Acts 28

Verse-by-verse explanation

1. Acts 28:1Only after everyone reaches land safely do they discover the name of the place: the island of Malta, called here by its ancient name, Melita.
2. Acts 28:2The local residents, called “barbarous” simply for not speaking Greek or Latin, treat the shipwrecked group with great kindness, lighting a fire to shelter everyone from the rain and cold.
3. Acts 28:3A venomous snake comes out of the firewood because of the fire’s heat and bites Paul’s hand. The island of Malta today has no known venomous snakes, which sparks debate among scholars about the exact species or changes in the local fauna over the centuries.
4. Acts 28:4“Barbarous” was the word Greeks and Romans used to describe any people who did not speak Greek or Latin, without the strongly offensive sense the word carries today. The people of Malta spoke a language of Phoenician origin, unlike the Greek used through the rest of the voyage.
5. Acts 28:5Unfazed, Paul simply shakes the venomous snake back into the fire and suffers no effect from the venom at all, defying everyone’s expectations.
6. Acts 28:6The same crowd that expected Paul to die of the poison changes its mind on seeing him fine, swinging to the opposite extreme of thinking him a god. It is a pattern similar to what happens at Lystra, in chapter 14, showing how popular reactions were unstable and based on outward signs.
7. Acts 28:7Near the site of the shipwreck lay the estate of Publius, the chief official of the island, who receives the group with generous hospitality for three days.
8. Acts 28:8The description of fever and dysentery is quite specific for the period, which has led some scholars to note the technical vocabulary used by Luke, the author traditionally identified as a physician.
9. Acts 28:9After the healing of Publius’s father told in the previous verse, word spreads and other sick residents of the island come to Paul and are healed as well.
10. Acts 28:10In gratitude, the people of Malta bestow many honors on the group, and when they depart, they provide everything needed to continue the journey.
11. Acts 28:11The ship used for the final leg of the journey had a carving on its bow of the twin gods Castor and Pollux, regarded as protectors of sailors in Greco-Roman mythology. It is a detail that shows how pagan religion permeated even everyday objects, like a ship’s decoration.
12. Acts 28:12Resuming the voyage by ship, they make a three-day stop in Syracuse, an important port city in Sicily.
13. Acts 28:13From Syracuse they go on to Rhegium, and with the help of a favorable south wind, they reach Puteoli, already on mainland Italy, in just two days.
14. Acts 28:14In Puteoli they find a Christian community already established, which invites them to stay seven days, before finally continuing overland to Rome.
15. Acts 28:15Christians from Rome, hearing of Paul’s arrival, come out to meet him at two points along the road, which moves him so much that he thanks God and gains new courage to face what lay ahead.
16. Acts 28:16Even as a prisoner, Paul receives a relatively comfortable form of house arrest in Rome, able to rent his own lodging and freely receive visitors — treatment tied to the fact that he was a Roman citizen awaiting trial before the emperor himself.
17. Acts 28:17Now in Rome, Paul gathers the leaders of the local Jewish community to explain his situation, making clear that he had done nothing against the Jewish people or their customs.
18. Acts 28:18Paul recounts that the very Roman authorities who had questioned him before wanted to release him, since they found in him no crime deserving death.
19. Acts 28:19Only the opposition of the Jews in Jerusalem forced Paul to appeal to Caesar, and he makes a point of saying that this did not mean he had any accusation against his own nation.
20. Acts 28:20Paul explains that the reason for gathering these leaders was precisely to speak about the hope of Israel, the very cause behind the chains he wore.
21. Acts 28:21The Jewish leaders in Rome reply that they had received no letters from Judea about Paul, nor heard anything bad reported by other Jews passing through.
22. Acts 28:22Even without any prior negative information, they admit genuine curiosity to hear Paul’s views, since they knew that Christianity (“this sect”) was spoken against everywhere.
23. Acts 28:23On an appointed day, many people come to where Paul was staying, and he spends the whole day, from morning until evening, explaining the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them about Jesus using the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
24. Acts 28:24As in almost every city Paul visited, the reaction is divided: some believe what he says, others remain unconvinced.
25. Acts 28:25Unable to reach agreement among themselves, the group departs, but not before Paul makes one final remark, quoting the prophet Isaiah about the people’s spiritual resistance.
26. Acts 28:26The quotation from Isaiah describes people who hear without truly understanding and see without truly perceiving — an image of deliberate spiritual resistance, not mere ignorance.
27. Acts 28:27The quotation goes on to explain that this people’s heart had become hardened on purpose, closing their own eyes and ears so they would not have to be converted and be healed.
28. Acts 28:28Paul draws the practical conclusion from all this: since some of the Jews reject the message, God’s salvation would be openly proclaimed to the Gentiles as well, who would be more willing to listen.
29. Acts 28:29This verse, present in manuscripts used by the ARC but absent from modern critical editions, records that the Jews withdrew, arguing intensely among themselves after Paul’s final words.
30. Acts 28:30The book ends in an almost anticlimactic way: Paul spends two whole years in Rome in a house he rented at his own expense, freely receiving anyone who wanted to visit him.
31. Acts 28:31Acts ends without telling the outcome of Paul’s trial, closing only with the image of him preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about Jesus Christ with complete freedom and boldness, with no one stopping him.