Acts 28:1-5

Paul on Malta

28:1 After we had safely reached shore, ¹  we learned that the island was called Malta. ²  28:2 The local inhabitants ³  showed us extraordinary ⁴  kindness, for they built a fire and welcomed us all because it had started to rain ⁵  and was cold. 28:3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood ⁶  and was putting it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 28:4 When the local people ⁷  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ⁸  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ⁹  has not allowed him to live!” ¹⁰  28:5 However, ¹¹  Paul ¹²  shook ¹³  the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

[28:1]  ¹ tn Grk “We having been brought safely through” [to land] (same verb as 27:44). The word “shore” is implied, and the slight variations in translation from 27:44 have been made to avoid redundancy in English. The participle διασωθέντες (diaswqente") has been taken temporally.

[28:1]  ² sn Malta is an island (known by the same name today) in the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily. The ship had traveled 625 mi (1,000 km) in the storm.

[28:2]  ³ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:2]  ⁴ tn BDAG 1019 s.v. τυγχάνω 2.d states, “δυνάμεις οὐ τὰς τυχούσας extraordinary miracles Ac 19:11. Cp. 28:2.”

[28:2]  ⁵ tn Or “because it was about to rain.” BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 4 states, “διὰ τ. ὑετὸν τὸν ἐφεστῶτα because it had begun to rain Ac 28:2…But the mng. here could also be because it threatened to rain (s. 6).”

[28:3]  ⁶ tn Or “sticks.”

[28:4]  ⁷ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ⁹ tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

[28:4]  ¹⁰ sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.

[28:5]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 737 s.v. οὖν 4 indicates the particle has an adversative sense here: “but, however.”

[28:5]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “shaking the creature off…he suffered no harm.” The participle ἀποτινάξας (apotinaxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.