27:20a

neither sun nor stars appeared: The thick clouds from the storm prevented the people on the ship from seeing the sun or stars. In some languages the correct meaning is better understood by referring to the clouds or the storm. For example:

⌊The storm clouds⌋ hid both sun and stars

27:20b

the great storm continued to batter us: This clause in Greek is literally “the stormy weather was pressing against (us) not a little.” Here “not a little” means “very much.” The full strength of the storm continued to affect the people on the ship very much. Other ways to translate this clause are:

no small tempest lay on us (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
no small storm was assailing us (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
the storm continued to beat ⌊against our ship⌋ very much

27:20c

abandoned all hope of being saved: The Greek tense probably indicates that their hope began to decrease at this time and continued decreasing as time went on. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
began to lose any hope of coming out of it alive (God’s Word)
-or-
our last hopes of coming through alive began to fade (Revised English Bible)

being saved: Here the word saved refers to rescue or reaching a safe place. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

surviving (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
being rescued ⌊from drowning⌋
-or-
reach a harbor

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