Acts 28

This is the final chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. It continues the account from chapter 27, in which the ship bound for Rome was broken apart by a storm, and follows Paul's company from their landing on an island to their arrival in Rome.

Outline

• Verses 1–6: The company reaches the island of Melita, where the native inhabitants (the "barbarous people") kindle a fire and receive them. When a viper fastens on Paul's hand and he suffers no harm, the people, who had at first taken him for a murderer, say that he is a god.
• Verses 7–10: Publius, the chief man of the island, entertains the company for three days. Paul prays for Publius's father, who is sick with fever and dysentery, and lays hands on him, and he is healed. Others on the island who have diseases are also healed.
• Verses 11–16: After three months the company departs on an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, whose sign was Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri). Sailing by way of Syracuse, Rhegium, and Puteoli, they enter Rome. The brethren from Rome come out as far as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns to meet them. Paul is permitted to live by himself under the guard of a soldier.
• Verses 17–22: Three days later Paul calls together the leaders of the Jews and explains that he has no accusation to bring against his nation, but that he is bound "for the hope of Israel."
• Verses 23–28: On an appointed day, from morning until evening, he testifies concerning Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets. When the hearers are divided between those who believe and those who do not, he quotes the words of Isaiah and declares that salvation has been sent to the Gentiles.
• Verses 30–31: Paul remains two whole years in his own hired house, receiving all who come to him and preaching the kingdom of God without hindrance.

Key Verses

• Acts 28:26–27: "Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand" — a quotation of Isaiah 6:9–10, the same passage Jesus cites in the Gospels when explaining his use of parables (Matthew 13:14–15).
• Acts 28:28: "Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles" — this sums up the movement of the whole book of Acts, in which the gospel goes out into the Gentile world.
• Acts 28:31: "Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him" — the final sentence of Acts.

People and Places

• Paul: The apostle who, having appealed to Caesar, came to Rome as a prisoner.
• Publius: The chief man of the island of Melita.
• "We": The narrator of the account, traditionally identified as Luke.
• Melita: Generally identified with the present-day island of Malta.
• Syracuse, Rhegium, and Puteoli: Port cities in Sicily and southern Italy.
• Appii Forum and the Three Taverns: Places along the road into Rome.
• Rome: The capital of the Roman Empire and the destination of the journey toward "the uttermost part of the earth" announced in Acts 1:8.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 29: The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version mark verse 29 as "(omitted)" because the verse is absent from early manuscripts. Bibles in the King James Bible tradition include it, stating that the Jews departed and had great reasoning among themselves.
• The meaning of verse 28: Interpreters differ over whether this verse declares an end to the mission to the Jews or describes a shift of emphasis toward the mission to the Gentiles. It is often read together with Romans 11, where Paul speaks of Israel's future restoration.
• The open ending: The text does not report the outcome of Paul's trial or his death. The account of Paul's martyrdom in Rome under the emperor Nero comes from later church tradition. The traditional view holds that Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon (the Prison Epistles) during these two years, though some scholars propose other places and times of composition.
• The viper incident: This event is often read in connection with Mark 16:18. Interpretations differ on whether it provides a basis for divine healing and miracles today, depending on one's position in the debate between cessationism and continuationism.

In the Korean Church

Because the book of Acts ends with chapter 28, the expression "Acts chapter 29" is frequently used in sermons emphasizing missions and evangelism to convey the idea that the church must continue writing the story.