Acts 28:5

5 *He* however, having shaken off the beast into the fire, felt no harm.

Acts 28:5 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 28:5

And he shook off the beast into the fire
Having held it a while, and as being master of it, and as not being afraid of it, though it was the ready way to provoke it to fasten on him again:

and felt no harm;
it having not bit him, nor infected him with its poison; and hereby was fulfilled what our Lord promised to his disciples, ( Mark 16:18 ) ;

Acts 28:5 In-Context

3 And Paul having gathered a [certain] quantity of sticks together in a bundle and laid [it] on the fire, a viper coming out from the heat seized his hand.

4 And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging from his hand, they said to one another, This man is certainly a murderer, whom, [though] saved out of the sea, Nemesis has not allowed to live.

5 *He* however, having shaken off the beast into the fire, felt no harm.

6 But *they* expected that he would have swollen or fallen down suddenly dead. But when they had expected a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, changing their opinion, they said he was a god.

7 Now in the country surrounding that place were the lands belonging to the chief man of the island, by name Publius, who received us and gave [us] hospitality three days in a very friendly way.

Footnotes

• [a] Or 'much rather:' 'however' is weak, but is I believe the best word.