After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered in the island. It had the Twin Brothers as a figurehead.
Parallel translations
- WEB After three months, we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose sign was “The Twin Brothers.”
- KJV And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.
- NKJV After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.
- NASB After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.
- NLT It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island—an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
After three months Paul sets sail on an Alexandrian ship named for the pagan twin gods. The narrative resumes its careful, eyewitness detail.
Overview
Once winter passes and sailing is safe, the party boards a grain ship from Alexandria bearing the figurehead of Castor and Pollux, the 'Twin Brothers' sailors invoked for protection. Luke's precise nautical details mark this as firsthand testimony. The irony is quiet: the true protector of these travelers is the living God, not the gods carved on the prow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Acts 27:6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.
- 1 Cor 8:4So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Isa 45:20Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save.
- Acts 6:9But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen,
- Jonah 1:5The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
- Jonah 1:16Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 28:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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