Malta(melita)
Summary
Malta, called Melita in Scripture, is the Mediterranean island where Paul was shipwrecked during his voyage to Rome and where he stayed three months, performing healings and receiving hospitality from the native inhabitants.
☩Location and Character
Malta lies in the Mediterranean about sixty miles south of Sicily and approximately 1,200 miles from Jerusalem. The island is about seventeen miles long by thirteen broad, naturally rocky but rendered fertile through industry. It was a Phoenician settlement from early times, and their language in corrupted form was still spoken there in Paul's time—hence Luke calls the inhabitants 'barbarians,' meaning they spoke neither Greek nor Latin, not that they were uncivilized.
☩The Shipwreck
After leaving Fair Havens in Crete, Paul's ship was driven by a fierce northeastern wind called Euraquilo for fourteen days through the Adriatic Sea. The sailors, sensing land approaching, found depths decreasing from twenty to fifteen fathoms and cast four anchors from the stern to avoid being driven onto rocks. In the morning they spotted a bay with a sandy beach and attempted to run the ship aground. The bow stuck fast in the clay bottom while the stern broke apart under the waves, but all 276 persons aboard escaped safely to land.
☩Paul's Ministry on Malta
The islanders showed extraordinary kindness, building a fire for the shipwreck survivors. When Paul was bitten by a viper while gathering sticks, the natives expected him to swell up and die, but when no harm came to him they changed their minds and said he was a god. Paul healed the father of Publius, the chief official of the island, who was suffering from fever and dysentery, and many others with diseases on the island came and were healed. After three months, Paul and his companions sailed for Italy on another Alexandrian ship that had wintered there.
Related Verses1 mention
Acts· 1 verse
References
- 1.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Melita," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Melita," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).