[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts XXVIII : 1-16
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| St Paul Bitten by a Viper on the Island of Malta. Marten de Vos (1567). Department of Paintings of the Louvre. |
[2] For kindling a fire, they refreshed us all, because of the present rain, and of the cold.
[3] And when Paul had gathered together a bundle of sticks, and had laid them on the fire, a viper coming out of the heat, fastened on his hand.
[4] And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging on his hand, they said one to another: Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, who though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance doth not suffer him to live.
[5] And he indeed shaking off the beast into the fire, suffered no harm.
[6] But they supposed that he would begin to swell up, and that he would suddenly fall down and die. But expecting long, and seeing that there came no harm to him, changing their minds, they said, that he was a god.
[7] Now in these places were possessions of the chief man of the island, named Publius, who receiving us, for three days entertained us courteously.
[8] And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever, and of a bloody flux. To whom Paul entered in; and when he had prayed, and laid his hands on him, he healed him.
[9] Which being done, all that had diseases in the island, came and were healed:
[10] Who also honoured us with many honours, and when we were to set sail, they laded us with such things as were necessary.
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| Reproduced from FreeBibleImages. Creative Commons non-commercial. |
[12] And when we were come to Syracusa, we tarried there three days.
[13] From thence, compassing by the shore, we came to Rhegium: and after one day, the south wind blowing, we came the second day to Puteoli;
[14] Where, finding brethren, we were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went to Rome. [15] And from thence, when the brethren had heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum, and the Three Taverns: whom when Paul saw, he gave thanks to God, and took courage.
[16] And when we were come to Rome, Paul was suffered to dwell by himself, with a soldier that kept him.
[1] Et cum evasissemus, tunc cognovimus quia Melita insula vocabatur. Barbari vero praestabant non modicam humanitatem nobis. [2] Accensa enim pyra, reficiebant nos omnes propter imbrem, qui imminebat, et frigus. [3] Cum congregasset autem Paulus sarmentorum aliquantam multitudinem, et imposuisset super ignem, vipera a calore cum processisset, invasit manum ejus. [4] Ut vero viderunt Barbari pendentem bestiam de manu ejus, ad invicem dicebant : Utique homicida est homo hic, qui cum evaserit de mari, ultio non sinit eum vivere. [5] Et ille quidem excutiens bestiam in ignem, nihil mali passus est.
[6] At illi existimabant eum in tumorem convertendum, et subito casurum et mori. Diu autem illis exspectantibus, et videntibus nihil mali in eo fieri, convertentes se, dicebant eum esse deum. [7] In locis autem illis erant praedia principis insulae, nomine Publii, qui nos suscipiens, triduo benigne exhibuit. [8] Contigit autem patrem Publii febribus et dysenteria vexatum jacere. Ad quem Paulus intravit : et cum orasset, et imposuisset ei manus, salvavit eum. [9] Quo facto, omnes qui in insula habebant infirmitates, accedebant, et curabantur : [10] qui etiam multis honoribus nos honoraverunt, et navigantibus imposuerunt quae necessaria erant.
[11] Post menses autem tres navigavimus in navi Alexandrina, quae in insula hiemaverat, cui erat insigne Castorum. [12] Et cum venissemus Syracusam, mansimus ibi triduo. [13] Inde circumlegentes devenimus Rhegium : et post unum diem, flante austro, secunda die venimus Puteolos; [14] ubi inventis fratribus rogati sumus manere apud eos dies septem : et sic venimus Romam. [15] Et inde cum audissent fratres, occurrerunt nobis usque ad Apii forum, ac tres Tabernas. Quos cum vidisset Paulus, gratias agens Deo, accepit fiduciam.
[16] Cum autem venissemus Romam, permissum est Paulo manere sibimet cum custodiente se milite.
Notes
1. when we had escaped. Some MSS. give “ when they had escaped ” but the Vulgate reading is the better supported. St Luke would certainly include St Paul and his companions among the saved.
we knew. They learned this from the natives. St Luke almost gives their words — “ This island is called (καλεῖται) Melita.”
Melita. There is no ground for questioning the ancient tradition that this place was the modern Malta, known to the Greeks and Romans as “ Melita.” The local features of St Paul’s Bay agree with those described by St Luke, and in the earliest centuries this tradition was unquestioned. In the tenth century, however, Constantine Porphyrogenetus, a Greek writer, put forth the theory that the scene of the shipwreck was Melita, the modern Meleda, in the Adriatic Sea ; and in the eighteenth century Padre Giorgi, a native of Meleda, revived this theory, which Dr. Falconer also supported. This hypothesis, however, is based on two errors viz. —
1. That “Adria” is to be identified with the Adriatic Sea (i.e. the Gulf of Venice).2. That the islanders were barbarians, in the modern acceptation of the term.
But it can be proved from the writings of classical authors that “Adria” embraced all the central part of the Mediterranean Sea, and that it extended from the southern shores of Greece, Italy, and Sicily to the coasts of Africa. Further, the word “barbarian,” on the lips of an ancient author, simply means a foreigner.
Cf. “ Barbarus hic sum ego, quia non intelligor ulli ” (Ovid, Trial., v. 10, .87). (Here I am a barbarian, because I am undcrstood by none.) “Barburi antiquitus dicebantur omnes gentes exceptis Græcis. ” (The ancients used to call all nations “barbarians” except the Greeks.)
The Maltese were far from being barbarians in the modern sense of the word. They spoke the Phœnician language, and were descended from the Tyrians and Carthaginians. Malta was acquired by the Romans during the Punic War, and undoubtedly, since that time, there were many Roman and Greek residents. The Maltese still speak an Arabian dialect, which was probably introduced when the island was under the Turks. So far from being uncivilized in the time of St Paul, they had important manufactures and magnificent buildings, as Cicero (in Verrem) and Diodorus Siculus attest.
The Jews also spoke of foreigners as “ barbarians.” Cf. They besought the Lord .... that they might be chastised by him more gently, and not he delivered up to barbarians and blasphemous men (2 Mach. x. 4). Thus the Jews prayed that they might not he delivered into the power of the Syrians, a highly civilized nation.
2. kindling afire. As the shipwrecked passengers were drenched to the skin and it was bitterly cold, a fire was essential for their welfare.
refreshed us all. Lit. “received us tinder their care ” (προσελάβοντο). The word indicates both shelter and hospitality.
the present rain and of the cold. “ Heavy rains generally follow violent winds” (“Post ingentes ventos solent imbres sequi,” — Grotius). The wind was still blowing from the north-east.
The fact that the temperature was so low proves that the wind could not have been the sirocco, as Porphyrogenetus asserts. Also, this hot wind rarely lasts more than three days.
3. when Paul had gathered, etc. As St Paul had helped in throwing the tackling and cargo overboard, so now he is foremost in ministering to the needs of his companions.
On this passage St John Chrysostom remarks : “See how active he is: observe how we nowhere find him doing miracles for the sake of doing them, but only upon emergency. Both during the storm, when there was a cause, he prophesied, not for the sake of prophesying ; but here again, in the first instance, he lays on brushwood : — nothing for vain display, but (with a simple view) to their being preserved, and enjoying some warmth” [Hom., liv. 1, p. 710).
a bundle of sticks. The word here rendered “ sticks ” (φρυγάνων) is a general term for fuel of any description, and it probably signifies here the brushwood and furze which still grow in the vicinity of St Paul’s Bay.
Owing to the dense population of Malta in the present day, viz. 1200 to the square mile, there is very little wood in the island, with the exception of Bosquetta, which, as the name indicates, still boasts of trees and brushwood.
a viper. These reptiles are now unknown in the island, and this is due to the increased population. The inhabitants, by draining marshes and building, have completely extirpated vipers, just as wolves were extirpated from England by our Saxon forefathers.
coming out of the heat. The viper, which had been numbed by the cold, revived on feeling the heat, and fastened on to St Paul’s hand.
fastened. The Greek verb (καθάπτεσθαι) signifies “ to hold tightly on ” to a thing. Although certain modern critics assert that the viper did not bite St Paul, St Luke’s narrative clearly gives us to understand the contrary, for how could it fasten on firmly except by its fangs ? Further, the natives saw the viper cling to the apostle’s hand, and they were convinced that he had been bitten by it, otherwise we cannot account for their fears on the subject, nor for their rapid change of opinion concerning St Paul.
4. this man is a murderer. Evidently the natives perceived at once that St Paul was a prisoner, and they concluded that he must have been guilty of murder. By the light of reason and by experience, these heathens knew that punishment follows crime sooner or later.
vengeance. Better, “justice” (ἡ δίκη). In Greek mythology, Dike, the daughter of Zeus, was supposed to be the avenger of crime.
It is possible that the natives had heard of this goddess from the Greeks who dwelt in the island, or they may have named one of their own deities, and St Luke rendered this name by “Dike,” so as to be better understood. The names of Melkarth (Hercules), Osiris, and Baal are found on Maltese coins and in their inscriptions.
doth not suffer him to live. The Greek gives the past tense “suffered hot” (εἴασεν) They looked upon his immediate death as inevitable. They were quite convinced that the viper had bitten the apostle.
5. shaking off the beast. Trusting in his Divine Master’s promise, St Paul feared not.
This is the only instance recorded in Scripture of the fulfilment of the promise : They shall take up serpents ; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover (St Mark. xvi. 18).
It is a noteworthy coincidence that, in verses 8 and 9 of this chapter, we also have a reference to miracles being worked by the laying on of hands.
into the fire. “The same God who delivered Paul from the sea saved him from the serpent (see Christ’s prophecy, Mark xvi. 18), and enabled him to cast it into the fire — a figurative and prophetic emblem of what awaits him who is the Old Serpent (Apoc. xii. 9, xx. 2), the enemy of the Church, "which he endeavours to destroy by the storms of persecution (Apoc, xii. 14, 16), and by the venom of heresy; and whose doom it will be to be cast into the lake of fire (Apoc. xx. 10),” (Wordsworth, p. 125).
6. begin to swell up . . . . suddenly fall down and die. These are the usual results of the bite of a venomous African serpent. The word here rendered by “swell up” signifies inflammation as well as swelling. One species of African serpent was named “prestes,” i.e. the inflamer.
changing their minds. These islanders furnish us with “ the graphic picture of the untutored mind yielding to every impulse.” The change in their opinions was the reverse of that experienced by the Lycaoniaus (see supra, xiv. 11-19).
7. the chief man of the island. (πρώτῳ τῆς νήσου) The title “chief man” has been found in ancient inscriptions at Citta Vecchia in Malta ; it clearly denotes an official rank. Smith (p. 113) quotes Ciantar, who states that in his time an inscription was engraved on the gates of Citta Vecchia, in which were the words “ Prudens, a Roman knight, chief of the Maltese” (Προυδευς ἵππευς Πωμ πρῶτως Μελιταίων). This inscription, however, no longer exists, but in 1747 a Latin inscription was found in Malta bearing the words MEL PRIMUS OMNI (i.e. Militensium primus omnium), “ chief of the Maltese.”
“As the word ‘ head-man ’ signified an official rank among the Phœnicians, it is prob-able that the Romans, on acquiring the island, retained this title. The name Publius indicates that this ‘ chief man ’ was a Roman. If this conjecture be correct, Publius was legatus of the prætor of Sicily, to whose province Malta belonged ” (Alford). See Cicero, in Verrem, ii. 4. 18.
receiving us. If Publius was the chief Roman officer in Malta, it was natural that he should receive Julius and his prisoners.
for three days. Until provision could be made for a permanent dwelling. It was necessary to provide them with settled quarters, as they had to winter in Malta.
8. fever. The plural number, given in the Greek, shews that he refers to intermittent attacks of fever, such as characterize some diseases.
a bloody flux, — i.e. dysentery (δυσεντερίῳ). These symptoms denote two stages of a disease which, it is said, still exists in Malta.
when he had prayed. Prayer and the imposition of hands were the ordinary means by which miracles of healing were worked.
9. came, and were healed. For their hospitality, St Paul had no treasures of silver and gold to bestow, but he healed those who were sick, and thus gave them greater gifts than he had received at their hands. Undoubtedly the apostle also preached the Gospel of Christ to the natives, during the three months that he dwelt in Malta.
The numerous sick being brought by friends from all parts of the island, or walking painfully along under the weight of their infirmities, remind us of the scenes in the life of our Lord, when people came in crowds to be healed, and His divine power was put forth for each one. Cf. And when the sun was down, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them to him. But he laying his hands on every one of them, healed them (St Luke iv. 40).
10. honoured us with many honours. The gratitude of the islanders was expressed by marks of esteem and gifts in kind, which were most acceptable to the shipwrecked passengers.
11. after three months. As the Day of Atonement (which it has been calculated fell on the 24th of September in 62 A.D.) was passed before the ship left Fair Havens, we may conclude that the “fourteen days” during which the ship was driven before the wind were the last days of October or the early days of November. Three months later they set sail again from Malta, which brings us to the month of February.
Although the sea was not supposed to be open till March, yet sailors were often willing to take the risk of sailing earlier, especially on short voyages.
a ship of Alexandria. Probably a corn vessel, which the storm had driven to take shelter in Valetta.
whose sign, etc. The ancient Greeks and Romans placed figureheads at each end of the ships. The “ insigne ’’ (τὸ παρασήμον) was a figure a bas-relief, or a painting representing a god, a hero, an animal,, or even an inanimate thing, such as a shield or helmet. These sculptures were of gilded metal or carved ivory. The “ insigne ” gave the name to the ship. In addition to this sign, the ship often carried a tutela at her poop, i.e. a picture or image of some tutelary god. In some ships, as in the one in which St Paul sailed, the insigne and the tutela coincided.
Ovid rclatcs that he sailed once in a vessel which carried a figure of Minerva as her tutelary goddess, and the helmet of this deity gave the name of the vessel (Trist., i., ix. I).
A bronze figurehead of an ancient galley, found on the scene of the battle of Actium, is preserved in the British Museum (Bronze Room, Case 54, 55). This “tutela” or “insigne” represents some deity clad in armour, perhaps Mars or Minerva.
Castors. Lit. “ tho Twin Brothers (Διοσκούροις). In Greek mythology, Castor and Pollux were the sons of Zeus and Leda, and the brothers of Helena (“ Fratres Helenæ, lucida sidora,” — Horace, Ode i. 3. 2. Brothers of Helen, shining stars).
When they wore translated to the next world, Zuss is said to have placed them in the constellation known as the Gemini, which in the zodiac is connected with the month of May. Poseidon, i.e. Neptune, having confided to them the sovereignty of the winds and waves, they were invoked as the tutelary gods of sailors, who imagined that these deities manifested themselves under the form of the phosphorescent lights that often play round the masts of .ships after a storm, and which modern called “ St Elmo’s fire.”
12. Syracuse. This was “ the first port at which she was to touch; it was about one hundred miles from Malta. Here the vessel rested three days for the purposes of trade, as Syracuse was at that period a flourishing emporium, for which it was peculiarly calculated from its excellent port. The city was situated on a broad foreland on the eastern coast of Sicily, and on the south-west was a magnificent basin, protected by the Island of Ortygia, which, stretching in front of it, and almost touching the mainland at the north, left a spacious entrance into the harbour on the south (Lewin, Life and Epistles of St Paul, vol. ii. p. 215),
13. compassing by the shore. They proceeded circuitously (περιελόντες). Smith concludes that “the wind was north-west, and that they worked to windward, availing themselves of the sinuosities of the coast ; but with this wind they could not proceed through the Straits of Messina, from the tendency which the wind always has to blow parallel to the direction of narrow channels ; they were therefore obliged to put into Rhegium, at the entrance of the strait. But after one day the wind became fair (from the south), and on the following they arrived at Puteoli, having accomplished a distance of about a hundred and eighty nautical miles in less than two days” (Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul, p. 116).
Rhegnium. The modern Reggio, a town on the Italian side of the Straits of Rhegium, and opposite Messina.
Ancient coins of Rhegium have been found stamped with the effigies of the Twin Brothers, with stars encircling their heads. Alexandrian corn vessels generally called at this port. The Emperor Titus, when journeying from Judea to Puteoli, touched at Rhegium and at Puteoli, thus following the same track as the vessel which carried St Paul.
the south wind blowing. This was decidedly in their favour, and they sailed safely and rapidly through the narrow strait, famous for the rugged rocks of Scylla and the dangerous whirlpool of Charybdis.
Puteoli. This seaport lies in a sheltered recess in the Bay of Naples. Its modern name is Pozzuoli, and it is about one hundred and eighty miles from Rhegium. At this time Puteoli was the great emporium for corn, which was brought from Egypt by the Alexandrian ships.
14. finding brethren. As Puteoli was an important seaport of Rome, to which the Egyptian and Syrian ships brought their passengers and merchandise, we may infer that the disciples from Ephesus, Corinth, Cæsarea, etc. had been the means of spreading the Gospel in this town.
The very fact of the existence of the epistle to the Romans, written some three years earlier, shews that St Paul knew that there were a certain number of Christians in Italy, and especially in the metropolis of the Roman empire. St Peter, in his first visit to Rome, may have laid the foundations of the Church in Puteoli, whose members now so warmly greeted St Paul. There was a large Jewish colony In this seaport, and they had several synagogues.
we were desired to tarry, etc. These seven days with the brethren must have been a welcome respite to St Paul, and his stay there certainly gave great joy to these brethren who had heard of his work in Asia Minor and Greece through members of the Christian communities founded there.
As St Paul remained at Puteoli a week, he passed at least one Sabbath-day with the brethren, and we may feel sure that one of the reasons for tarrying “seven” days was that he might celebrate the Holy Eucharist on the first day of the week, i.e. on the Christian Sabbath.
Thus he had spent “seven days” with the disciples in Troas (ch. xx. 6, 7), and with those of Tyre (ch. xxi. 4). Note that Julius still continued to treat his prisoners courteously since he delayed the journey to oblige the apostle.
so we went to Rome. “We can trace in the anticipatory form of speech here used by St Luke, simple as the words are, his deep sense of the transcendent interest of the arrival of the Apostle of the Gentiles at the colossal capital of the heathen world. Yes ; after all the conspiracies of the Jews who sought to take away his life, after the two years’ delay at Cæsarea, after the perils of that terrible shipwreck, in spite of the counsel of the soldiers to kill the prisoners, and in spite of the ‘ venomous beast,’ Paul came to Rome. The word of God, ‘ Thou must bear witness also at Rome’ (ch. xxiii. 11), had triumphed over all ‘the power of the enemy ’ (Luke x. 10). And doubtless the hearts both of Paul and Luke beat quicker when they first caught sight of the city on the seven hills” (Pulp. Comm. Acts, vol ii. p. 322).
Note. — The route from Puteoli to Rome, a distance of one hundred and forty miles, lay through Capua. Here the Roman road called the Via Appia began. This highway was commenced in B.C. 312 by Appius Claudius, the Roman censor. The Via Appia passed through Sinuessa, Minturnæ, Formiæ, Anxur, and Templum Feroniæ. Here a canal ran fairly parallel with the highway, through the Pomptinæ Paludes (Eng. Pontine Marshes), as far as Appii Forum, and this waterway was often taken by travellers in preference to the high road. From Appii Forum, the highway lay through Three Taverns and Aricia, until it reached the city of Rome at the Porta Capena.
15. the brethren. Those who were members of the Christian Church in Rome, and to whom St Paul had addressed his Epistle to the Romans. News had reached them that the apostle and his companions were in Puteoli. They came in two parties : the first met him at Appii Forum, the second at Three Taverns.
Appii Forum. The name “Forum” was given by the Romans to what we should call a “ borough,” being a centre of local government. Both the town and the Roman road were named after Appius Claudius. Horace gives the town a bad reputation for its sailors and “ scoundrel publicans.” It was prudent for the brethren to wait for St Paul at Appii Forum, as the travellers might have taken the canal route at Templum Feroniæ. These brethren travelled about forty miles to welcome St Paul and his companions.
Three Taverns. The Latin word “tabernæ” signifies shops in general, not simply inns. The site of this place has not been identified, so far. The Itineraries give it as thirty-three miles from Rome.
he gave thanks to God. He rejoiced on seeing the brethren, for whom he had prayed “ without ceasing ” ; to whom he longed to impart “ some spiritual grace ” and to whom he so earnestly desired to preach the Gospel (see Rom. i. 8-15).
took courage. St Paul had evidently feared that his bonds might be detrimental to the cause of the Gospel, but his interview with the brethren of Rome and the hearty welcome they gave him dispelled his apprehensions.
16. Paul was suffered to dwell, etc. Humanly speaking, this privilege was due to the favourable report sent by Festus and to the kindly influence of Julius. Some MSS. (D, H, L, P, and a few cursives and versions), after “ when we were come to Rome ” add “the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard.” Although these words are not in some of the ancient codices nor in the Vulgate, yet they have good manuscript authority, and are probably in accordance with facts, as all prisoners brought to Rome were handed over to the captain of the prætorian cohort on duty in the palace of Cæsar. Thus Trajan, writing to Pliny concerning a certain prisoner, says : — “ He whom Julius Bassus has condemned to imprisonment for life must be sent bound to the præfects of my prætorium (qui a Julio Basso in perpetuum relegatus est .... vinctus mitti ad præfectos prætorii mei debet” (Epis., X. 65). The variant reading cited above refers to one captain only, but we know that there were generally two præfects to each cohort, except between 51 and 62 A.D., when Burrhus, the friend of Seneca, held this office alone. Hence some commentators conclude that St Paul was handed over to Burrhus. If this were so, we have here another note of time, for as Burrhus died early in the spring of 62 A.D., it follows that St Paul could not have arrived in Rome later than this date. But the use of the singular cannot be pressed, for even if there were two prætors, Julius would not have delivered his prisoners to both of them.
with a soldier that kept him. St Paul, being in custodia libera, was chained by one hand to a soldier, who was on guard for a given time. Thus the prætorian gaolers of St Paul had many an opportunity of hearing the Gospel truths. St Paul frequently alludes to his chains when writing to the different churches he had founded in Asia Minor. Cf. I am, an ambassador in a chain (Eph. vi. 20).
St John Chrysostom remarks that St Paul was thus guarded “that it might not be possible for any plot to be laid against him there either, for there could be no raising of sedition now. So that, in fact, they were not keeping Paul in custody, but guarding him, so that nothing unpleasant should happen : for it was not possible now, in so great a city, and with the emperor there, and with Paul’s appeal, for anything to be done contrary to order. So surely is it the case, that always through the things which seem to be against us, all things turn out for us” (Hom., liv. p. 714).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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