Bible Commentaries
Acts 28

Verses 1-31

XXVIII 1-6 The Landing In Malta —1. Originally colonized by Phoenicians, Malta now formed part of the province of Sicily. The Maltese are called ’barbarians’ because they spoke Phoenician and not Gk or Latin; cf.1 Corinthians 14:11. The island had long been civilized.

2. It was late autumn, and all were without sufficient food, sleep and clothes.

3. The viper fastened on St Paul’s hand, and therefore bit it; cf. Mark 16:18. There are no poisonous snakes in Malta today. If this was the case in a.d. 60, one may have escaped from some grain ship from. Africa. 4. The Maltese knew that St Paul was a prisoner. ’Justice’ personified should be read in place of ’vengeance’. 6. Cf. 14:10.

7-10 St Paul at Malta —7. ’The chief man of the island’ was the title of the representative of the Praetor of Sicily, and is found in inscriptions. Publius seems to have found lodging for all those shipwrecked. 8. Luke the physician noted the diseases ’fever and dysentery’.

11-16 Malta to Rome, A.D. 61, Spring —11. The journey was continued in a grain ship, which had for sign the Dioscuri, the Twin Brothers Castor and Pollux, the patrons of sailors. 12. Syracuse, the capital of Sicily, was a usual port of call.

13. Rhegium ( Reggio) is opposite Messina. It was necessary to keep inshore to avoid the currents. Puteoli, the modern Pozzuoli, with the harbour still in use, was then a trading port of far greater importance than Naples, and the terminus for ships from the East.

14. A Jewish colony had long been settled there, and, as in all the great centres by this date, there was a Christian church. The centurion Julius evidently allowed St Paul much liberty.

15. The week’s stay gave time for his arrival to be notified to the church at Rome, 140 m. distant. Appii Forum, the market of Appius, 43 m. from Rome, is described by Horace, Satires1, 5, as a place where travellers were fleeced. It lay on the edge of the Pontine Marshes, which St Paul may have passed by the canal, which here ran parallel to the Appian Way, the road to Rome. Three Taverns lay 10 m. nearer Rome, the first sight of which was obtained as the Appian Way crossed the Alban Hills. St Paul’s labours were well known in Rome, and he had many friends there, Rom 16. The church gave him a tender and reverential welcome, which must have greatly encouraged one so responsive to sympathy. 16. The city was entered by the Porta Capena, corresponding to the Porta di San Sebastiano. After reporting to the Praetorian Prefect Afranius Burrus, a Stoic philosopher, friend of Seneca and former tutor of Nero, St Paul was allowed to dwell in his own hired lodging, 23, 30. This was a modified form of the Custodia Militaris; see 24:23. He remained chained to a succession of soldiers whom he was thus able to evangelize, Philippians 1:12-13; Philippians 4:22. Even if the elogium of Festus had been lost in the shipwreck, Julius would have given a very favourable report. No statement of the Jewish case was forthcoming, 21.

17-22 The Interview with the Leading Jews —17. St Paul lost no time, and as always, turned first to the Jews. Unable to go to the synagogue he invited them to his lodging. Their large colony had recovered from the expulsion under Claudius, 18:2, and enjoyed the protection of the emperor. St Paul had done nothing against the custom of his fathers, because he not only observed the Law (see 21:21), but regarded all his new preaching as the fulfilling of it. 18. Cf. 25:25; 26:31. 19. He explains tactfully why he was constrained to appeal, namely, to avoid assassination or judicial murder. 20. He wishes to speak of the real cause of his imprisonment; cf. 26:6. 21. With winter putting an end to sailing, letters could hardly have reached Rome from the Sanhedrin till some time after St Paul’s arrival.

23-29 St Paul addresses the Jews —23. He speaks of the Messianic Kingdom and the Messias, foretold in the Law and the Prophets; cf. 26:22. 24. It would seem from the sternness of Paul’s farewell that few were really convinced. 25. ’To your fathers’ is the better reading, and marks St Paul’s separation from Judaism. 26-27. He quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, from LXX, to sum up the attitude of the Jews. Our Lord used the same text; see Matthew 13:14f. 28. These are St Paul’s final and prophetic words. The work of the Apostle of the Gentiles is assured. 29 is not found in the best MSS.

30-31 Conclusion —30. The aorist implies that St Paul’s situation changed ’after two whole years’. This seems to have been the legal period of detention during which accusers could bring their charge, see § 815b. 31. With the cadence worthy of a final sentence St Paul is left at the centre of the Gentile world. St Luke implies that his preaching was very successful even while he was still a prisoner, and this is confirmed by the Captivity Epistles. The Christians are greatly encouraged, Philippians 1:14, and numerous, ibid 4:22. St Paul’s friends gather round him and he looks forward to release, Philippians 1:23ff.; 2:24, Phm 22. The Church becomes sufficiently known to be Nero’s scapegoat in a.d. 64, and a new era opens in which St Paul himself is to die a martyr.