Shipwrecks - A Brief History

Luke records the number of persons aboard the ship as 200 an 76, which seems surprisingly large to some commentators. But others point out that josephus reports 600 persons on the ship that took him to italy. The course of travel needed to be determined in no small measure by the wind. A tempest striking a pagan ship bearing a jewish prophet towards the west is quite reminiscent of the story of jonah. God grants paul all those who sail with him, as we see in verse 24. This is a powerful image of salvation, and as in the literary structure of the book of acts, it is paralleled with the story of the crucifixion in luke.