Acts Chapter 27 verse 20 Holy Bible
And when neither sun nor stars shone upon `us' for many days, and no small tempest lay on `us,' all hope that we should be saved was now taken away.
read chapter 27 in ASV
And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone.
read chapter 27 in BBE
And neither sun nor stars appearing for many days, and no small storm lying on us, in the end all hope of our being saved was taken away.
read chapter 27 in DARBY
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
read chapter 27 in KJV
read chapter 27 in WBT
When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small tempest pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
read chapter 27 in WEB
and neither sun nor stars appearing for more days, and not a little tempest lying upon us, thenceforth all hope was taken away of our being saved.
read chapter 27 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 20. - Shone upon us for many days for in many days appeared, A.V.; now for then, A.V. Neither sun nor stars, etc. This is mentioned, not only as a feature of the severity and length of the easterly gale (for the wind had shifted two or three points to the east), but specially because in the navigation of that time, before the invention of the compass, the sun, moon, and stars were the only things they had to steer by, or by which they could know the direction in which they were drifting. Shone upon us (ἐπιφαινόντων); showed themselves; i.e. "appeared," as in the A.V., which is the best rendering (romp. ἐπιφανεία, the appearance, or Epiphany). Now. Λοιπόν τὸ λοιπόν, and τοῦ λοιποῦ are used adverbially both in the New Testament and in classical Greek. It is sometimes rendered "now," i.e. for the time that remains; and sometimes "henceforth;" sometimes "finally" (Mark 14:41; 2 Timothy 4:8; 2 Corinthians 13:11, etc.). It seems that sometimes χρόνον ισ to be understood, and sometimes that it means "as for what remaineth" to be said or done (romp. the French du reste or au reste).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(20) When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared.--We have to remember that before the invention of the compass the sun and stars were the only guides of sailors who were out of sight of land. Now the sky was over-cast and this guidance failed. The ship was driving, but whither they knew not.All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.--Better, finally, or at last. The failure of all hope implies some other cause of fear in addition to the mere violence of the gale, and the successive attempts to lighten the ship make it all but certain that she had sprung a leak, which their efforts were powerless to stop. The want of proper food (see next verse), and the exhaustion of protracted labour, naturally aggravated the feeling of despair.
