Match Diacritics: N
Interlinear
This could not mean that they actually saw land in the inky blackness, since Luke always uses this word for supposing or theorizing without visible proof. Rather, like sailors have done for centuries, they were listening for waves crashing on rocks in the night, so they might not suddenly run aground. When they heard the roaring of waves on a reef, they immediately began taking soundings in order to determine just how close they were to running aground.
1 Verse(s)