Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.
We have here the issue of the distress of Paul and his fellow-travellers; they escaped with their lives and that was all, and that was for Paul's sake. We are here told (Act 27:37) what number there were on board - mariners, merchants, soldiers, prisoners, and other passengers, in all two hundred and seventy-six souls; this is taken notice of to make us the more...
Commenting on Acts 27:21-44
And we were in all in the ship,.... Reckoning the master and owner of the ship, and the centurion and the soldiers, and the apostle and his company, with whatsoever passengers there might be: two hundred and threescore and sixteen souls; the Alexandrian copy reads, "two hundred seventy and five"; and the Ethiopic version, "two hundred and six".
Verse 36. (+) "good cheer" "courage" (*) "meat" "food"