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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Acts 27:39 - 27:39
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They knew not (ouk epeginōskon). Imperfect active of epiginōskō, to recognize. Probably conative, tried to recognize and could not (Conybeare and Howson). The island was well-known (Act 28:1, epegnōmen), but St. Paul’s Bay where the wreck took place was some distance from the main harbour (Valetta) of Melita (Malta).
They perceived (katenooun). Imperfect active of katanoeō, gradually perceived after some effort as in Act 11:16. This beach seemed their only hope.
They took counsel (ebouleuonto). Imperfect middle showing the process of deliberation and doubt. The bay “having a beach” (echonta aigialon) is a phrase found in Xenophon’s Anabasis VI. 4, 4.
Whether they could drive (ei dunainto eksōsai). This use of the optative with ei in questions of this sort (implied indirect) is a neat Greek idiom (Robertson, Grammar, p. 1021). B C Bohairic read eksōsai (first aorist active infinitive of eksōzō), to save out (so Westcott and Hort), instead of exōsai (from exōtheō, to push out, as Textus Receptus).