Acts 27:28 · measurement explained
Soundings of 20 and then 15 fathoms
Sailors approaching danger take repeated depth soundings and find the water rapidly shallowing from twenty to fifteen fathoms.
Read the verse first
They took soundings and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.
World English Bible · engwebp-source-2026-09-12
Modern measurement range
First sounding: twenty fathoms
33.6–36.6 m
110.24–120.08 ft
Using the fathom estimate. Ancient body-based fathoms were not guaranteed to equal the later fixed six-foot maritime fathom.
Calculate another amount →Second sounding: fifteen fathoms
25.2–27.45 m
82.68–90.06 ft
Using the fathom estimate. Ancient body-based fathoms were not guaranteed to equal the later fixed six-foot maritime fathom.
Calculate another amount →Meters and feet make the change visible, but the ancient arm-span measure need not equal the later fixed maritime fathom exactly.
What this conversion does—and does not—show
It gives a defensible modern scale for the amount stated in the verse. Ancient standards varied by time and place, so the endpoints are deliberately approximate. A volume is not a food mass, a metal weight is not a modern cash value, and a conversion does not settle a textual, archaeological, or theological debate.
Conversion references: ESV weights and measures ↗, American Bible Society ↗, and Encyclopedia of the Bible ↗. Reference pages accessed October 10, 2026.