to Puteoli, states that he was picked up by another ship sailing from Cyrene to the same port, "in the middle of Adria." The intersection of the lines of the two vessels would fall, as a glance at the map will show, within the region now mentioned by St. Luke under the same name.
The shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country.--Literally, they suspected, or surmised, that a certain country was approaching them. The sound of breakers, probably the white lines of foam seen through the darkness, gave rise, we may believe, to this impression. The country which they were nearing could hardly be any other than the head-land known as the Point of Koura, at the east extremity of St. Paul's, Bay, in Malta. To the Apostle the sight and the sound would alike witness that his prediction was on the point of fulfilment.
Verse 27. - To and fro for up and down, A.V.; the sea of Adria for Adria, A.V.; sailors for shipmen, A.V.; surmised for deemed, A.V.; were drawing for drew, A.V. The fourteenth night, reckoned from their leaving Fair Havens (so vers. 18, 19). Driven to and fro (διαφερομένων); it is rather carried across, or along, from one end to the other. Sea of Adria. Adria, as in the A.V., is scarcely correct, as a translation of the Greek (though the Latins did call it Adria), because the nominative case in Greek is ὁ Ἀδρίας, sc. κόλπος, Adrias, the Adriatic Gulf. Ἀδρία is the name of the town near the mouth of the Po, which gave its name to the Adriatic. As regards the use of term ὁ Ἀδρίας, the Adriatic, it is used in two ways: sometimes strictly of the Gulf of Venice, the Adriatic; sometimes, chiefly in latter writers, in a much wider sense, of the whole sea between Greece and Italy, including Sicily. This last is its use here. So, too, Josephus says that he was wrecked κατὰ μέσον τὸν Ἀδρίαν, in the midst of the Adriatic, on his voyage from Caesarea to Puteoli, and was picked up by a ship from Cyrene. This implies that he used the word "Adria" in the same sense as St. Luke does (see further the appendix 5. and 6. in Smith's 'Voyage,' etc.; Conybeare and Howson, p. 343, note, and p. 350; Lewin, vol. 2. p. 198, note; Farrar, vol. 2. p. 377, note; Renan, ' St. Paul,' p. 552). Surmised that they were drawing near. Probably from hearing the waves breaking upon the Point of Koura, east of St. Paul's Bay. Υπονορω is only found in the Acts (Acts 13:25; Acts 25:18; and here); but it is used three or four times in the LXX. (Daniel, Job, Judith, Sirach), and is common in classical Greek in the sense of to "suspect, conjecture," "guess at" anything (see ὑπονοία, 1 Timothy 6:4). Were drawing near, etc.; literally, that some country (or, land) was drawing near to them. In like manner, the land is said ἀναχωρεῖν, to recede, as the vessel gets out to sea.