Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.
Travel by sea in the first century brought peculiar hardship and peril, for mariners set their course largely by the position of the sun and stars, so that when these did not appear and there were signs of storm, owners feared to venture into the open sea, and during part of the year safe navigation was almost impossible. The voyage to which this moment belongs was used by God so that the ship's crew could witness His power through Paul and hear the name of Jesus.
In the most critical hour Paul urged all the sailors and passengers to eat for their health with the promise that none would be lost, and then he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, broke it, and began to eat. The company had been worn down and discouraged by the storm and had taken no food for fourteen days. After his example they all became of good cheer and also took food, joining him in eating.
The cheerful company that ate numbered two hundred seventy-six souls, though those who held to the other reckoning counted 275 people as joining him. Their eating gave them fresh courage before they continued their efforts to save the ship. Without Paul the worn company would have become desperate, but his hope and courage and trust in God encouraged them and made him a source of steadiness even when the ship was breaking apart.
Travel by sea in the first century brought peculiar hardship and peril, for mariners set their course largely by the position of the sun and stars, so that when these did not appear and there were signs of storm, owners feared to venture into the open sea, and during part of the year safe navigation was almost impossible. The voyage to which this moment belongs was used by God so that the ship's crew could witness His power through Paul and hear the name of Jesus.
In the most critical hour Paul urged all the sailors and passengers to eat for their health with the promise that none would be lost, and then he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, broke it, and began to eat. The company had been worn down and discouraged by the storm and had taken no food for fourteen days. After his example they all became of good cheer and also took food, joining him in eating.
The cheerful company that ate numbered two hundred seventy-six souls, though those who held to the other reckoning counted 275 people as joining him. Their eating gave them fresh courage before they continued their efforts to save the ship. Without Paul the worn company would have become desperate, but his hope and courage and trust in God encouraged them and made him a source of steadiness even when the ship was breaking apart.