It hit the ship may need to be somewhat altered in some languages since winds cannot be spoken of as “hitting anything”; therefore, “the wind blew against the ship” or “the wind caused the ship to shake” (as a means of describing the suddenness with which the wind came upon the ship).

In an effort to bring the ship back into the harbor, the place called Safe Harbors, the sailors apparently tried to head the ship into the wind. Since they found this to be impossible, they had to let the ship be carried along by the wind.

In the Greek sentence there is a phrase which may be understood either in the sense of “into the wind” or “by the wind.” At first glance it may seem as if the Good News Translation has translated this phrase twice, but that is not the case. This phrase is rendered in the Good News Translation by into the wind, while by the wind is the means whereby the Good News Translation has made explicit what it was that carried (the ship) along.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .