Adriatic Sea

Adriatic Sea in the Bible

ACTS 27 COMMENTARY ◄
Acts 27:22-26 Does God change His mind?

Acts 27:27-32 Adriatic Sea

Acts 27:23-44 Take Food

ACTS 27:27 27 Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land.

Where is the "Adriatic Sea" (Acts 27:27)?
Two thousand years ago, "Adriatic Sea" referred to the entire body of water east of Italy down to its southern tip. Today, "Adriatic Sea" refers to only the upper 2/3 of that body of water, with the lower 1/3 - between Italy on one side and Greece and southern Albania on the other - being referred to as the "Ionian Sea." Therefore, they were "driven up and down in the" (Acts 27:27) Adriatic Sea of old but the Ionian Sea of today.

Where in the Ionian/Adriatic Sea were they?
At its southwestern corner "near some land" (Acts 27:27), which turned out to be "Malta" (Acts 28:1).

ACTS 27:28-29 28 And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms. 29 Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.

What is meant by "took soundings" (Acts 27:28)?
Traditional soundings are measurements of depth made by lowering to the bottom a cord with a lead or another dead weight at the end, and knots at regular intervals; βολισαντες (bolisantes), the original Greek word literally means "having heaved the lead." When the dead weight reached the bottom, the cord slackened, was pulled up, and the depth was measured from the dead weight to the waterline of the cord when it slackened. There was actually no sound involved in this measurement.

How deep is "twenty fathoms" (Acts 27:28)?
One fathom is 6 feet (1.8 meters), so 20 fathoms is 120 feet (36 meters), and "fifteen fathoms" (Acts 27:28) is 90 feet (27 meters), at which depth "they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come" (Acts 27:29).

ACTS 27:30-32 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

Why were "the sailors seeking to escape from the ship" (Acts 27:30)?
They may have felt insecure about running "aground" (Acts 27:26) on an unknown shore a battered ship whose passengers included condemned criminals, and may have feared a mutiny and/or drowning in a shipwreck.

What did the soldiers' action demonstrate?
Since the "day" (Acts 27:29) had not yet come, it was still night and dark. Had daylight revealed the shore to be treacherous and unapproachable for the ship, the skiff would have been the only means for anyone to get to shore safely. But Paul had said that they cannot be saved unless the sailors stay in the ship. Paul had such credibility with the soldiers by this time that they decided to "cut away the ropes of the skiff" (Acts 27:32) before visually confirming that the shore is safe to approach without a skiff.