21:2a
Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia: This clause indicates that they went around asking about a ship that would go to Phoenicia. They then asked those in charge of the ship if there was room for them. Other ways to translate this clause are:
We searched for a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, found/saw one
-or-
We asked about a ship crossing over to Phoenicia. We were told about one
-or-
We asked about a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, and people told us about one
a ship crossing over to Phoenicia: This ship was a large ocean-going ship, probably more than thirty meters (a hundred feet) long. It probably had one large rectangular sail in the middle and a smaller one in the front. It could sail long distances over the open sea (where no land could be seen). It probably sailed straight to Phoenicia. This would be much faster than following the coast and stopping at a harbor each night. Use a word or phrase that indicates or implies that kind of ship.
crossing over: This phrase refers to going from one side of something to the other side. Here the ship would go from one place on the coast to another place, going far from land. The trip from Patara to Tyre was about 600 kilometers (370 miles). Sailing day and night, the trip took three to five days with good winds.
Other ways to translate this phrase are:
crossing ⌊the sea⌋
-or-
sailing for (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
going ⌊by sea⌋
Phoenicia: Phoenicia was a region on the coast of the province of Syria (21:3b). In some languages people are not familiar with the name Phoenicia. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain it in your translation. For example:
⌊the region/area of⌋ Phoenicia
See how you spelled this name in 15:3.
21:2b
boarded it: This phrase refers to going onto a ship. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
got on it
set sail: This phrase indicates that the ship departed from the harbor. It translates the same Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “we sailed” in 21:1b. Translate it as you did there.
© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.