In Acts 28:13, the King James Version reads, “And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli:”
If you are a history buff like me, you know that navigational compasses did not exist at that time at least not in the way we know them. Luke could not be referring to going to fetch a navigational compass any more than he could have been writing about going back to pick up Paul’s iPhone 15. So, what gives?
Using my Logos Bible Study Platform, I was able to do some deep study here.
In this screenshot, notice the NKJV reads “From there we circled round ….”
Likewise, the Legacy Standard Bible has “From there we sailed around….”
At the bottom you’ll see the Lexicons confirm that these are solid translation word choices. So why did the KJV use the word they chose? Well, since the translation is over 400 years old I cannot ask them but Oxford English Dictionary is a great tool here and notice, there is an entry indicating that the word compass meant to encircle or surround. It has the word “archaic” beside it.
What’s the point? The King James translators were correct in their choice and so were the translators of the NKJV and the LSB. The difference is the English, which has changed.
It’s good to know as you read the text there in Acts 28, if you encounter a scoffer, or wonder about it (like I did when I was younger), the Bible is historically accurate from beginning to ending!