Acts 28:3–6

Context

After appealing to Caesar, Paul was sent to Rome under guard as a prisoner. On the way, the ship was caught in a storm and wrecked, and all 276 people aboard came ashore on the island of Melita (Acts 27). Melita is generally identified with present-day Malta. In the rain and cold, the islanders kindled a fire to welcome the party, and as Paul gathered sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper bit him. The word translated "natives" in the Korean Revised Version (KJV: "the barbarous people") is the Greek barbaroi, which denotes local inhabitants who did not speak Greek. This section belongs to the narrative told in the first person plural ("we"), and for that reason many hold that the author of the Acts of the Apostles was present at the scene.

Interpretation

• Providential reading: Earlier, an angel had promised that Paul "must be brought before Caesar" (Acts 27:24). Many commentators read this episode as an illustration of God's providence (His governing and guiding of the world), showing that no threat can thwart that promise.
• Reading as a sign: The episode is read alongside "They shall take up serpents" in Mark 16:18 and alongside Luke 10:19. Pentecostal and charismatic circles regard it as an example of God's power that continues today. By contrast, those who hold to cessationism (including some in the Reformed tradition) regard it as a sign of the apostolic age that served to confirm the apostles' ministry.
• Literary reading: The "justice" (dikē; KJV: "vengeance") of which the islanders spoke was also the name of a Greek goddess who personified justice. Some commentaries therefore interpret the word as "the goddess Justice." At Lystra, the crowds first honored Paul as a god and then stoned him (Acts 14:11–19). Some interpreters see the present scene as the mirror image of that event, since here the people's judgment is reversed in the opposite direction.

Debates and Issues

• Malta is known to have no venomous snakes today. Some cite this as grounds for doubting the historicity of the account. In response, some argue that vipers may have disappeared later because of changes in habitat, while others explain that the text simply records the islanders' own judgment.
• The companion passage, Mark 16:9–20, is absent from some early manuscripts. When the two passages are read together, this textual question is also raised.
• Some small groups in the United States practice snake handling on the basis of Mark 16:18. Most denominations reject the practice as tempting God. In support of this position, they point out that Paul did not deliberately take hold of the snake but was bitten while working.

In the Korean Church

The passage is often used as a sermon text proclaiming that God protects His people even in the midst of crisis and misunderstanding.

Related Passages

• Acts 27:23–24
• Mark 16:17–18
• Luke 10:19
• Acts 14:11–18
• Acts 28:7–9