ORIGHO 26

“Oniye Ọkuma Ee Wa Ku ni Ẹbu Aghan”

LU U

Ira ti ọkuna ti won gha gba rin, Pọl mu ukpeọrọnfọ ti o la ghan biri gba mu wuwu ghan irẹye

Ti a gba kuri iwe Uṣe 27:1–28:10

1, 2. Eju ugua bokọ wun Pọl gha, kẹnrẹn nikọ re ṣe urun bọbọ ti o nemi wi ẹmi ro?

Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

² Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

3. Nikọ Pọl forijẹ gin won wa ṣe, kẹnrẹn nikọ ẹnẹ wa ko ni uro ni oriẹkọ eyiwe?

³ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

“Afẹrẹ . . . Ju Gba Ni” (Uṣe 27:1-7a)

4. Eju ọkuna bokọ wun Pọl wọ gba mu ẹwọ ni ugua ro, kẹnrẹn nesin biri nesin re biri o wi ugua we?

⁴ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

SEA TRAVEL AND TRADE ROUTES

In the ancient world, ships were principally used to transport cargo, not to accommodate passengers. Travelers who wanted to make a voyage had to look for a merchant vessel that was about to sail in the desired direction, haggle over the price of passage, and then wait until the ship sailed.

Thousands of vessels crisscrossed the Mediterranean to transport foodstuffs and other merchandise. Many who secured passage on such ships would have to sleep on deck, perhaps under a tentlike shelter that they themselves erected at night and dismantled each morning. They would also have to take with them all that they needed for the journey, including food and bedding.

The duration of voyages depended entirely on the winds. Because of inclement weather during the winter, navigation was generally considered closed from mid-November to mid-March.

5. Aghan nesin wun Pọl biri o lo ira ni ara ni Sidọn, kẹnrẹn nikọ ẹnẹ nemi kọ gbẹ kuri eyiwe?

⁵ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

6-8. Bokọ Pọl biri aghan onokeeji ro re ti aghan gba kuri Sidọn, kẹnrẹn ẹwọ-ayẹ bokọ re funọ gbẹ Pọl gba wowo iyẹn rire?

⁶ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

⁷ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

⁸ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

THE CONTRARY WINDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

The wind and the season greatly affected where and when ancient merchant ships sailed the Mediterranean, or the Great Sea. On the sea’s eastern end, the wind usually blew from west to east during midyear. This made sailing eastward easier, as Paul experienced while returning from his third missionary tour. He and his companions were on a ship that left Miletus, passed Rhodes, and docked at Patara. It was almost a straight run from there to Tyre, on the coast of Phoenicia. Luke writes that they passed Cyprus on their left, meaning that they sailed to the south of Cyprus.—Acts 21:1-3.

What about sailing in the opposite direction, going westward? Ships might move westward along a similar route if the wind permitted. But sometimes that was virtually impossible. “In winter,” states The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, “the atmosphere is much less stable and powerful cyclones move eastward across the Mediterranean bringing with them strong winds, sometimes of gale force, and often torrential rain or even snow.” Under such conditions, the hazards were great.

In almost any season, vessels close to shore could move northward up the coast of Palestine and continue westward by Pamphylia. On the latter stretch, breezes from the mainland and west-flowing currents could help ships. That was the case with the vessel on which prisoner Paul made the first leg of his trip to Rome. Yet, the winds could turn contrary. (Acts 27:4) The grain ship that figured prominently in Luke’s account may have sailed north from Egypt and then around into the protected waters between Cyprus and Asia Minor. From Myra, the captain intended to keep going westward—around the tip of Greece and up the west coast of Italy. (Acts 27:5, 6) However, the wind and the season held something else in store for that voyage!

“Oji We, Ee Jẹ Lesin” (Uṣe 27:7b-26)

9, 10. Ẹkpikpomẹ bokọ wun Pọl biri aghan onokeeji ro nẹ ti aghan gba kpinma Kret?

⁹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

¹⁰ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

11. Ẹkọ bokọ wun Pọl mu gbẹ aghan ti o biri o wi ọkuna we, dẹ nikọ aghan dero gba ṣe?

¹¹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

12. Urun ẹdeju bokọ re ṣi ba ọkuna we ti aghan gba kuri Kret, kẹnrẹn bokọ aghan ọgua-ọkọ we te dumunẹ gba fẹ bi ọkọ we kuri ibajẹ?

¹² Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

13. Bokọ udo te gha gbẹ aghan ti o wi ọkuna we ni ira oji we?

¹³ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

14, 15. (a) Ti Pọl gba biri aghan ti won biri o wi ọkuna we fọ, nikọ re ṣe ti won gba mu arun to ukan-ẹmọn ti won mu gbẹ aghan ṣi rẹn? (b) Nikọ ẹnẹ nemi kọ gbẹ kuri ọfọ ugbejule ti Pọl fọ?

¹⁴ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

¹⁵ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

“Ẹnẹ Dede . . . Da Ṣi Alẹ Ọrọbibọ” (Uṣe 27:27-44)

“He . . . gave thanks to God before them all.”—Acts 27:35

16, 17. (a) Ira bokọ wun Pọl gba guo iṣẹ, kẹnrẹn nikọ re lẹfun ni inọ ro? (b) Bokọ ukan-ẹmọn ti Pọl mu ṣi te ṣe kọn?

¹⁶ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

¹⁷ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

Aghan “Ka Jọlọ Ṣe Aninọ Ẹnẹ” (Uṣe 28:1-10)

18-20. Bokọ ira Malta te “jọlọ ṣe aninọ” aghan, kẹnrẹn uṣẹ ẹbobo bokọ re ṣi?

¹⁸ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

¹⁹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

²⁰ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

21. (a) Nikọ biri nikọ wun Liuk gin ni ita ro we, ti won wewe gba jọ gẹrẹrẹ? (b) Uṣẹ ẹbobo bokọ wun Pọl ṣe, kẹnrẹn bokọ o te ṣe ira Malta ni ara?

²¹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

22. (a) Bokọ ọmiwe-kporo ọkan te yiri ita Liuk ni ubara ugua aghan re Rom? (b) Nikọ ẹnẹ wa ko ni uro ni oriẹkọ ti o wa?

²² Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

MALTA—WHERE?

Various islands have at times been suggested as the “Malta” where Paul was shipwrecked. One theory singled out an island near Corfu, off the western coast of Greece. Another suggestion is based on the word for “Malta” used in Acts. That Greek word is Me·liʹte. Therefore, some have pointed to Melite Illyrica, now known as Mljet, located off the coast of Croatia, in the Adriatic Sea.

Granted, Acts 27:27 does mention “the Sea of Adria,” but in Paul’s day “Adria” applied to an area larger than the present Adriatic Sea. It included the Ionian Sea and waters east of Sicily and west of Crete, thus encompassing the sea near modern-day Malta.

The ship on which Paul traveled was forced southward from Cnidus to below Crete. In view of the prevailing winds in that storm, it is hardly likely that the ship then turned and sailed as far northward as Mljet or an island near Corfu. So a more likely location for Malta would be farther to the west. That makes the island of Malta, south of Sicily, the probable location where the shipwreck occurred.

IWE BIRI BROṢỌ