Acts 28

Acts 28:1-31 . THE WINTERING AT MALTA, AND NOTABLE OCCURRENCES THERE--PROSECUTION OF THE VOYAGE TO ITALY AS FAR AS PUTEOLI, AND LAND JOURNEY THENCE TO ROME--SUMMARY OF THE APOSTLE'S LABORS THERE FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING YEARS.

1. knew the island was called Melita--(See on ac 27:39 ). The opinion that this island was not Malta to the south of Sicily, but Meleda in the Gulf of Venice--which till lately had respectable support among Competent judges--is now all but exploded; examination of all the places on the spot, and of all writings and principles bearing on the question, by gentlemen of the highest qualification, particularly SMITH affirmed, at rest.

2. the barbarous people--so called merely as speaking neither the Greek nor the Latin language. They were originally Phoenician colonists.
showed us no little--"no ordinary"
kindness, for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain--"the rain that was on us"--not now first falling, but then falling heavily.
and because of the cold--welcomed us all, drenched and shivering, to these most seasonable marks of friendship. In this these "barbarians" contrast favorably with many since bearing the Christian name. The lifelike style of the narrative here and in the following verses gives it a great charm.

3. when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks--"a quantity of dry sticks." The vigorous activity of Paul's character is observable in this comparatively trifling action [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].
and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat--Having laid itself up among the sticks on the approach of the cold winter season, it had suddenly recovered from its torpor by the heat.
and fastened--its fangs.
on his hand--Vipers dart at their enemies sometimes several feet at a bound. They have now disappeared from Malta, owing to the change which cultivation has produced.

4-6. No doubt this man is a murderer--His chains, which they would see, might strengthen the impression.
whom . . . vengeance suffereth not to live--They believed in a Supreme, Resistless, Avenging Eye and Hand, however vague their notions of where it resided.

5. shook off the beast and felt no harm--See Mark 16:18 .

6. they looked--"continued looking."
when he should have swollen or fallen down dead--familiar with the effects of such bites.
and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said . . . he was a god--from "a murderer" to "a god," as the Lycaonian greeting of Paul and Silas from "sacrificing to them" to "stoning them" ( Acts 14:13 Acts 14:19 ). What has not the Gospel done for the uncultivated portion of the human family, while its effects on the educated and refined, though very different, are not less marvellous! Verily it is God's chosen restorative for the human spirit, in all the multitudinous forms and gradations of its lapsed state.

7, 8. possessions of the chief man--"the first man."
of the island--He would hardly be so styled in the lifetime of his father, if his distinction was that of the family. But it is now ascertained that this was the proper official title of the Maltese representative of the Roman prætor to Sicily, to whose province Malta belonged; two inscriptions having been discovered in the island, one in Greek, the other in Latin, containing the same words which Luke here employs.
who received us--of Paul's company, but doubtless including the "courteous" Julius.
and lodged us three days courteously--till proper winter lodgings could be obtained for them.

8. the father of Publius lay sick of a fever--"fevers." The word was often thus used in the plural number, probably to express recurring attacks.
and of a bloody flux--"of dysentery." (The medical accuracy of our historian's style has been observed here.)
to whom Paul entered in, and prayed--thereby precluding the supposition that any charm resided in himself.
and laid his hands on him, and healed him--Thus, as our Lord rewarded Peter for the use of his boat ( Luke 5:3 Luke 5:4 , &c.), so Paul richly repays Publius for his hospitality. Observe the fulfilment here of two things predicted in Mark 16:18 --the "taking up serpents," and "recovering of the sick by laying hands on them."

9. this . . . done, others . . . came and were healed--"kept coming to [us] and getting healed," that is, during our stay, not all at once [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].