Paul's Journey to Rome

The decision being made to send Paul to Rome (probably in the spring of A.D. 60), he, with other prisoners scheduled for the same journey, was placed in the custody of a centurion named Julius, who was charged with taking them to the capital (Acts 27:1). During this trip Paul had at least 2 Christian companions, Aristarchus (v 2), and Luke, the writer of Acts, as is shown by Luke's frequent use of "we" in the narrative. Soon after departure the vessel stopped at Sidon. There Paul, who was well treated by the centurion, was permitted to visit the believers. From Sidon the ship sailed between the island of Cyprus and the mainland and finally reached Myra in Lycia (vs 3—5), where the whole company boarded another ship bound for Italy (v 6). This ship then had 276 people aboard (v 37). At length the ship reached the island of Crete (B—3/4) and with difficulty sailed to a place called Fair Havens (vs 7, 8). There they spent some time, debating whether, because of the lateness of the season, the voyage should be continued. Paul counseled against doing so, but the shipowner and the captain spoke in favor of it, and the centurion was influenced by the latter. Because Fair Havens was not suitable to winter in, they decided to try to reach Phoenix (Phenice), farther along the coast of Crete (vs 9—12). Consequently, as soon as a suitable wind arose they left Fair Havens and headed toward Phoenix.

Shortly afterward, however, a great tempest arose, blowing from the east or east—northeast, which drove the ship before it. When they found temporary shelter under the lee of a small island named Cauda (Clauda), they succeeded in hoisting aboard the ship's boat, which had heretofore been towed. On the following day, since the storm continued unabated, it was deemed necessary to lighten the ship by jettisoning some of the cargo (cf. v 38). The tempest persisted for several days until all hope was abandoned (Acts 27:20). At about this time Paul was given a vision, in which he was shown that no lives would be lost and that he would have the opportunity of standing before Caesar. He related this experience to his companions, exhorting them to be of good courage (vs 21—26). At last, one night, 2 weeks after the storm struck, the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. Dawn revealed unfamiliar land with a bay. Into this they decided to try to run the ship. They raised the anchors and endeavored to steer into the bay. Drawing close to land, they were caught by violent crosscurrents, which hurled the ship upon the rocks, where it grounded. The stern was then broken off by the pounding waves. The soldiers, obviously considering that they were responsible for the prisoners with their own lives, now urged that the prisoners be killed lest they escape. However, the centurion, wanting to save Paul, forbade this. Instead he commanded all to attempt to get ashore as best they could, and all on board reached land safely (vs 39—44). The land proved to be the island of Malta.

The people of Malta treated the castaway group hospitably, and endeavored to care for their needs. Finally, after spending 3 months on the island (v 11), the shipwrecked company sailed for Rome, probably in the spring of A.D. 61 on an Alexandrian ship that had wintered there (vs 8—11).