TỊBỊYỌ 26

“Kẹnị Ụbọ Kpọ Fagha Fa”

Paul timi arụ mị bile kpọ, omịnị peibolou mọ tarị mọ mịẹdịa mị

Duo boemi yọbị Acts 27:1–28:10

1, 2. Te bụụdọọnyeama kị Paul paamọ ma, omịnị kaanghaba teeki irorotimi ma o?

Beke a goo

² Beke a goo

3. Paul teeki gbinipẹlẹ ma, omịnị teeki ẹrẹtei dọụmịnị a o?

³ Beke a goo

“Afọrụ Mị Wó Pebị Yọụgha” (Acts 27:1-7a)

4. Paul tepaa arụ ka kị yọụpaa ma, te otuama kị ụ mọ mọ́ yọụpaa ma o?

⁴ Beke a goo

SEA TRAVEL AND TRADE ROUTES

In the ancient world, ships were principally used to transport cargo, not to accommodate passengers. Travelers who wanted to make a voyage had to look for a merchant vessel that was about to sail in the desired direction, haggle over the price of passage, and then wait until the ship sailed.

Thousands of vessels crisscrossed the Mediterranean to transport foodstuffs and other merchandise. Many who secured passage on such ships would have to sleep on deck, perhaps under a tentlike shelter that they themselves erected at night and dismantled each morning. They would also have to take with them all that they needed for the journey, including food and bedding.

The duration of voyages depended entirely on the winds. Because of inclement weather during the winter, navigation was generally considered closed from mid-November to mid-March.

5. Paul, Sidon-ama bọọ te fomuun kị nana ma o, bịsẹ yemị te ka kị wó tolumọ ma o?

⁵ Beke a goo

6-8. Paul tebara ka kị Sidon duomú Cnidus laa ma, Kaanghaba Paul te fomuun-ama kị nana wẹrị egberigbaa ma o?

⁶ Beke a goo

⁷ Beke a goo

⁸ Beke a goo

THE CONTRARY WINDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

The wind and the season greatly affected where and when ancient merchant ships sailed the Mediterranean, or the Great Sea. On the sea’s eastern end, the wind usually blew from west to east during midyear. This made sailing eastward easier, as Paul experienced while returning from his third missionary tour. He and his companions were on a ship that left Miletus, passed Rhodes, and docked at Patara. It was almost a straight run from there to Tyre, on the coast of Phoenicia. Luke writes that they passed Cyprus on their left, meaning that they sailed to the south of Cyprus.—Acts 21:1-3.

What about sailing in the opposite direction, going westward? Ships might move westward along a similar route if the wind permitted. But sometimes that was virtually impossible. “In winter,” states The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, “the atmosphere is much less stable and powerful cyclones move eastward across the Mediterranean bringing with them strong winds, sometimes of gale force, and often torrential rain or even snow.” Under such conditions, the hazards were great.

In almost any season, vessels close to shore could move northward up the coast of Palestine and continue westward by Pamphylia. On the latter stretch, breezes from the mainland and west-flowing currents could help ships. That was the case with the vessel on which prisoner Paul made the first leg of his trip to Rome. Yet, the winds could turn contrary. (Acts 27:4) The grain ship that figured prominently in Luke’s account may have sailed north from Egypt and then around into the protected waters between Cyprus and Asia Minor. From Myra, the captain intended to keep going westward—around the tip of Greece and up the west coast of Italy. (Acts 27:5, 6) However, the wind and the season held something else in store for that voyage!

“Abadịị Kimé Bị Kụrọ Bara Ka Kị Wó A Bụụdọọn Mị” (Acts 27:7b-26)

9, 10. Te bụụdọọnye kị Crete abadịị bọọ paa ma o?

⁹ Beke a goo

¹⁰ Beke a goo

11. Paul teeki gbaa akị arụ bọọ timi otubo pịrị ma, amịnị ba teeki mịẹ ma o?

¹¹ Beke a goo

12. Crete a barasin dẹmị, teeki arụ paamọ ma, arụ bọọ timi otubo teeki mịẹ ma o?

¹² Beke a goo

13. kime paa ifie mị, arụ bọọ timi otubo te bụụdọọnyeama kị nana ma o?

¹³ Beke a goo

14, 15. (a) Tetuu kị duonị, Paul wo gbaa wẹrị berifaanye waị gbaa ma o? (b) Paul gbaa yemị te ka kị wó tolumọ ma o?

¹⁴ Beke a goo

¹⁵ Beke a goo

“Kịmịsẹ Yelaagha Bara Mú Ogbo Laa Mị” (Acts 27:27-44)

Paul praying in the crowded hold of a cargo ship. Some weary passengers bow their heads while others observe. Flatbread sits on some crates. — “He . . . gave thanks to God before them all.”—Acts 27:35

16, 17. (a) Paul te fomuun ka kị tẹẹbịbị mịẹ ma, bá teeki paa ma o? (b) Paul gbaaye mị tebara ka kị paabein ma o?

¹⁶ Beke a goo

¹⁷ Beke a goo

“Ebibara Wó Kekeree Mị” (Acts 28:1-10)

18-20. Malta otubo tebara ka kị “ebibara a kekeree” ma o, bá te tamamaye kị paa ma o?

¹⁸ Beke a goo

¹⁹ Beke a goo

²⁰ Beke a goo

21. (a) Luke, Acts fun bọọ gẹẹ yebo, omịnị teyeama kị dọụ ẹrịdẹ a o? (b) Paul te tamamaye kị mịẹ ma, bei yemị tebara ka kị Malta otubo gbele ma o?

²¹ Beke a goo

22. (a) Luke gee fun gbelemọ yọmị, kẹnị professor teeki gbaa ma o? (b) Barịị egberitịbị mị teeki wó mọ tolumọ mịnị a o?

²² Beke a goo

MALTA—WHERE?

Various islands have at times been suggested as the “Malta” where Paul was shipwrecked. One theory singled out an island near Corfu, off the western coast of Greece. Another suggestion is based on the word for “Malta” used in Acts. That Greek word is Me·liʹte. Therefore, some have pointed to Melite Illyrica, now known as Mljet, located off the coast of Croatia, in the Adriatic Sea.

Granted, Acts 27:27 does mention “the Sea of Adria,” but in Paul’s day “Adria” applied to an area larger than the present Adriatic Sea. It included the Ionian Sea and waters east of Sicily and west of Crete, thus encompassing the sea near modern-day Malta.

The ship on which Paul traveled was forced southward from Cnidus to below Crete. In view of the prevailing winds in that storm, it is hardly likely that the ship then turned and sailed as far northward as Mljet or an island near Corfu. So a more likely location for Malta would be farther to the west. That makes the island of Malta, south of Sicily, the probable location where the shipwreck occurred.