Acts 28:2-10 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 28:1-10

What a great variety of places and circumstances do we find Paul in! He was a planet, and not a fixed star. Here we have him in an island to which, in all probability, he had never come if he had not been thrown upon it by a storm; and yet it seems God has work for him to do here. Even stormy winds fulfil God's counsel, and an ill wind indeed it is that blows nobody any good; this ill wind blew good to the island of Melita; for it gave them Paul's company for three months, who was a blessing... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 28:1-6

28:1-6 When we had been brought safely to shore, we recognized that the island was Malta. The natives showed us quite extraordinary kindness for they lit a bonfire and brought us all to it because of the rain which had come on and the cold. When Paul had twisted up a faggot of sticks and placed it on the fire, a viper came out of it because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer and,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 28:7-10

28:7-10 In the neighbourhood of that place there were estates which belonged to the Chief of the island, who was called Publius. He welcomed us and hospitably entertained us for three days. It so happened that Publius' father was lying ill, in the grip of intermittent attacks of fever and of dysentery. Paul went to visit him. He prayed and laid his hands on him and cured him. When this happened,. the rest of the people in the island who had ailments kept coming and being cured. So they heaped... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:2

And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness ,.... The inhabitants of this island are called barbarians, not from the country of Barbary, near to which they were; nor so much on account of their manners, for, though Heathens, they were a civil and cultivated people, being, as appears from the name of the chief man of the island, under the Roman government; but because of their language, see 1 Corinthians 14:11 , it being neither Hebrew, Greek, nor Latin; for as the inhabitants... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:3

And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks ,.... Had picked up some sticks, and put them in a bundle fit for the fire, as everyone was busy to assist in this extremity; nor did the apostle think such an action below him, who in all things was a man of great humility and condescension: and laid them on the fire ; to increase it: there came a viper out of the heat : a viper is a kind of serpent, which brings forth its young living, to the number of twenty, only one in a day, which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:4

And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast ,.... The viper is called "Therion", a beast, it being of the viviparous kind; and hence comes "Theriaca", or "Venice treacle", the foundation of which composition is vipers' flesh; and it is called venomous, because it is of all serpents the most venomous: this when the country people saw hang on his hand , having wrapped itself about it, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer : they might see he was a prisoner by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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 ; read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:6

Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen ,.... With the venomous bite of the viper; swelling is one of the symptoms following the bite of this creature; and if the bite does not issue in death, yet the swelling continues inflamed for some time. The symptoms following the bite of a viper are said to be F18 Chambers's Cyclopaedia, ut supra. (the word "Viper") an acute pain in the place wounded; swelling, first red, afterwards livid, spreading by degrees; great faintness; a quick,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:7

In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island ,.... Or "the first man of the island"; so the governor of Melita used to be called, as appears by an inscription mentioned by Bochart, wherein a Roman knight is called πρωτος μελιταιων , "the first of the Melitians"; for this island was under the Roman government, and the very name of this chief man shows it: it was first in the hands of the Africans, when Dido built Carthage, which was eight or nine hundred years before... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:8

And it came to pass that the father of Publius ,.... So that Publius was not an old man, though of so much dignity and wealth: the Arabic version, contrary to all copies, and other versions, reads, "the son of Publius": lay sick of a fever ; or fevers, of different sorts, a complication of them, which sometimes is the case; unless this was an intermitting fever, and the several fits of it are intended; or rather the plural number is put for the singular, to denote the vehemence of it,... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 28:1-10

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 28:1-6

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 28:7-10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 28:8

Group of Brands