Chú giải Kinh Thánh

We are the more concerned to take notice of and to improve what is here recorded concerning blessed Paul because, after the story of this chapter, we hear no more of him in the sacred history, though we have a great deal of him yet before us in his epistles. We have attended him through several chapters from one judgment-seat to another, and could at last have taken leave of him with the more pleasure if we had left him at liberty; but in this chapter we are to condole with him, and yet congratulate him. I. We condole with him as a poor shipwrecked passenger, stripped of all; and yet congratulate him, 1. As singularly owned by his God in his distress, preserved himself from receiving hurt by a viper that fastened on his hand (Ac 28:1-6), and being made an instrument of much good in the island on which they were cast, in healing many that were sick, and particularly the father of Publius, the chief man of the island, Ac 28:7-9. 2. As much respected by the people there, Ac 28:10. II. We condole with him as a poor confined prisoner, carried to Rome under the notion of a criminal removed by "habeas corpus" (Ac 28:11-16), and yet we congratulate him, 1. Upon the respect shown him by the Christians at Rome, who came a great way to meet him, Ac 28:15. 2. Upon the favour he found with the captain of the guard, into whose custody he was delivered, who suffered him to dwell by himself, and did not put him in the common prison, Ac 28:16. 3. Upon the free conference he had with the Jews at Rome, both about his own affair (Ac 28:17-22) and upon the subject of the Christian religion in general (Ac 28:23), the issue of which was that God was glorified, many were edified, the rest left inexcusable, and the apostles justified in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, Ac 28:24-29. 4. Upon the undisturbed liberty he had to preach the gospel to all comers in his own house for two years together, Ac 28:30-31.

St. Paul, and the rest of the crew, getting safely ashore, find that the island on which they were shipwrecked is called Melita, Acts 28:1. They are received with great hospitality by the inhabitants, Acts 28:2. A viper comes out of the bundle of sticks, laid on the fire, and seizes on Paul's hand, Acts 28:3. The people, seeing this, suppose him to be a murderer, and thus pursued by Divine vengeance, Acts 28:4. Having shook it off his hand, without receiving any damage, they change their minds, and suppose him to be a god, Acts 28:5, Acts 28:6. Publius, the governor of the island, receives them courteously, and Paul miraculously heals his father, who was ill of a fever, etc., Acts 28:7, Acts 28:8. He heals several others also, who honor them much, and give them presents, Acts 28:9, Acts 28:10. After three months' stay, they embark in a ship of Alexandria, land at Syracuse, stay there three days, sail thence, pass the straits of Rhegium, and land at Puteoli; find some Christians there, tarry seven days, and set forward for Rome, Acts 28:11-14. They are met at Appii Forum by some Christians, and Paul is greatly encouraged, Acts 28:15. They come to Rome, and Julius delivers his prisoners to the captain of the guard, who permits Paul to dwell by himself only attended by the soldier that kept him, Acts 28:16. Paul calls the chief Jews together, and states his case to them, Acts 28:17-20. They desire to hear him concerning the faith of Christ, Acts 28:21, Acts 28:22; and, having appointed unto him a day, he expounds to them the kingdom of Christ, Acts 28:23. Some believe, and some disbelieve; and Paul informs them that, because of their unbelief and disobedience, the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, Acts 28:24-29. Paul dwells two years in his own hired house, preaching the kingdom of God, Acts 28:30, Acts 28:31.

CHAPTER 28

Acts 28:1. ἐπέγνωσαν] Lachm. Tisch. Born. read ἐπέγνωμεν, according to A B C א, min. and most vss. Rightly; the third person was introduced with a retrospective view to Acts 27:39, through the connection with the concluding words of Acts 27:44.

Acts 28:2. ἀνάψαντες] Lachm. Born. read ἁψαντες, according to A B C א, min. But AN was liable to omission even in itself, and especially through the preceding N.

Acts 28:3. ἐχ] Lachm. Tisch. Born. read ἀπό, which is decidedly attested, and therefore to be adopted.

διεξελθοῦσα] So Tisch. Born. Scholz, according to A G H, min. Chrys. Theophyl. But Elz. and Lachm. have ἐξελθοῦσα. The double compound was the more easily neglected as it was not elsewhere known from the N.T.

Acts 28:5. ἀποτινάξας] ἀποτιναξάμενος, although adopted by Scholz and Tisch., is not sufficiently attested by A G H, min.

Acts 28:10. τὴν χρείαν] Lachm. Tisch. Born, have τὰς χρείας, according to A B J א, min. A gloss on τὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν, after Acts 20:34.

Acts 28:14. ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς] Lachm. and Born., following A B J א, min., read παρʼ αὐτοῖς, which was introduced as explanatory.

Acts 28:16. ὁ ἑκατόνταρχος … στρατοπεδάρχῃ] is wanting (so that the passage continues: ἐπετράπη τῷ II.) in A B א loti 40, Chrys. and most vss. Condemned by Mill, Bengel, and others, suspected by Griesb., and deleted by Lachm. and Tisch. Defended especially by Born. in Rosenm. Repert. II. p. 301 f. The words, attested by G H and most min. Ar. p. Slav. Theophyl. Oec., have certainly the suspicion of being an expansion. Yet in opposition to their rejection we may urge, first, that there are no variations in detail, as is the general rule with interpolations; secondly, that the writer of a gloss, instead of τῷ στρατοπεδ., would probably have written the more readily occurring plural; and thirdly, that in transcribing one might very easily pass from ἐκατοντ ΑΡΧΟΣ directly to στρατοπεδ ΑΡΧΗ, which corruption would then produce the form of Lachmann’s text.

Acts 28:17. αὐτόν] Elz. has τὸν Παῦλον, against A B א, min. Chrys. and several vss. The name came in, because in Acts 28:17 a separate new act of the history commences; therefore also Chrys. has once, and indeed at the beginning of a homily, τ. Παῦλ.

Acts 28:19. χατηγορῆσαι] A B א, min. have χατηγορεῖν, which Lachm. Tisch. and Born. have adopted. Rightly; χατηγορῆσαι is a mechanical alteration, in conformity with ἐπικαλέσασθαι.

Acts 28:23. ἧκον] A B א, min. have ἦλθον. Recommended by Griesb. and adopted by Lachm. The extremely common word has been involuntarily substituted for the classical imperfect ηκον, not elsewhere occurring in the N.T.

τὰ περί] Lachm. Tisch. Born. have only περί, following A B H א, min. vss. Comp. on Acts 8:12, Acts 21:8.

Acts 28:25. ἡμῶν] A B א, min. vss. Fathers have ὑμῶν, which Lachm. and Tisch. have adopted. The Recepta is justly supported by Born. The tone and contents of the speech, conveying censure and rejection, involuntarily suggested the second person to the transcribers. Comp. Acts 7:51 f.

Acts 28:27. ἰάσωμαι] A B G H א, min. Theophyl. have ἰάσομαι, recommended by Griesb. and adopted by Tisch. Rightly; see on John 7:40.

Acts 28:28. τὸ σωτήρ.] Lachm. Tisch. Born. read τοῦτο τὸ σωτήρ, according to A B א* min. Chrys. and several vss. The omission of τοῦτο, which has no express reference in the text, is quite in keeping with the inattention of transcribers

Acts 28:29 is entirely wanting in A B E א, loti 13, 40, 68, Lect. 1, Syr. Erp. Copt. Vulg. ms. In the Syr. p. it is marked as suspected by an asterisk. Condemned by Mill and others, deleted by Lachm. and Tisch. Very suspicious as an interpolated conclusion of the whole transaction (according to Acts 28:25). Yet it is saved from complete rejection by the fact, that here also in detail there are only found very immaterial variations.

Acts 28:30. After ἔμεινε δἑ, instead of which there is to be read, with Tisch., according to B א loti 13, ἐνέμεινεν δέ, Elz. has ὁ Παῦλος, against witnesses of very considerable importance. See on Acts 28:17.

Ac 28:1-31.

THE WINTERING AT MALTA, AND NOTABLE OCCURRENCES THERE--PROSECUTION OF THE VOYAGE TO ITALY AS FAR AS PUTEOLI, AND LAND JOURNEY THENCE TO ROME--SUMMARY OF THE APOSTLE'S LABORS THERE FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING YEARS.

1. knew the island was called Melita--(See on

Ac 27:39).

The opinion that this island was not Malta to the south of Sicily, but Meleda in the Gulf of Venice--which till lately had respectable support among Competent judges--is now all but exploded; examination of all the places on the spot, and of all writings and principles bearing on the question, by gentlemen of the highest qualification, particularly SMITH (see on

Ac 27:41),

having set the question, it may now be affirmed, at rest.

They knew - Either from their former acquaintance with the island, or from the information of the inhabitants.

Was called Melita - Now called "Malta." It was celebrated formerly for producing large quantities of honey, and is supposed to have been called Melita from the Greek word signifying honey. It is about 20 miles in length from east to west, and 12 miles in width from north to south, and about 60 miles in circumference. It is about 60 miles from the coast of Sicily. The island is an immense rock of white soft freestone, with a covering of earth about one foot in depth, which has been brought from the island of Sicily. There was also another island formerly called "Melita," now called "Meleda," in the Adriatic Sea, near the coast of Illyricum, and some have supposed that Paul was shipwrecked on that island. But tradition has uniformly said that it was on the island now called "Malta." Besides, the other "Melita" would have been far out of the usual track in going to Italy; and it is further evident that Malta was the place, because from the place of his shipwreck he went directly to Syracuse, Rhegium, and Puteoli, thus sailing in a direct course to Rome. In sailing from the other Melita to Rhegium, Syracuse would be far out of the direct course.

They knew that the island was called Melita - There were two islands of this name: one in the Adriatic Gulf, or Gulf of Venice, on the coast of Illyricum, and near to Epidaurus; the other in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and Africa, and now called Malta. It is about fifty miles from the coast of Sicily; twenty miles long, and twelve miles in its greatest breadth; and about sixty miles in circumference. It is one immense rock of white, soft freestone, with about one foot depth of earth on an average, and most of this has been brought from Sicily! It produces cotton, excellent fruits, and fine honey; from which it appears the island originally had its name; for μελι, meli, and in the genitive case, μελιτος, melitos, signifies honey. Others suppose that it derived its name from the Phoenicians, who established a colony in it, and made it a place of refuge, when they extended their traffic to the ocean, because it was furnished with excellent harbours: (on the E. and W. shores): hence, in their tongue, it would be called מליטה Meliteh, escape or refuge, from מלט malat, to escape.

The Phaeacians were probably the first inhabitants of this island: they were expelled by the Phoenicians; the Phoenicians by the Greeks; the Greeks by the Carthaginians; the Carthaginians by the Romans, who possessed it in the time of the apostle; the Romans by the Goths; the Goths by the Saracens; the Saracens by the Sicilians, under Roger, earl of Sicily, in 1190. Charles V., emperor of Germany, took possession of it by his conquest of Naples and Sicily; and he gave it in 1525 to the knights of Rhodes, who are also called the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1798, this island surrendered to the French, under Bonaparte, and in 1800, after a blockade of two years, the island being reduced by famine, surrendered to the British, under whose dominion it still remains (1814.) Every thing considered, there can be little doubt that this is the Melita at which St. Paul was wrecked, and not at that other island in the Adriatic, or Venitian Gulf, as high up northward as Illyricum. The following reasons make this greatly evident:

1. Tradition has unvaryingly asserted this as the place of the apostle's shipwreck.

2. The island in the Venitian Gulf, in favor of which Mr. Bryant so learnedly contends, is totally out of the track in which the euroclydon must have driven the vessel.

3. It is said, in Acts 28:11, that another ship of Alexandria, bound, as we must suppose, for Italy, and very probably carrying wheat thither, as St. Paul's vessel did, (Acts 27:38), had been driven out of its course of sailing, by stress of weather, up to the Illyricum Melita, and had been for that cause obliged to winter in the isle. Now this is a supposition which, as I think, is too much of a supposition to be made.

4. In St. Paul's voyage to Italy from Melita, on board the Alexandrian ship that had wintered there, he and his companions landed at Syracuse, Acts 28:12, Acts 28:13, and from thence went to Rhegium. But if it had been the Illyrican Melita, the proper course of the ship would have been, first to Rhegium, before it reached Syracuse, and needed not to have gone to Syracuse at all; whereas, in a voyage from the present Malta to Italy, it was necessary to reach Syracuse, in Sicily, before the ship could arrive at Rhegium in Italy. See the map; and see Bp. Pearce, from whom I have extracted the two last arguments.

That Malta was possessed by the Phoenicians, before the Romans conquered it, Bochart has largely proved; and indeed the language to the present day, notwithstanding all the political vicissitudes through which the island has passed, bears sufficient evidence of its Punic origin. In the year 1761, near a place called Ben Ghisa, in this island, a sepulchral cave was discovered, in which was a square stone with an inscription in Punic or Phoenician characters, on which Sir Wm. Drummond has written a learned essay, (London, Valpy, 1810, 4to.), which he supposes marks the burial place, at least of the ashes, of the famous Carthaginian general, Hannibal. I shall give this inscription in Samaritan characters, as being the present form of the ancient Punic, with Sir Wm. Drummond's translation: -

Chadar Beth olam kabar Chanibaal

Nakeh becaleth haveh, rach -

m daeh Amos beshuth Chanib -

aal ben Bar-melec.

"The inner chamber of the sanctuary of the sepulchre of Hannibal,

Illustrious in the consummation of calamity.

He was beloved;

The people lament, when arrayed

In order of battle,

Hannibal the son of Bar-Melec."

As this is a curious piece, and one of the largest remains of the Punic language now in existence, and as it helps to ascertain the ancient inhabitants of this island, I thought it not improper to insert it here. For the illustration of this and several other points of Punic antiquity, I must refer the curious reader to the essay itself.

And when they were escaped,.... From the danger they were exposed to by shipwreck, and were got safe to land; this is omitted in the Syriac version:

then they knew that the island was called Melita; an island toward the African shore, where it is placed both by Pliny (g), and Ptolomy (h); in which, the latter says, was the city Melita: it lies between Sicily and Tripolis of Barbary, and is now called Malta: it was famous for the knights of Rhodes, which are now called the knights of Malta: it has its name from "to escape", it being formerly a refuge to the Phoenicians, especially in stormy weather, in their long voyage from Tyre to Gades; and was indeed a place of escape to the Apostle Paul, and those that were with him. And perhaps it might be so called from its being a refuge for pirates; for Cicero (i) says, here pirates used to winter almost every year, and yet did not spoil the temple of Juno, as Verres did: though some say it was so called from the great abundance of honey found in it; for it was a very pleasant and fruitful island, bringing forth great plenty of wheat, rye, flax, cummin, cotton, figs, wine, roses, thyme, lavender, and many other sweet and delightful herbs, from whence bees did gather great plenty of honey. It was, according to Pliny, distant from Camerina eighty four miles, and from Lilybaeum a hundred and thirteen; and it is said to be distant from the promontory of Sicily an hundred miles, though others say sixty; and that it was so far from Syracuse, which is the next place the apostle came to in this voyage, was from Africa an hundred and ninety miles. On the east side, a little from the chief city of it, now called Malta, was a famous temple of Juno, spoiled by Verres, as before observed; and on the south side another of Hercules, the ruins of both which are yet to be seen. The compass of the island is about sixty miles, the length twenty, and the breadth twelve, and has in it five ports, and about sixty villages.

(g) Nat. Hist. l 3. c. 8. (h) Geograph. l. 4. c. 3.((i) Orat. 9. in Verrem, c. 17.