Place · Island
Crete
Also known as Caphtor
Named in 5 verses across 2 books, first in Acts 27:7.
In the Bible
All 5 verses, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
Acts
- Acts 27:7
After sailing slowly for many days, we arrived off Cnidus. When the wind impeded us, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
- Acts 27:12
Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to sail on, if somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete facing both southwest and northwest.
- Acts 27:13
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had their opportunity. So they weighed anchor and sailed along, hugging the coast of Crete.
- Acts 27:21
After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have averted this disaster and loss.
Titus
- Titus 1:5
The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
Events here
Events the dataset sets at Crete. Dates follow its Ussher–Jones reckoning (one of several traditional counts), not established history.
- c. AD 56Journey to Rome begins
- c. AD 56Paul's Journey to Rome
- c. AD 57Paul is shipwrecked by a storm
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
Now called Candia, one of the largest islands in the Meditterranean, about 140 miles long and 35 broad. It was at one time a very prosperous and populous island, having a “hundred cities.” The character of the people is described in Paul’s quotation from “one of their own poets” (Epimenides) in his epistle to Titus: “The Cretans are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (Titus 1:12). Jews from Crete were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). The island was visited by Paul on his voyage to Rome ([Acts 27](/acts#Acts.27)). Here Paul subsequently left Titus (1:5) “to ordain elders.” Some have supposed that it was the original home of the Caphtorim (q.v.) or Philistines.