“The days when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1) were the approximately three centuries between Israel’s entrance into Canaan and the anointing of their first king. Judges 17:6 sums up the period: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” or “every man did that which was right
Paul, unusually for a Jew, was a seasoned sea traveler. He would have been under no illusions about what might await him on the long voyage to get to Rome from one of its farthest outposts. He had lived much of the last few years in that in-between stage, knowing that the sea was still
At this point in Paul’s life, he has been promised by God through his sense of vocation (Acts 19:21) and has been promised by Jesus through a vision (Acts 23:11) that he will get to Rome. Now Paul himself has to take responsibility, at one level, for making this happen.