Euraquilo

Biblical Text and Narrative

Euraquilo is the name of a wind that appears only once in Scripture, in Acts 27:14. Paul, who had stood before the governor Festus in Caesarea, appealed to be tried before Caesar (the Roman emperor). He later encountered this wind while being taken by ship as a prisoner to Rome.

The ship lay at Fair Havens on the southern coast of Crete. Paul warned that continuing the voyage would bring great loss (Acts 27:10). The centurion (a Roman officer commanding a unit of a hundred soldiers), however, gave more credence to the master and the owner of the ship, and the company set sail in hopes of reaching the harbor of Phoenix (KJV "Phenice"), a better place to spend the winter (27:11–12). A south wind blew softly, but soon a tempestuous wind called Euraquilo came down from the island (27:13–14). The ship could not bear up into the wind and was driven along. The sailors threw the cargo and the ship's tackling overboard, and when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, they gave up all hope of being saved (27:15–20).

At this point Paul encouraged those on board, reporting that an angel had appeared to him and told him that he must stand before Caesar and that the lives of all who sailed with him would be preserved (27:21–26). On the fourteenth night the ship drew near land; it eventually ran aground and broke apart. Yet all 276 people on board (27:37) reached shore safely. The place was the island of Melita (27:44; 28:1).

Background and Terminology

• Original language: The critical text widely used today reads the word as Eurakylōn (Εὐρακύλων). It is understood as a compound of the Greek euros (east wind) and the Latin aquilo (north wind), meaning a northeast wind. On this basis many regard it as a term used among sailors. The Textus Receptus, which the King James Version follows, reads Euroklydōn (Εὐροκλύδων), rendered "Euroclydon." The Korean form Yuragullo reflects the former reading.
• Season: The text notes that the voyage took place after "the fast was now already past" (27:9). This fast is generally understood to be the autumn Day of Atonement. In the ancient Mediterranean world, sailing from this time of year through the winter was considered dangerous.
• Geography: A ship sailing west along the southern coast of Crete that was struck by a northeast wind blowing down from the island would be driven southwest into the open sea. This explains why the sailors feared running aground on the Syrtis, the shallows off the North African coast (27:17; KJV "quicksands").

Significance in Scripture

This passage belongs to the so-called "we" sections in the latter part of Acts, which are narrated in the first-person plural. For this reason it has traditionally been regarded as the account of an eyewitness, the author Luke, who was aboard the ship. The focus of the story lies less in the storm itself than in the fulfillment, even in the midst of crisis, of the promise that Paul would bear witness in Rome (Acts 23:11; 27:24). The passage is therefore often read as a demonstration of God's providence. Because it features a storm at sea, it is also sometimes compared with the storm that struck the ship carrying Jonah (Jonah 1) and with Jesus' calming of the storm.

Interpretation and Issues

• Historicity: Many scholars point to the highly specific nautical details, such as the route, the winds, and the method of casting anchors, and regard the account as based on actual experience. Others view it as a theologically constructed narrative that borrows the conventions of voyage stories in Greco-Roman literature.
• Textual reading: Whether Euraquilo or Euroclydon is the original reading is a question of textual criticism (the discipline of reconstructing the original text by comparing manuscripts). Some King James Only circles cite it as an example in the debate over Bible translations.
• Location of Melita: Melita is generally identified with present-day Malta, although some have proposed another island in the Adriatic.
• Allegorical interpretation: Readings that treat Euraquilo as the trials of life and the ship as the church or the world are common in preaching. Such readings are applications rather than what the text itself states.

In the Korean Church

Both the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render the word as Yuragullo, so it is familiar to Korean believers. In preaching, the expression "the Euraquilo gale" is frequently used to describe sudden hardship or crisis. Other themes often drawn from this passage include the lesson that one should follow the word of God rather than the judgment of experts or the majority (27:11) and the example of a believer encouraging the community in a time of crisis (27:22–25).