translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET study note

text: Malta is an island (known by the same name today) in the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily. The ship had traveled 625 mi (1,000 km) in the storm. map For location see JP4-A3 .


text: The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person ( Justice herself has not allowed him to live ). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.


text: And said he was a god. The reaction is like Acts 14:11-19 where the crowd wanted to make Paul and Barnabas into gods. The providence of God had protected Paul again.


text: And healed him. Here are healings like Luke 9:40; 10:30; 13:13 ; Acts 16:23 .


text: Many…also came and were healed. Again, here is irony. Paul, though imprisoned, “frees” others of their diseases.


text: They gave us all the supplies we needed. What they had lost in the storm and shipwreck was now replaced. Luke describes these pagans very positively.


text: Syracuse was a city on the eastern coast of the island of Sicily. It was 75 mi (120 km) from Malta.


text: Rhegium was a city on the southern tip of Italy. It was 80 mi (130 km) from Syracuse.


text: Puteoli was a city on the western coast of Italy south of Rome. It was in the Bay of Naples some 220 mi (350 km) to the north of Rhegium. Here the voyage ended; the rest of the journey was by land.


text: That is, some fellow Christians.


text: Mention of Christian brothers from there (Rome) shows that God’s message had already spread as far as Italy and the capital of the empire.


text: The Forum of Appius was a small traveler’s stop on the Appian Way about 43 mi (71 km) south of Rome (BDAG 125 s.v. ᾿Αππίου φόρον ). It was described by Horace as “crammed with boatmen and stingy tavernkeepers” ( Satires 1.5.3).


text: Three Taverns was a stop on the Appian Way 33 mi (55 km) south of Rome.


text: They wanted to release me . See Acts 25:23-27 .


text: The hope of Israel. A reference to Israel’s messianic hope . Paul’s preaching was in continuity with this Jewish hope ( Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25 ).


text: Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.


text: Some were convinced…but others refused to believe. Once again the gospel caused division among Jews, as in earlier chapters of Acts ( 13:46; 18:6 ).


text: Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn .


text: A quotation from Isa 6:9-10 .


text: The term Gentiles is in emphatic position in the Greek text of this clause. Once again there is the pattern: Jewish rejection of the gospel leads to an emphasis on Gentile inclusion ( Acts 13:44-47 ).


text: Proclaiming…with complete boldness and without restriction. Once again Paul’s imprisonment is on benevolent terms. The word of God is proclaimed triumphantly and boldly in Rome. Acts ends with this note: Despite all the attempts to stop it, the message goes forth.