<p>27:35 <em>And when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat</em>- The uncanny appeal and authority of Paul is brought out when we consider the implication of this: Paul prayed in the presence of them <em>all</em>, all 275 of them, presumably mustered on the deck, and then solemnly ate in front of them, passing the food on to them. See on :43.</p><p>Paul&rsquo;s &lsquo;breaking of bread&rsquo; on the doomed ship in Acts 27 is described in terms evidently designed to recall the &ldquo;breaking of bread&rdquo; service. On the 14th night (cp. the 14th Nissan), Paul took, blessed, broke and shared the bread- all terms associated with the &ldquo;breaking of bread&rdquo; in a religious sense. Further, the word <em>eucharistesen </em>is used here in :35 to describe Paul&rsquo;s giving of thanks, and this is the word elsewhere used about the breaking of bread service. This is not the usual word used for simply giving thanks for a meal, but has religious overtones. &ldquo;I urge you to take some food&rdquo; uses <em>metalabein </em>which literally means not to just &ldquo;take&rdquo; but to &ldquo;receive one&rsquo;s share in&rdquo;- the same express used by Luke in describing the early breaking of bread meetings in Acts 2:46. We can immediately perceive a witness element to this &ldquo;breaking of bread&rdquo;. Paul was surrounded by people who were despairing of their lives, who had not eaten for some time either because of seasickness or from fasting to various gods for safety. And in the midst of those people he proclaims Christ to them through the breaking of bread, urging their participation, and thereby using the breaking of bread just as the Lord Jesus did- to draw people further into God&rsquo;s plan of salvation.</p><p>The same Greek words for &quot;break bread&quot; are used in the healing miracles, where Jesus broke bread and gave it to the crowds (Mt. 14:19; 15:36), and for how Jesus took bread and broke it at a meal with the Emmaus disciples (Lk. 24:30); those two words are also used to describe how Paul 'broke bread' with the passengers and crew onboard ship (Acts 27:35). So the evidence would seem to be that the meals of Jesus which were open to all, sinners included were of the same category and nature as the memorial meal known as &quot;the breaking of bread&quot;- for the same phrase 'breaking bread' is used (Mt. 26:26; Acts 2:46; 20:7; 1 Cor. 10:16; 11:24). The same rubric of taking bread, blessing and giving to the disciples is found in the feeding miracles as in the Last Supper, and in the Lord&rsquo;s post-resurrectional eating with the couple in Emmaus- as well as in Paul&rsquo;s exposition of the Christian &ldquo;breaking of bread&rdquo; which we have in 1 Cor. 11. Mark&rsquo;s Gospel seeks to draw a parallel between the Lord&rsquo;s feeding miracles and the last supper &ldquo;breaking of bread&rdquo;. In each account, there is the same action recorded: Taking, blessing, dividing and giving out (Mk. 6:41-44 cp. Mk. 14:22-25). That same four fold theme is to be found in the &ldquo;breaking of bread&rdquo; which Paul shared on the stricken ship in Acts 27:33-37, where we note that how he &ldquo;gave thanks&rdquo; is described using the verb <em>eucharisteo</em>.</p>