Acts 28:12-31

Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments - Acts 28:1-31

Acts 28:1 . Melita, now Malta. This island seems to have been inhabited by runaways, for melim, in the language of Carthage, is to escape. It was inhabited by a colony of refugees from Carthage, a people of Phœnicia. So Dr. Lightfoot. Others say it was so called from its abounding with honey. It is about twenty miles in length, and eleven in breadth. Julius Cæsar is said, with great difficulty, to have taken it from the Carthaginians. It was given to the knights of St. John, who were... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:1-14

Acts 28:1-14And when they were escaped then they knew. Tomorrow, a revealerA great many things are clearer today than they were last night. Tomorrow will clear up some of the mysteries of today. Weird shapes of the darkness take a matter-of-fact form when the sun rises. Doubts and fears which oppress us during the storm are found to be baseless after the clouds are scattered. This ought to comfort us when we most need cheer. What we do not know now, we shall know hereafter. If now we see as in... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:7-15

Acts 28:7-15In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius. PubliusHere is--I. An obscure man made famous. History says nothing about Publius. As far as the Roman annalists are concerned, such a man might not have lived. They were busy with the Neros, Felixes, Agrippas--names whom the world would willingly let die. Yet the obscure governor of Melita is a personage known and reverenced in thousands of households. Why? Because he was brought into... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:11-14

Acts 28:11-14And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria. The journey to Rome1. After a delay of three months--i.e., when winter was past and spring approaching--the party put to sea again. Castor and Pollux, the tutelary deities of seafaring men, constituted the figurehead of the ship in which they sailed, and gave it its name. The fact that this vessel, trading between Alexandria and Puteoli, passed the winter in Melita is clear proof that it was not Meleda, in the Gulf of... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:15

Acts 28:15…The brethren … came to meet us as far as Appii Forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.The meeting at Appii Forum and The Three TavernsThe effect of this meeting on Paul requires explanation. He found brethren at Puteoli, but no such feelings were aroused there. What was there then in this incident to so powerfully and beneficially affect the apostle’s mind? He regarded it--I. As expressive of the sympathy of the Christian Church in Rome.... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:16-31

Acts 28:16-31And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard.Rome as seen by PaulWithin a circuit of little more than twelve miles more than two millions of inhabitants were crowded. In this prodigious collection of human beings, there were of course all the contrasts which are seen in a modern city--all the painful lines of separation between luxury and squalor, wealth and want. But in Rome all these differences were on an exaggerated scale, and the... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:17-22

Acts 28:17-22After three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together.Paul’s first conference with the Jewish chiefsNote--I. His address. In justifying himself he states--1. That his captivity was not due to any crime against Israel or its religious customs.2. That he had been compelled to appeal to Caesar through the protest of the Jews against his liberation, although the Roman authorities judged that liberation to be just.3. That his object in appealing to Caesar was not to bring any... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:20

Acts 28:20For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.The chain of Paul1. A disgraceful monument for his blinded people.2. An honourable sign for the faithful servant of God.3. A precious comfort for all who suffer on account of the truth. (K. Gerok.)The chain and the hopeI. The chain.1. It was painful to flesh and blood.2. It involved no disgrace to Paul.3. It manifested the hatred of the Jews to Christ.4. While Paul wore it he was saved, as a Roman prisoner, from the murderous... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:23-28

Acts 28:23-28And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging. Paul’s second conference with the JewsNote--I. The interesting character of his preaching. It was--1. Evangelical. His theme was the “kingdom of God”--the reign of the Messiah as predicted by the prophets. Christ here, as everywhere, was his grand subject.2. Earnest. He “expounded,” “testified,” “persuaded” from morning to evening.II. The effect of his preaching (Acts 28:24). They were different, which... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - Acts 28:26-27

Acts 28:26-27Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand. Judicial hardnessThe passage from which the apostle quotes is Isaiah 6:1-13, where the prophet received a special commission and was forewarned that he would address his message to a hardened, unbelieving people--the effect of the message on the people’s minds is described as if it were the express design of the message. It would be easy to adduce other examples, in which the prophets are said to do that which they predict. The... read more

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