Acts 28:2

_ And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold._ And the barbarous people - so called, merely as speaking neither the Greek nor the Latin language. (Compare ; ; .) They were originally Phoenician colonists (see Diod. Sic., , quoted by Humphry). Their dialect was probably the Punic (or Carthaginian dialect of the Phoenician language). Showed us no little ('no ordinary') kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain - `the rain that was (t

1-10 God can make strangers to be friends; friends in distress. Those who are despised for homely manners, are often more friendly than the more polished; and the conduct of heathens, or persons called barbarians, condemns many in civilized nations, professing to be Christians. The people thought that Paul was a murderer, and that the viper was sent by Divine justice, to be the avenger of blood. They knew that there is a God who governs the world, so that things do not come to pass by chance, no, not the smallest event, but all by Divine direction; and that evil pursues sinners; that there are good works which God will reward, and wicked works which he will punish. Also, that murder is a dreadful crime, one which shall not long go unpunished. But they thought all wicked people were punished in this life. Though some are made examples in this world, to prove that there is a God and a Pro...

Verse Acts 28:2. _THE BARBAROUS PEOPLE_] We have already seen that this island was peopled by the Phoenicians, or Carthaginians, as Bochart has proved, _Phaleg_. chap. xxvi.; and their ancient language was no doubt in use among them at that time, though mingled with some Greek and Latin terms; and this language must have been unintelligible to the Romans and the Greeks. With these, as well as with other nations, it was customary to call those βαρβαροι, _barbarians_, whose language they did not understand. St. Paul himself speaks after this manner in 1 Corinthians 14:11: _If I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that_ _speaketh a BARBARIAN, and he that speaketh shall be a BARBARIAN_ _unto me_. Thus _Herodotus_ also, lib. ii. 158, says, βαρβαρους π...

AND THE BARBAROUS PEOPLE - See the notes on Romans 1:14. The Greeks regarded all as barbarians who did not speak their language, and applied the name to all other nations but their own. It does not denote, as it does sometimes with us, “people of savage, uncultivated, and cruel habits, but simply those whose speech was unintelligible.” See 1 Corinthians 14:11. The island is supposed to have been populated at first by the Phoecians, afterward by the Phoenicians, and afterward by a colony from Carthage. The language of the Maltese was that of Africa, and hence it was called by the Greeks the language of “barbarians.” It was a language which was unintelligible to the Greeks and Latins. THE RAIN - The continuance of the storm.

EXPOSITION ACTS 28:1 We for _they, _A.V. and T.R. (twice). WAS CALLED. It reads as if it was the answer to their question to the natives, "What is this island called?" MELITA. That Melita is the island of _Malta, _and not _Meleda _off the coast of Dalmatia, is demonstrated in Smith's ' Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul,' and it is not worth while here to consider the arguments in favor of Meleda. _Melita _appears to be a Phoenician name, from the root in Hebrew טלַםָ, to escape (Bochart, 'Canaan,' Acts 1:26), meaning, therefore, a "refuge," a harbor of refuge £ so called from sailors often running into Valetta during a gale; or possibly from לֶםֶ, clay, in Italian _malta, _from the clay which forms the bottom of the

AND THE BARBAROUS PEOPLE SHOWED US NO LITTLE KINDNESS,.... The inhabitants of this island are called barbarians, not from the country of Barbary, near to which they were; nor so much on account of their manners, for, though Heathens, they were a civil and cultivated people, being, as appears from the name of the chief man of the island, under the Roman government; but because of their language, see 1 Corinthians 14:11, it being neither Hebrew, Greek, nor Latin; for as the inhabitants were originally a colony of the Phoenicians, they spoke their language; and now though it is inhabited by such as are called Christians, they speak the Saracen or Arabic language, and little different from the old Punic or Phoenician language: however, though the inhabitants could not understand their language, they understood their case, and were very civil and humane to them, and showed them extr

Acts 28:1. _And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks,_ It must have been a fine sight to see the great apostle of the Gentiles gathering a bundle of sticks to put on the fire. But the men who can do great things are usually the men who do not disdain to do little things. Acts 28:3. And laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffer

CHAPTER 28 _ 1. In the Island of Melita (Acts 28:1)._ 2. The arrival in Rome (Acts 28:11). 3. Paul calling the chief of the Jews and his message (Acts 28:17). Melita, which means “honey,” is the island of Malta. It was even then a prominent place for navigation where many vessels wintered. Luke calls the inhabitants Barbarians, a term used by the Greeks for all peoples who did not use their language. The wrecked company was not plundered by the people of the island, but instead received much kindness and were made comfortable in the cold rain which fell. It was God who moved the hearts of these islanders to show such hospitality to the shipwrecked company for the sake of His servants. Paul is a

THE INHABITANTS OF MALTA. The inhabitants of Malta were of Phoenician extraction; they are called barbarians in Acts 28:2, as they spoke another language than Greek; inscriptions in two languages are found in the island. The date of the landing was before the middle of November (Acts 27:9; Acts 27:27), and the weather was cold, a miserable situation but for the kindness of the inhabitants. For Paul's sentiments on such an occasion, see 2 Corinthians 1:4 and that epistle generally, written about a year before this. But all that is told us of him is that he gathered some sticks, and what came out of them (_cf._...

When we had been brought safely to shore, we recognized that the island was Malta. The natives showed us quite extraordinary kindness for they lit a bonfire and brought us all to it because of the rain which had come on and the cold. When Paul had twisted up a faggot of sticks and placed it on the fire, a viper came out of it because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer and, although he has been rescued from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live." But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and took no harm. They stood waiting for him to swell up or suddenly to fall down dead; and when they had waited expectantly for a long time and saw that nothing untoward was happening to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god. It was upon the island of Malta th...