Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

28:1 Malta was a major island under Roman control, about sixty miles (100 km) south of Sicily.

Verse 3

28:3-6 The locals of Malta understood justice as a personified power or deity carrying out judgment on a criminal. When nothing bad happened to Paul, the natives understood him as having power over snakes and concluded that he himself was a god (cp. 14:11-12). In fact, Paul’s survival demonstrated God’s protection (cp. Mark 16:17-18).

Verse 8

28:8-9 Cp. Luke 4:38-40.

Verse 10

28:10 Showing their gratefulness, the people supplied the ship’s company with what they needed.

Verse 11

28:11-16 Luke, himself present on this journey (see study note on 27:1–28:16), recorded Paul’s itinerary from Malta to Rome with great geographical detail.

28:11 Another Egyptian ship from Alexandria took Paul and his companions on board after an interval of three months and the worst of the winter had passed.

Verse 12

28:12 Syracuse was the capital of the eastern half of Sicily.

Verse 13

28:13-14 They sailed across the Straits of Messina to Rhegium on the southern tip of Italy. This port was a stopping place for ships traveling from the west coast of Italy to the eastern Mediterranean. • Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli) was a major port of entry for large grain ships bringing supplies from the east to Rome. Paul spent a week here with some local believers before moving on to Rome.

Verse 15

28:15 Paul was greeted by brothers and sisters who met his party on the way up to Rome.

Verse 16

28:16 Paul was allowed to have his own . . . lodging, apparently in private facilities, though he was guarded by a soldier. Though Paul was traveling in chains, “the word of God cannot be chained” (2 Tim 2:9). Paul was possibly treated so well because of his social status or Roman citizenship (cp. Acts 16:37-38; 22:25-28).

Verse 17

28:17-20 Conscious that the Good News was to be presented to the Jews first (13:46; Rom 1:16) and concerned that the false charges against him might already have reached Rome, Paul summoned the local Jewish leaders and gave an account of his life and work. He insisted that he was guilty of no criminal offense, but strong Jewish opposition had made it necessary for him to appeal to the emperor. Paul had nothing against his own people; rather, he wanted to explain his great conviction that the Messiah they had been expecting had already come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Verse 21

28:21-22 The Jewish leaders assured Paul that they had received no reports against him, and they wanted to hear his explanation of this movement.

Verse 23

28:23 Paul explained how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament hopes for the Kingdom of God, the master theme of Jesus’ own preaching (Mark 1:14-15; see Matt 4:12-17; Luke 4:14-21, 43). Referring to the Scriptures, Paul presented the case for Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Verse 24

28:24 Paul’s all-day message met a mixed response, as it had in other quarters (e.g., 13:40-51; 17:11-14).

Verse 25

28:25-28 Paul parted with scriptural words of warning that are often used in the New Testament to explain the Jewish rejection of the gospel (cp. Matt 13:14-15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:38-40; see Rom 11:1-12, 25-32).

Verse 28

28:28 Since Jews everywhere had been given an opportunity to accept the faith (13:46; see Rom 1:16), it was now time for the Gentiles to be offered this salvation.

Verse 31

28:31 Despite being under house arrest (28:16), Paul boldly proclaimed the Kingdom message. • And no one tried to stop him (Greek akōlutōs, “without hindrance”): This single word in Greek is the last word of the book of Acts and one of the keys to its meaning: God’s word cannot be chained, even when its messengers are (2 Tim 2:9; see Phil 1:12-14). Acts is the story of an unhindered message of Good News, available to all people throughout the world, whether Jew, Gentile, proselyte, rich, or poor. The mission of proclaiming this message is accomplished in the power of the Spirit (Acts 1:8); it embraces Jews (3:1–5:42), Samaritans (8:1-25), converts to Judaism (2:11; 13:43), “God-fearers” (8:26-40; 9:32–11:18), and Gentiles (13:1–28:28). • Luke ends his account with Paul still under house arrest in Rome (about AD 60–62). Paul was later released and traveled freely. According to tradition, Paul was imprisoned again in Rome about AD 64 and was martyred there during Nero’s persecution of believers.