After three months we put out to sea on a ship that had wintered on the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. - The stay on Malta lasts 'three months' (treis mēnes, treis mēnes-the winter period when sailing ceased). A new ship, an 'Alexandrian ship' (Aleksandrinos, Aleksandrinos-a large Egyptian merchant vessel, like the earlier one), has 'wintered' (pareimoniazo, pareimoniazo-'spent winter') on the island. The 'figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux' (Dioskouroi, Dioskouroi-the Gemini twins, protectors of sailors in Greco-Roman belief) shows the ship's religious symbolism. Yet Paul and the Christians aboard carry a greater protection.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse