성경 주석서

Acts 28:1,2 Paul and his company, after their shipwreck, are

kindly entertained by the barbarians of Melita.

Acts 28:3-6 A viper fastening on his hand without hurting him,

the people, who at first thought ill of him, believed

him a god.

Acts 28:7-10 He healeth the father of Publius, and other sick

persons by the island.

Acts 28:11-16 Paul and his company depart, and arrive at Rome; where

Paul is left with a guard in a house of his own.

Acts 28:17-22 He calleth the Jews together, and showeth the

occasion of his coming.

Acts 28:23-29 He preacheth Christ to them, of whom some believe,

others believe not.

Acts 28:30,31 He continueth for two whole years to preach the

gospel without interruption.

The island; this was foretold by Paul, Acts 27:26; and therefore though the mariners knew not the land, Acts 27:39, and were not able to direct the ship, as Acts 27:15, yet God so ordered it, that not a word spoken by Paul did fall to the ground, but the wind and sea obey him.

Melita; now called Malta, a little island between Sicily and Africa. There is another obscure island in Illyricum that was called by this name, which some have mistook for this place of Paul’s shipwreck, by reason that this tempest was in the Adriatic Sea: but not only the Gulf of Venice, but the sea about Sicily, and this coast, was so called, as Strabo witnesseth. See Acts 27:27.

The barbarous people; so the Grecians and Romans called all other nations that did not receive their customs, nor speak their language, 1 Corinthians 14:11; and to this day the African coast over against this island is called Barbary.

For they kindled a fire, &c.: how far is this humanity of heathens beyond that inhumanity which some that are called Christians use towards those that are shipwrecked, and their goods that come on shore!

A viper; a creature so venomous, that not only its biting, but (some say) its breath, is deadly: this, upon the warmth of the fire, being benumbed with the cold, and now refreshed, began to stir itself.

Fastened on his hand; as it used to do when it biteth. God by this miracle prepares this people not only to be civil and courteous unto Paul, but to believe the gospel which he preached, wheresoever he went. And this wonderful work of God was (as God’s seal to his ministry) to show his authority to be from him.

Venomous; so the viper is called by that appellative word, from whence also comes theriaca, or treacle, which is made out of flesh, or trochusses, of vipers. And if men can make an antidote out of poison, much more can God bring good out of evil.

This man is a murderer; it is a strange sense that men by the light of nature had of Divine vengeance, especially of God’s revenging of murder. Hence they called one of their furies Tisiphone, as one that punished and revenged murder. Yet they were to blame in this case:

1. Because they confine the punishment of wicked men wholly unto this life.

2. In that they did not expect the event; they judged before they knew what would be the end of Paul afterwards.

3. They erred, in that they measured the goodness or badness of a man’s state or cause by his prosperity or adversity.

As Daniel in the lion’s den. God is the God of nature, and the most natural properties are restrained when he pleases, and cannot be exerted without his concurrence. Thus the promises our blessed Saviour made, in Mark 16:18 Luke 10:19, were fulfilled according to the letter.

Should have swollen; the word signifies primarily to be burnt, and then by burning or scalding to swell, which is accounted the ordinary symptom of the biting of a viper; to swell or blister, as if the part was burnt with fire.

Or fallen down dead suddenly; in those places where there is much more heat, there is more venom in these vipers. And though some are said to live several days after they are bit by them, yet others die very suddenly upon their biting; as the known story of Cleopatra testifies; and condemned persons were sometimes put to death by vipers set unto their breasts.

And said that he was a god; a strange extreme; so uncertain and unequal are men’s minds.

This Publius is thought to have been governor for the Romans in this island. Howsoever, he was a man of great account and estate, that could provide for so many as were in the ship, and receive them into his own house.

A bloody flux; a painful and dangerous disease; the torment in the bowels frequently causing a fever.

And prayed; Paul could do nothing of himself, and therefore begs of God the recovery of Publius’s father. It is God only that kills and makes alive, 1 Samuel 2:6.

Laid his hands on him; this imposition of hands was commonly used in miraculous cures, as Matthew 9:18 Mark 6:5; and is joined with prayer, Matthew 19:13, which it might be a symbol of. Thus Publius was well paid for what he did for Paul and his company. Relieving of the poor and distressed is frequently rewarded in this world, and not only in the world to come. And God now recommends the gospel and the ministry of Paul by this miracle also: for none could do such things as these, unless God were with him.