Acts 27:18Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

They were caught in a storm and threw out the ship’s cargo. The writer points to this by adding: “Fearing lest they should run aground, they lowered the sail.” All this is permitted so that afterward they would not remain in unbelief. A violent storm arises, great darkness comes, and for deliverance from destruction they throw out both the wheat and everything else. This is precisely what the words mean: “Fearing lest they should run aground, they lowered the sail.”

When the ship stopped in the bay of Fair Havens, the season was already late. The fast of the Day of Atonement had already passed, on the tenth day of the month Tishri, in the second half of September. The winter months, dangerous for navigation, had arrived. Paul had gained considerable experience in sea journeys during his apostolic travels. He advised them to spend the winter in Fair Havens. But this bay was unsuitable for wintering. Therefore the centurion, trusting the helmsman and the ship's master more, agreed to the advice of others. They wished, if possible, to reach the harbor of Phoenix for the winter. It lay on the same shore of Crete, but capes jutting into the sea protected it better from the southwest and northwest winds.

Everyone, not excluding the prisoners and therefore also the Apostle Paul, worked the pumps to exhaustion. But the water kept rising, and it became necessary to throw out the cargo, so as to lighten the ship at least somewhat.

Second, they began to throw out the cargo, probably the heavier and less necessary items. Their aim was to lighten the ship, so that, as far as possible, it would sit less deeply in the water and could more easily avoid shoals and underwater rocks.

The lightening of the ship began with throwing out the cargo, so that its destruction would not be immediate. Each person threw out his own belongings. Afterward the ship was carried over the waves more lightly and did not strike the shoals. But the rolling became stronger, and therefore the passengers' hardship increased. The heaviness of their condition was increased further because neither the sun by day nor the stars by night were visible. In cold mists and stormy waves they were carried about for days and nights, having lost hope of salvation, though not all equally. Yet even Paul's strong soul now needed strengthening, and this saved them all. All this is permitted by God, says Saint John Chrysostom, so that afterward they might not remain in unbelief. A violent storm arises, great darkness comes, and for salvation from destruction the wheat and everything else are thrown overboard.