Acts 28 Footnotes

28:10 The honors Paul received may have been monetary rewards or even payment, as the same word is used elsewhere in Acts to indicate money (4:34; 5:2-3; 7:16; 19:19).

28:11 This indicates that probably in February or shortly thereafter, the journey recommenced, this time aboard another Alexandrian grain ship headed for Rome. (The first one had been torn apart by the sea.) The “Twin Gods” were Castor and Pollux (Gemini), the patrons of sailors. The ship needed to be underway as soon as possible since its journey had been delayed due to the winter break.

28:12 Syracuse was a port on the eastern side of Sicily.

28:13 Puteoli was a major port in southern Italy. It was an important shipping harbor for transporting grain from Egypt to Rome.

28:14 Luke wrote that they found “brothers and sisters” in Puteoli—probably Christian believers rather than Jews. It is unknown how believers came to be in Puteoli, just as it is unknown how Christians came to be in Rome itself. Apparently there was a Jewish community there, and they may have had contact with Christians elsewhere. A seaport would also have been a natural place for such contact to be made. In answer to the question of how the centurion would have allowed Paul to stay with the believers in Puteoli for seven days, when one recounts how Paul helped the centurion at several key junctures and proved himself a reliable and trustworthy person, it is not surprising. The centurion probably had business to attend to in the area, perhaps related to the journey itself and what had happened along the way.