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ACTS 27:29 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Acts 27:28Acts 27:30
Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. - Fear of 'dashing against the rocks' (epi cherson peripiptō, epi cherson peripiptō-'fall upon rocky ground') leads to dropping 'four anchors from the stern' (apo prymēs aphiēmi tessaras ankyras, apo prymēs aphiēmi tessaras ankyras-a nautical technique to prevent drifting toward reefs). 'Prayed for daylight' (euchomai hēmera ginomai, euchomai hēmera ginomai-'prayed for day to come') shows even pagan sailors turn to prayer at extremity. Luke shows the universal human response to mortal danger: invocation of the divine.

Church Fathers on Acts 27:29

But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest they should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down…

Chrysostom · 4th century · Homily 53 on Acts
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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