Acts 28:8

28:1-10 God can make strangers to be friends; friends in distress. Those who are despised for homely manners, are often more friendly than the more polished; and the conduct of heathens, or persons called barbarians, condemns many in civilized nations, professing to be Christians. The people thought that Paul was a murderer, and that the viper was sent by Divine justice, to be the avenger of blood. They knew that there is a God who governs the world, so that things do not come to pass by chance, no, not the smallest event, but all by Divine direction; and that evil pursues sinners; that there are good works which God will reward, and wicked works which he will punish. Also, that murder is a dreadful crime, one which shall not long go unpunished. But they thought all wicked people were punished in this life. Though some are made examples in this world, to prove that there is a God and a Providence, yet many are left unpunished, to prove that there is a judgment to come. They also thought all who were remarkably afflicted in this life were wicked people. Divine revelation sets this matter in a true light. Good men often are greatly afflicted in this life, for the trial and increase of their faith and patience. Observe Paul's deliverance from the danger. And thus in the strength of the grace of Christ, believers shake off the temptations of Satan, with holy resolution.

When we despise the censures and reproaches of men, and look upon them with holy contempt, having the testimony of our consciences for us, then, like Paul, we shake off the viper into the fire. It does us no harm, except we are kept by it from our duty. God hereby made Paul remarkable among these people, and so made way for the receiving of the gospel. The Lord raises up friends for his people in every place whither he leads them, and makes them blessings to those in affliction.

Sick (συνεχόμενον) Lit., taken or holden. See on taken, Luke 4:38. Fever (πυρετοῖς) Lit., fevers. This peculiarly medical use of the plural is confined to Luke in the New Testament. It denotes successive and varying attacks of fever. Bloody flux (δυσεντερίᾳ) Only here in New Testament. Our word dysentery is nearly a transcript of it. Hippocrates often speaks of the two complaints in combination. Healed (ἰάσατο) See on Luke 6:19.

A bloody flux; a painful and dangerous disease; the torment in the bowels frequently causing a fever. And prayed; Paul could do nothing of himself, and therefore begs of God the recovery of Publius’s father. It is God only that kills and makes alive, 1 Samuel 2:6 . Laid his hands on him; this imposition of hands was commonly used in miraculous cures, as Matthew 9:18 Mark 6:5 ; and is joined with prayer, Matthew 19:13 , which it might be a symbol of. Thus Publius was well paid for what he did for Paul and his company. Relieving of the poor and distressed is frequently rewarded in this world, and not only in the world to come. And God now recommends the gospel and the ministry of Paul by this miracle also: for none could do such things as these, unless God were with him.

8. the father of Publius lay sick of a fever—"fevers." The word was often thus used in the plural number, probably to express recurring attacks. and of a bloody flux—"of dysentery." (The medical accuracy of our historian's style has been observed here.) to whom Paul entered in, and prayed—thereby precluding the supposition that any charm resided in himself. and laid his hands on him, and healed him—Thus, as our Lord rewarded Peter for the use of his boat (Lu 5:3, 4, &c.), so Paul richly repays Publius for his hospitality. Observe the fulfilment here of two things predicted in Mr 16:18—the "taking up serpents," and "recovering of the sick by laying hands on them."

Verse 8. - It was so for it came to pass , A.V.; fever for a fever , A.V.; dysentery for of a bloody flux , A.V.; unto for to , A.V.; and laying , etc., healed for and laid , etc., and healed , A.V. The father of Publius . The fact of the father of Publius being alive and living in Malta is a further indication that the term ὁ πρῶτος τῆς νήσου ισ an official title. Lay sick . Συνέχεσθαι ισ also the usual medical expression for being taken sick of any disease (see the numerous passages quoted by Hobart, pp. 3, 4, from Galen and Hippocrates). It is used by St. Luke, with πυρετῴ ( Luke 4:38 ), and in the same sense in Matthew 4:24 . Lay. Κατακεῖσθαι is used especially of lying in bed from sickness (see Mark 1:30 ; Mark 2:4 ; Luke 5:25 ; Acts 9:33 ). It answers to decumbo in Latin. Sick of fever and dysentery ( πυρετοῖς καὶ δυσεντερία συνεχόμενον ). The terms here used are all professional ones. Πυρετός , in the plural, is of frequent occurrence in Hippocrates, Aretaeus, and Galen, but elsewhere in the New Testament always in the singular; δυσεντερία , only found here in the New Testament, is the regular technical word for a "dysentery," and is frequently in medical writers coupled with πυρετοί or πυρετός , as indicating different stages of the same illness. Laying his hands on him .

So Mark 16:18 , "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (see also Matthew 9:18 ; Matthew 19:13, 15 ; Mark 5:23 ; Mark 6:5 ; Mark 7:32 ; Mark 8:23, 25 ; Luke 4:40 ; Luke 13:13 ; Acts 9:12 ). It is also spoken of as an accompaniment of prayer in confirmation, ordination, etc. It has been remarked as curious that the two actions of taking up serpents and healing the sick by the laying on of hands should be in such close juxtaposition both here and in Mark 16:18 . It suggests the thought whether Luke had seen the passage in St. Mark; or whether the writer of Mark 16:18 had seen Acts 28:8 . Or is the coincidence accidental, arising out of the facts? Acts 28:8

8 . And it came to pass, that ] [ R.V. “and it was so, that”]. The R. V. is the better modern rendering. The expression means “It happened that, &c.,” not that after the arrival of St Paul the father fell ill, which might be taken as the meaning of the A. V. of a fever and of a bloody flixe ] [ R. V. “of fever and dysentery”]. The words are technical such as a physician, as St Luke is reputed to have been, would be likely to use in describing the disease. The first, which is in the plural number, implies the fits of fever which occur at intervals in such diseases as ague.

(8) Lay sick of a fever and a bloody flux. —Literally, with fevers and dysentery, both words being used by St. Luke with professional precision. The plural, “fevers,” probably indicates the attacks of a recurrent fever, and its combination with dysentery would, according to Hippocrates, who also uses the plural form ( Aph. vi. 3), make the case more than usually critical. The disease is said to be far from uncommon in Malta. Prayed, and laid his hands on him.—The union of the two acts reminds us of the rule given in James 5:14-15; and the close sequence of the work of the healing upon the escape from the serpent’s bite, of the juxtaposition of the two promises of Mark 16:18.

A bloody flux - Greek: dysentery. And laid his hands on him ... - In accordance with the promise of the Saviour, Mark 16:18. This miracle was a suitable return for the hospitality of Publius, and would serve to conciliate further the kindness of the people, and prepare the way for Paul's usefulness.