And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.
Paul stands forth among them not as a prisoner but as their counselor and comforter, rescuing them first from despair, for a man will starve himself in despair sooner than any storm can drown him. He assures them in God's name that all their lives shall be saved, and this word pulls them back from the grave when human hope is utterly gone.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 27:21-44
Then fearing lest they should have fallen upon rocks,.... Or rough places, as shelves, rocks, or sands, as they might well fear, when the water shallowed so fast, from 20 to 15 fathoms: they cast four anchors out of the stern; or hinder part of the ship; the Ethiopic version calls it, "the head of the ship": and adds, "where the governor sat"; that is...
Verse 28. And sounded. To sound is to make use of a line and lead to ascertain the depth of water. Twenty fathoms. A fathom is six feet, or the distance from the extremity of the middle finger on one hand to the extremity of the other, when the arms are extended. The depth, therefore, was about one hundred and twenty feet. Fifteen fathoms.