And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.

And the south wind gently blowing, thinking that they had obtained their purpose, when they had loosed from Asson, they sailed close by Crete.

And the south wind blowing gently, supposing that they had gained their object, having weighed anchor they sailed close in shore along Crete.

and a south wind blowing softly, having thought they had obtained their purpose, having lifted anchor, they sailed close by Crete,

And a light breeze from the south sprang up, so that they supposed they were now sure of their purpose. So weighing anchor they ran along the coast of Crete, hugging the shore.

And when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of Crete, very near to the land.

And since the south wind was blowing gently, they thought that they might reach their goal. And after they had set out from Asson, they weighed anchor at Crete.

So, when a light wind sprang up from the south, thinking that they had found their opportunity, they weighed anchor and kept along the coast of Crete, close in shore.

The south wind - The wind before had probably been a head-wind, blowing from the west. When it veered round to the south, and when it blew gently, though not entirely favorable, yet it was so that they supposed they could sail along the coast of Crete.
Had obtained their purpose - The object of their desire; that is, to sail safely along the coast of Crete.
Loosing thence - Setting sail from the fair havens.
Close by Crete - Near the shore. It is evident that they designed, if possible, to make the harbor of Phenice to winter there. They weighed anchor and passed around Cape Matala. The distance to this point is four or five miles; the bearing west by south. With a gentle southerly wind, the vessel would be able to weather the cape, and then the wind was fair to Phoenix or Phenice (Lutro), which was 35 miles distant from the cape, and bore from thence about west-northwest.

When the south wind blew softly - Though this wind was not very favorable, yet, because it blew softly, they supposed they might be able to make their passage.
They sailed close by Crete - Kept as near the coast as they could. See the track on the map.

And when the south wind blew softly,.... Or moderately, which was a good wind for them:
supposing that they, had obtained their purpose; that things would succeed according to their wish, and favour their design:
loosing thence; from the Fair Havens; the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions render it, "loosing from Assos"; which could not be Assos of Troas, mentioned in Acts 20:13 which was many miles from hence; rather Asum, a town in Crete, of which Pliny (r) makes mention, though, according to him, it seems to be an inland town; wherefore it is best to take the word to be an adverb, and render it "thence", as we do; or join it with the next word, and render it,
they came near, or they sailed close by Crete; along the shore, the wind favouring them, that they were in no danger of being dashed upon it, it being a soft gentle wind.
(r) Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 12.

when the south wind blew softly, supposing they had attained their purpose--With such a wind they had every prospect of reaching their destination in a few hours.