27:7a
After sailing slowly: The ship’s captain wanted to go west and a little north. But the wind was probably from that same direction. To sail a boat towards the wind, the sailors would change the angle of the sails and sail far to the left of the direction of the wind. In that way the ship can catch the wind to move forward. Then they would change the angle of the sails and sail far to the right. The ship would slowly gain distance in the desired direction (see diagram below). Therefore progress in the desired direction would be made slowly. Other ways to translate this clause are:
We made forward progress slowly
-or-
We moved slowly in the desired direction
many days: With a wind from a helpful direction, the trip would only take two days. But with a headwind, the trip could take five days, ten days, or more. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
numerous days
-or-
a lot of days
27:7b
we arrived off Cnidus: In Greek this phrase could be literally translated as “with difficulty, we having arrived off Cnidus.” The Berean Standard Bible does not translate the Greek word in this clause which means “with difficulty,” probably because it translates the Greek word in 27a which means “sailing slowly” and therefore is letting the translation of that Greek word imply that the sailing was accomplished “with difficulty.” Do what is most natural in your language.
The headwind made it hard for them to sail in the direction they wanted to. For example:
with great difficulty finally arrived off the town of Cnidus (Good News Translation)
arrived off Cnidus: Here the word off refers to coming near to Cnidus. The ship did not go all the way to Cnidus.
coming near Cnidus
-or-
not quite arriving at Cnidus
Cnidus: This name refers to a city. The English letters “cn” are from the Greek “kn.” Both letters were probably pronounced. In some languages, a vowel must be placed between these letters to pronounce both letters. For example:
Cenidus/Kenidus
It was probably a medium-sized city at that time. In many languages people are not familiar with this name. If so, you may want to:
• Explain it in your translation. For example:
⌊the city of⌋ Cnidus
• Explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Cnidus was a city.
Do not use a word that refers only to large, modern cities of today.
27:7c
When the wind impeded us: They could no longer sail to the west. Perhaps the wind grew stronger so that they no longer made any progress in the direction that they desired to go. So they had to change direction.
27:7d
we sailed to the lee of Crete: Here the word lee refers to east and south of Crete. It is the large island in lower left of the photo above.
Crete: Crete is a large island west of Cyprus. It is about 260 kilometers (160 miles) east to west.
opposite Salmone: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as opposite means “off” (“near”) as in 27:7b.
Salmone: In the Greek language the “e” was probably pronounced, unlike the usual pronunciation in English. For example, the Madak NT says:
Salmoni (Madak NT)
This name refers to a point of land jutting from the island into the sea. It is on the eastern shore of Crete. In many languages people are not familiar with this name. If so, you may want to:
• Explain it in your translation. For example:
⌊point/cape⌋ Salmone
• Explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Salmone was the name for a point/cape on the eastern shore of Crete.
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