Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 27:39

"And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they perceived a certain bay with a beach, and they took counsel whether they could drive the ship upon it." — Acts 27:39 (ASV)

They knew not the land.—It was, of course, quite probable that at least some of the sailors had been to Malta before; but St. Paul’s Bay, which we assume to be the point they had now reached, was remote from the Great Harbour, now that of Valetta, into which ships commonly sailed, and could therefore have remained unknown to them.

A certain creek with a shore.—Better, having a beach, as the English word “shore” does not adequately describe why the creek attracted them. Earlier versions have “bank.” In Homer and other Greek writers, the word is commonly used for a flat, sandy beach.

To thrust in the ship.—The word was a quasi-technical one, corresponding to our expression “to run the ship aground.”