Acts 27:39Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The next day they saw the gently sloping shore of some bay and directed the ship there. But they struck a sandbank, and the ship ran aground. The bow stuck fast and remained immovable, while the stern was broken by the force of the waves.

So that the prisoners would not scatter, the soldiers wanted to kill them. But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, restrained them from this intention.

So that none of the prisoners might swim away and escape, he ordered the soldiers who could swim to disembark first and form a guard along the shore.

After this, all the others who had sailed on the ship swam to the shore, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. In this way all were saved onto land.

At daybreak the shore did indeed appear, and the travelers directed their half-ruined ship toward its sloping part. But before reaching the shore, the bow drove into the sand, while "the stern was broken up by the force of the waves." Only one means of salvation remained: to throw themselves into the water and, by every means, swimming, on boards, and on other fragments of the shattered ship, make their way to shore.

They did not recognize the land. That is, the land before them seemed unfamiliar. The Egyptian sailors must have known Malta, for this was Malta. Yet the storm had brought them not to the side of the island where ships usually landed, but to another side, and they did not recognize the island. What follows is a simple and vivid account of the attempt to approach the shore.

Having been strengthened by food, all began to lighten the ship as much as possible, throwing overboard the remaining cargo of wheat. When day came, they noticed a gently sloping shore and began to steer toward it.

For this purpose they cast off the anchors and raised a small sail. With its help they brought the bow to the shore, to a sandbank projecting into the sea. The waves began to strike the stern of the ship, and it began to break apart.

"Paul's prediction was being fulfilled, but those who saw their salvation were not fully instructed by it. The ship breaks apart by day, so that they would not die from fear, and so that you too might see the fulfillment of the prophecy.