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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_27:1-8
1When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. 2And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, we put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica. 3The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. 4From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. 5When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it. 7When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone; 8and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
Act_27:1 "When it was decided that we would sail for Italy" Festus sent them at a dangerous time of the year for sailing. The "we" refers to Paul and Luke (possibly others). Most of the "we" sections of Acts have a sailing component (cf. Act_16:10-17; Act_20:5-15; Act_21:1-18; Act_27:1 to Act_28:16).
▣ "some other prisoners" We do not know anything about them except they were imperial prisoners heading for Rome.
▣ "centurion" These men are always presented in positive terms in the NT (cf. Matthew 8; Luke 7; Luk_23:47; Acts 10; and Paul's trials, 21-28).
▣ "of the Augustan cohort" They were thought to be official couriers between Rome and the provinces (cf. W. M Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen, pp. 315, 348), but this is only undocumented supposition before Emperor Hadrian (a.d. 117-138).
Act_27:2 "an Adramyttian ship" This was a small coastal ship which stopped at every port. The home port of this ship was the seaport of Mysia in Asia Minor. This is the first stage of the long and dangerous trip to Rome.
▣ "Aristarchus" His home was in Thessalonica; possibly he was returning home (cf. Act_19:29; Act_20:4; Col_4:10; Phm_1:24). He may have been accompanied by Secundas (cf. Act_20:4 and some western Greek manuscripts of this verse).
Act_27:3 "Sidon" This is a Phoenician city about sixty-seven miles north of Caesarea. It was the ancient capital of Phoenicia, but had long since been eclipsed by Tyre.
NASB "with consideration"
NKJV, NRSV "kindly"
TEV "was kind"
NJB "was considerate"
This is a compound term from "love" (philos) and "humanity" (anthrôpos). The term is used twice in Acts, the noun in Act_28:2 (cf. Tit_3:4) and the adverb here in Act_27:3. Julius was a compassionate person (somewhat surprising for a Roman occupational soldier). He probably had heard about Paul's case.
▣ "his friends" This probably refers to the Christians there. Julius trusted Paul, but possibly a Roman guard went with him.
▣ "receive care" The text does not specify what kind of attention (emotional, physical, financial).
Act_27:4 "under the shelter of Cyprus" This is a confusing phrase because it makes English readers think "south of Cyprus," but in reality, it meant north. The other names mentioned are on the southern and western coast of modern Turkey.
Act_27:6 "Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy" This was a larger ship (276 people on board plus huge amounts of grain) from Egypt on her way to Rome. Moderns know of these large ships from pictures on the walls of Pompeii and from Lucian's writings, around a.d 150. Myra was the major port for these large grain ships.
Act_27:7 "Cnidus" This was a free maritime city on the southwest coast of the Roman province of Asia. Most Rome-bound ships used this port (cf. Thucydides, Hist. 8.35). It had two harbors because it was located on a peninsula.
▣ "Salmone" This was a city on the eastern tip of the island of Crete. Because of the time of the year they tried to work their way west by sailing close to the island.
Act_27:8 "Fair Havens" This is a bay near the southern city of Lasea on Crete. It is not a harbor, but a bay. It would have been difficult to stay here all winter.