"And when they had been brought safely through" Compare with Acts 27:44. The expression brought safely through was. "regular way of stating the idea of passing through extreme danger and still being alive. They have drifted for two weeks without any reckoning where they were; the storm was so violen... [ Continue Reading ]
"The natives" Literally the term here is barbarians and anyone in the ancient world at this time that did not speak Greek was termed. barbarian. "Barbaroi is an onomatopoetic word, indicating the confused sound which. strange language has in. man's ears. 'Barbarian' does not indicate, as the word so... [ Continue Reading ]
"But when Paul had gathered. bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire" In order to keep such. fire going fresh fuel is constantly needed and Paul immediately does what he can. Remember, he is probably just as wet, exhausted, sore and cold as everyone else. "Paul was not. preacher after the style o... [ Continue Reading ]
"Undoubtedly this man is. murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live" Notice that these non-Christian natives are not inherently depraved. First they treated the shipwrecked victims with extraordinary kindness and secondly they had. sense of divine justi... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul immediately shakes off the creature (a natural reaction) and goes on with his business.... [ Continue Reading ]
While the natives are waiting for Paul to drop dead at any moment, nothing is happening. Not only was there no swelling or inflammation, but also nothing at all was happening. The poison of the viper acts very quickly, in fact, the venom works so quickly that the antidotes they had seldom could be a... [ Continue Reading ]
"Now in the neighborhood of that place" That is near the place where the shipwreck occurred. "Were lands belonging to the leading man of the island" The island of Malta was. part of the province of Sicily, and seeing that Sicily was ruled by. governor, Publius was the legate under the Sicilian gover... [ Continue Reading ]
"Recurrent fever and dysentery" The combination of the two made his case all the more serious. In addition, the island of Malta was known for having. very unpleasant fever of its own, "Malta fever".... [ Continue Reading ]
The response here is natural. Acts 28:10 "Honored us with many marks of respect" This many have taken the form of gifts. Remember, Paul and his companions had lost their entire luggage and only escaped with the clothes on their backs. These very thoughtful gifts would once more increase their wardro... [ Continue Reading ]
"At the end of three months" These were probably the winter months when all sailing ceased. Pliny the Elder says that navigation begins to be resumed when the west winds start to blow on February 8th, while Vegetius says that the seas are closed till March 10th but this might only refer to voyages f... [ Continue Reading ]
"Syracuse" The trip from Malta to Syracuse, the capital city on the island of Sicily was. distance of about 80 miles due north, ships headed from Alexandria to Puteoli commonly stopped here.... [ Continue Reading ]
"Rhegium" Pronounced ree jee uhm, this was. seaport on the coast of southern Italy, across the Strait of Messina from the island of Sicily. "Sailed around" Due to the wind they may have been forced to sail in the pattern of. half-circle, rather than. straight line. "A day later. south wind sprang up... [ Continue Reading ]
"There are Christians in Puteoli! How much the teachings of Jesus have been spreading through the empire is indicated by notes like this. The gospel had been preached for some time in Italy, and congregations established in many towns, before Paul ever arrived there" (Reese p. 931). What. welcome si... [ Continue Reading ]
Word has reached the brethren in Rome that Paul is on his way. The seven days that Paul had spent in Puteoli would given Christians in this town plenty of time to send word to Rome that Paul had arrived. "Came from" The practice of traveling. far distance to meet one that men delighted to honor was.... [ Continue Reading ]
"Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who was guarding him" That is, he was allowed to live in. private dwelling, while remaining under constant supervision. Paul was treated with kindness for he was an uncondemned Roman citizen, he came with. letter from Festus, and. good word from... [ Continue Reading ]
"He called together" Paul took the initiative and set up. meeting with the leaders of the Jewish community in Rome. There were at this time no less than seven different synagogues in Rome. Even though years before Claudius had expelled all Jews from Rome (Acts 18:2), this edict had expired and many... [ Continue Reading ]
"For. am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel" Compare with Acts 23:6; Acts 26:6. Paul's message, far from undermining the truthfulness of the Old Testament, is actually the fulfillment of what the prophets said. "In Rome as in Jerusalem he emphasized that the Christian message whic... [ Continue Reading ]
"We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you" These Jews claimed that they had received no communications from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem concerning accusations against Paul, yet they do not claim th... [ Continue Reading ]
"But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere" Give this Jewish leaders credit, they are willing to listen even though they have heard many second-hand rumors about Christianity. Rather than being influenced by r... [ Continue Reading ]
When the Jews arrived Paul spent all day seeking to persuade these Jews from the Old Testament that Jesus was indeed the one predicted by Moses and the Prophets and that the kingdom of God had actually arrived and that it was the church. Acts 28:24 As in any audience, some believed and some did not.... [ Continue Reading ]
As they began to leave, Paul gave one parting word. Acts 28:26-27 "The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet" Paul here affirms that Isaiah was an inspired man. "What the Spirit led Isaiah to record fits this situation beautifully" (Reese p. 944). This is. quotation from Isaiah 2:9. J... [ Continue Reading ]
As. result, Paul will evangelize the Gentiles in Rome and they will really listen. That is, they will appreciate this message (Acts 13:48).... [ Continue Reading ]
The Jews left but as they left there was. tremendous amount of friction and disagreement among themselves.... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:30-31 Paul is now spoken of as living in rented quarters which may infer that Paul has moved to another location in Rome (compare with Acts 28:23). During this time span of two years Paul will write letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and. personal note to Philemon. "Welcoming... [ Continue Reading ]