King James Bible Dictionary

Built by:

Noah
Genesis 6:13-22

Solomon
1 Kings 9:26; 2 Chronicles 8:17

Jehoshaphat
1 Kings 22:48; 2 Chronicles 20:35-36

Built of:

Gopher wood
Genesis 6:14

Fir wood
Ezekiel 27:5

Bulrushes
Isaiah 18:2

Sealed with pitch
Genesis 6:15

Equipped with:

Helm
James 3:4

Rudder
Acts 27:40

Tackling
Isaiah 33:23; Acts 27:19

Sails
Isaiah 33:23; Acts 27:1; Acts 27:9; Acts 27:17; Acts 27:40

Sails embroidered
Ezekiel 27:7

Masts
Isaiah 33:23; Ezekiel 27:5

Oars
Jonah 1:13; Mark 6:48

Figurehead
Acts 28:11

Anchor
Acts 27:29-30; Acts 27:40; Hebrews 6:19

Life boats
Acts 27:30; Acts 27:32

Used in commerce:

General references
Acts 21:3; Acts 27:10

With Tarshish
1 Kings 22:48; Isaiah 60:9; Jonah 1:3

With Ophir
1 Kings 10:11; 2 Chronicles 8:18

With Adramyttium
Acts 27:2

Used for passenger traffic
Isaiah 60:9; Jonah 1:3; Acts 20:13; Acts 27:2; Acts 27:37; Acts 28:11

Used for ferriage
2 Samuel 19:18

Repaired by calking
Ezekiel 27:9

Wrecked at:

Eziongeber
1 Kings 22:48; 2 Chronicles 20:35-37

Melita
Acts 27:14; Acts 27:44

Warships used by Chittim
Numbers 24:24; Daniel 11:30
Mariner

No one writer in the whole range of Greek and Roman literature has supplied us with so much information concerning the merchant-ships of the ancients as St. Luke in the narrative of St. Paul's voyage to Rome. Acts 27,28. It is important to remember that he accomplished it in three ships: first, the Adramyttian vessel which took him from C'sarea to Myra, and which was probably a coasting-vessel of no great size, (Acts 27:1-6) secondly, the large Alexandrian corn-ship, in which he was wrecked on the coast of Malta (Acts 27:6-28) :1; and thirdly, another large Alexandrian corn-ship, in which he sailed from Malta by Syracuse and Rhegium to Puteoli. (Acts 28:11-13)

1. Size of ancient ships .

   The narrative which we take as our chief guide affords a good standard for estimating this. The ship, in which St. Paul was wrecked had persons on board, (Acts 27:37) besides a cargo of wheat, ibid. (Acts 27:10,38) and all these passengers seem to have been taken on to Puteoli in another ship, ibid, (Acts 28:11) which had its own crew and its own cargo. Now, in modern transport-ships, prepared far carrying troops, it is a common estimate to allow a toll and a half per man. On the whole, if we say that an ancient merchant-ship might range from 500 to 1000 tons, we are clearly within the mark.

2. Steering apparatus .

   Some commentators have fallen into strange perplexities from observing that in (Acts 27:40) ("the fastenings of the rudders") St. Luke uses the plural. Ancient ships were in truth not steered at all by rudders fastened or hinged to the stern, but by means of two paddle-rudders one on each quarter, acting in a rowlock or through a port-hole as the vessel might be small or large.

3. Build and ornaments of the hull.

   It is probable that there was no very marked difference between the bow and the stern. The "hold," (Jonah 1:5) would present no special peculiarities. That personification of ships which seems to be instinctive led the ancients to paint an eye on each side of the bow. Comp. (Acts 27:15) An ornament of the ship which took Paul from Malta to Pozzuoli is more explicitly referred to. The "sign" of that ship, (Acts 28:11) was Castor and Pollux; and the symbols of those heroes were doubtless painted or sculptured on each side of the bow.

4. Under-girders .

   The imperfection of the build, and still more (see below, 6) the peculiarity of the rig, in ancient ships, resulted in a greater tendency than in our times to the starting of the pranks and consequently to leaking and foundering. Hence it was customary to take on board peculiar contrivances, suitable called helps," (Acts 27:17) as precautions against such dangers. These were simply cables or chains, which in case of necessity could be passed round the frame of the ship, at right angles to its length, and made tight.

5. Anchors.

   Ancient anchors were similar in form to those which we use now. except that they were without flukes. The ship in which Paul was sailing had four anchors on board. The sailors on this occasion anchored by the stern. (Acts 27:29)

6. Masts, sails, ropes and yards . -The rig of an ancient ship was more simple and clumsy than that employed in modern times. Its great feature was one large mast, with one large square sail fastened to a yard of great length. Hence the strain upon the hull, and the danger of starting the planks, were greater than under the present system, which distributes the mechanical pressure more evenly over the whole ship. Not that there were never more masts than one, or more sails than one on the same mast, in an ancient merchantman; but these were repetitions, so to speak, of the same general unit of rig. Another feature of the ancient, as of the modern , feature of the ancient, as of ship is the flag at the top of the mast. Isai l.c., and (Isaiah 30:17) We must remember that the ancients had no compass, and very imperfect charts and instruments, if any at all.
7. Rate of sailing .

   St. Paul's voyages furnish excellent data for approximately estimating this; and they are quite in harmony with what we learn from other sources. We must notice here, however

   what commentators sometimes curiously forget-that winds are variable. That the voyage between Troas and Philippi, accomplished on one occasion, (Acts 16:11,12) in two days, occupied on another occasion, (Acts 20:6) five days. With a fair wind an ancient ship would sail fully seven knots an hour.

8. Sailing before the wind.

   The rig which has been described is, like the rig of Chinese junks, peculiarly favorable to a quick run before the wind. (Acts 16:11; 27:16) It would, however, be a great mistake to suppose that ancient ships could not work to windward. The superior rig and build, however, of modern ships enable them to sail nearer to the wind than was the case in classical times. A modern ship, if the weather is not very boisterous, will sail within six points of the wind. To an ancient vessel, of which the hull was more clumsy and the yards could not be braced so tight, it would be safe to assign seven points as the limit. Boats on the Sea Of Galilee .

   In the narrative of the call of the disciples to be "fishers of men," (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16,20; Luke 5:1-11) there is no special information concerning the characteristics of these. With the large population round the Lake of Tiberias, there must have been a vast number of both fighting-boats and pleasure-boats, and boat-building must have been an active trade on its shores.

SHIP, as a termination, denotes state or office; as in lordship.

SHIP. [See Shape.]

SHIP, noun [Latin scapha; from the root of shape.] In a general sense, a vessel or building of a peculiar structure, adapted to navigation, or floating on water by means of sails. In an appropriate sense, a building of a structure or form fitted for navigation, furnished with a bowsprit and three masts, a main-mast, a fore-mast and a mizen-mast, each of which is composed a lower-mast, a top-mast and top-gallant-mast, and square rigged. Ships are of various sizes and are for various uses; most of them however fall under the denomination of ships of war and merchant's ships.

SHIP, verb transitive

1. To put on board of a ship or vessel of any kind; as, to ship goods at Liverpoll for New York.

2. To transport in a ship; to convey by water.

The sun shall no sooner the mountains touch,

But we will ship him hence. Shak.

3. To receive into a ship or vessel; as, to ship at sea.

To ship the oars, to place them in the rowlocks.

To ship off, to send away by water; as, to ship off convicts.

SHIP'-BUILDER, noun [ship and builder.] A man whose occupation is to construct

SHIP'-BILDER, ships and other vessels; a naval architect; a shipwright.

SHIP'BOARD, adverb [ship and board.]

1. To go on shipboard or a shipboard is to go aboard; to enter a ship; to embark; literally, to go over the side. It is a peculiar phrase, and not much used. Seamen say, to go aboard or on board.

To be on ship board, to be in a ship; but seamen generally say, to go aboard or on board.

2. noun The pland of a ship. [Not now used.]

SHIP'-BOY, noun A boy that serves on board of a ship.

SHIP'-BUILDING, noun [ship and build.] Naval architecture; the art of constructing

SHIP'-BILDING, vessels for navigation, particularly ships and other vessels of a large kind, bearing masts; in distinction from boatbuilding.

SHIP-C'ARPENTER, noun A shipwright; a carpenter that works at ship-building.

SHIP-CH'ANDLER, noun [ship and chandler.] One who deals in cordage, canvas and other furniture of ships.

SHIP'-HOLDER, noun [ship and hold.] The owner of a ship or of shipping.

multitude

Father of Ziza.
1 Chronicles 4:37

(abundant), a Simeonite, father of Ziza, a prince of the tribe in the time of Hezekiah. (1 Chronicles 4:37) (B.C. 726.)","","SHIPHMITE THE","probably, though not certainly, the native of Shepham. (1 Chronicles 27:27)

Probably the designation of Zabdi, who has charge of David's vineyards (1 Chronicles 27:27).

Beauty, one of the Egyptian midwives (Exodus 1:15).

handsome; trumpet; that does good

A Hebrew midwife.
Exodus 1:15

(brightness), (Exodus 1:15) the name of one of the two midwives of the Hebrews who disobeyed the command of Pharaoh to kill the mule children. vs. (Exodus 1:15-21) (B.C. 1570.)

Judicial, an Ephraimite prince at the time of the division of Canaan (Numbers 34:24).

Father of the representative of Ephraim on the committee which divided the promised land among the Israelites.
Numbers 34:24

(judicial), father of Kemuel, a prince of the tribe of Ephraim. (Numbers 34:24) (B.C. before 1450.)

SHIP'LESS, adjective Destitute of ships.

SHIP'MAN, noun [ship and man.] A seaman or sailor. Obs.

SHIP'M'ASTER, noun [ship and master.] The captain, master or commander of a ship.

SHIP'MENT, noun

1. The act of putting any thing on board of another ship or vessel; embarkation; as, he engaged in the shipment of coal for London.

2. The goods or things shipped, or put on board of another ship or vessel. We say, the merchants have made large shipments to the United States.

The question is whether the share of M in the shipment is exempted from the condemnation by reason of his nuetral domicil. J. Story.

SHIP'-MONEY, noun [ship and money.] In English history, the imosition formerly charged on the ports, towns, cities, boroughs and counties of England, for providing and furnishing certain ships for the king's service. This imosition being laid by the king's writ under the great seal, without the consent of the parliament, was held to contrary to the laws and statutes of th erealm, and abolished by Stat. 17 Car. 11.

SHIP'PED, participle passive Put on board of a ship or vessel; received on board.

SHIP'PEN, noun A stable; a cow house. [Not in use.]

SHIP'PING, participle present tense

1. Putting on board of a ship or vessel; receiving on board.

2. adjective Relating to ships; as shipping concerns.

SHIP'PING, noun Ships in general; ships or vessels of any kind for navigation. The shipping of the English nation exceeds that of any other. The tunnage of shipping belonging to the United States is second only to that of Great Britain.

To take shipping to embark; to enter on board a ship or vessel for conveyance or passage.

SHIP'-SHAPE, adverb In a seamanlike manner.

Early used in foreign commerce by the Phoenicians (Genesis 49:13). Moses (Deuteronomy 28:68) and Job (9:26) make reference to them, and Balaam speaks of the "ships of Chittim" (Numbers 24:24). Solomon constructed a navy at Ezion-geber by the assistance of Hiram's sailors (1 Kings 9:26-28; 2 Chronicles 8:18). Afterwards, Jehoshaphat sought to provide himself with a navy at the same port, but his ships appear to have been wrecked before they set sail (1 Kings 22:48, 49; 2 Chronicles 20:35-37).

In our Lord's time fishermen's boats on the Sea of Galilee were called "ships." Much may be learned regarding the construction of ancient merchant ships and navigation from the record in Acts 27, 28.

SHIP'WRECK, noun [ship and wreck.]

1. The destruction of a ship or vessel by being cast ashore or broken to pieces by beating against rocks and the like.

2. The parts of a shattered ship.

3. Destruction.

To make a shipwreck concerning faith, is to apostatize from the love, profession and dpractice of divine truth which had been embraced.

SHIP'WRECK, verb transitive

1. To destroy by running ashore or on ricks or sand banks. How many vessels are annually shipwrecked on the Bahama rocks!

2. To suffer the perils of being cast away; to be cast ashore with the loss of the ship. The shipwrecked mariners were saved.

SHIP'WRECKED, participle passive Cast ashore; dashed upon the rocks or banks; destroyed.

SHIP'WRIGHT, noun [ship and wright. See Work.] One whose occupation is to construct ships; a builder of ships or other vessels.