Acts 28:1-6

Sticks and snakes in Melita, 1-6

Verse 1: Having escaped safely to land, they found “the island was called Melita.” Melita, mentioned only here in the Bible, is properly identified with the island currently called Malta (also sometimes referred to as Valletta). The island of Melita is about 50 or 60 miles south off the coast of Sicily. It is over 500 miles to the west (as the crow flies) from where the ship initially began (The fair havens) was headed (Phenice). The ship (which was ultimately headed to Italy) floundered helplessly out of control across the Adria in the clutches of a tempestuous storm. The Lord who has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm landed them all safely at a place on the way to Rome.

Verse 2: The barbarous people are the native people of Melita/Malta. Barbarians were non-Greek people who spoke a different language.[1] Compare Romans 1:14 and I Corinthians 14:11. Cold and raining at the time – coupled with the mention of a three-month winter stay (v. 11) – indicates they arrived in late fall or early winter. 

Verse 3: Paul was industrious. He did not merely enjoy the fire, but added fuel to it. In the process, a viper warmed by the heat fastened on his hand.[2]

Matthew Henry reminds us:

See how many perils human life is exposed to, and what danger we are in from the inferior creatures, which have many of them become enemies to men, since men became rebels to God; and what a mercy it is that we are preserved from them as we are. We often meet with that which is mischievous where we expect that which is beneficial; and many come by hurt when they are honestly employed, and in the way of their duty.[3]

Verse 4: The immediate reaction of the locals – “he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live” – certifies that the viper was a venomous creature.[4] Compare Amos 5:19 on the certainty of not escaping justice. See also Ecclesiastes 10:8. The religious, philosophical, or superstitious beliefs of the people of Melita included the idea of a divine law of retribution, that bad things happen to people because they have done bad things – “No doubt this man is a murderer.” What happened to Paul was proof enough to them. He could not escape justice. They thought like Job’s friends. Cf. Job 4:7-8; 8:6; 11:20; This is truth mixed with error. Some suffering is specific discipline or judgment because of sin (e.g., Numbers 12:1-10; II Samuel 12:14-18; Acts 5:1-11). Some suffering is for the glory of God, as well as our good (cf. Job 1:9-12; John 9:3; 11:4; 16:33; Acts 5:41; Romans 8:17-18; II Corinthians 4:17-18; Peter 4:12-14).

Verse 5: When the serpent fastened on Paul’s hand, he simply shook it off into the fire – a very nonchalant reaction to a snakebite! “he…felt no harm” suggests the bite did not hurt, but certainly attests that the normal effect of the poison did not affect Paul. Compare Mark 16:18 “they shall take up serpents…it shall not hurt them,” of which promise this is a fulfillment. The promise of Mark 16:18 is not an incitement for the apostles (or Christians) to go about handling snakes and drinking poison in worship services.[5] However, God’s miraculous protection of those in the apostolic age who do was a sign that followed them, affirming the belief they had and the gospel they preached.

Verse 6: Though Paul simply shook off the beast into the fire, the Melitans watched for Paul’s hand to swell and for him to drop dead. Nothing happened! Based on the fact of the serpent bite, the people took Paul for an evildoer; then based on the fact of no harm coming to Paul, “they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.” Oh, how fickle, how unstable, how double-minded, how tossed to and fro are the men who are not grounded in God’s word.

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[1] In modern usage, people most often mean an uncivilized savage by the word “barbarian.” This is not what it means in Acts 28:2. It those the Greeks and Romans could not understand, who in their native tongues seemed to be saying, “bar-bar bar-bar.”
[2] Viper, εχιδνα, a poisonous snake.
[3] Henry, Commentary, Vol. VI, p. 350.
[4] Some have sought to create a difficulty because there are now no vipers on the island of Malta. For example, Ramsay claims “that the snake was a constrictor, and not (as Luke calls it) a viper, which does not occur in Malta.” See Ramsay, Pictures of the Apostolic Church, p. 355. Simpler than denying Luke’s accuracy is to realize that this variety of snake was there when Paul visited, but is now extinct on the island. As an urban geographical area of 95 square miles holding over 450,000 people (2019, Eurostat), it is not surprising that certain wildlife has disappeared from the island.
[5] For example, the Church of God with Signs Following is a “Pentecostal Holiness Church” that not only believes that tongues, healing, and miracles are for today, but they also practice handling snakes and drinking poison during their church worship services. Most other Pentecostals who believe that miracles and signs are for today nevertheless interpret taking up serpents and drinking deadly things as symbolic rather than literal.