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Acts 28:3

in Acts 28

Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out by reason of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

KJV

And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

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This verse in Acts 28

Commentary

15 notes on this verse

A commentator

Basil of Caesarea

HOMILIES ON THE HEXAEMERON 9.6 · Written before 379.

Beasts bear witness to the faith. Hast thou confidence in the Lord? "Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk and thou shalt trample under feet the lion and the dragon." With faith thou hast the power to walk upon serpents and scorpions. Do you not see that the viper which attached itself to the hand of Paul, whilst he gathered sticks, did not injure him, because it found the saint full of faith? If you have not faith, do not fear beasts so much as your faithlessness, which renders you susceptible of all corruption.

This site's exposition

gathered a bundle of sticks

on Acts 28:3-6

Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks himself, apostle and prisoner alike doing the common work, when a viper came out of the heat and fastened on his hand. The islanders' verdict is swift and pagan in its logic, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live, the goddess Justice imagined as still hunting her prey; when Paul shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm, they swing to the opposite extreme and said that he was a god. The bench reads the whole episode as Luke's quiet demonstration of Mark 16:18's promise and of Luke 10:19's authority over serpents, without Paul himself claiming either title the crowd hands him.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Tertullian

Scorpiace · Written before 220.

proposed

Finally, we often aid in this way even the heathen, seeing we have been endowed by God with that power which the apostle first used when he despised the viper's bite. What, then, does this pen of yours offer, if faith is safe by what it has of its own? That it may be safe by what it has of its own also at other times, when it is subjected to scorpions of its own.

A commentator

Theodoret of Cyrus

CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 28.3 · Written before 458.

proposed

And so the viper, which drove its teeth into the apostle's hand, since it did not find any entry of sin in him, immediately released him and threw itself into the fire by inflicting on itself a punishment, because it had made an attack against …

A commentator

Arator

ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2 · Written before 544.

proposed

You wickedly hurtful serpent, why do you still wish to call [us] back from the Lord and contrive your old pillaging on the newness of the law? O lover of death, whose very parent you are, why do you renew your warfare upon the redeemed? …

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 54 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Then Paul having taken brushwood, laid it on the fire. See how active he is; observe how we nowhere find him doing miracles for the sake of doing them, but only upon emergency. Both during the storm when there was a cause he prophesied, not for the sake of prophesying, and here again in the first instance he lays on brushwood: nothing for vain display, but with a simple view to their being preserved, and enjoying some warmth.

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

The viper, having fastened onto the apostle's hand and not finding the cavity of sin, immediately sprang away and drove itself against the fire, as if collecting a penalty for itself, because it struck with its body something that belonged to no one. But we …
8 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

When Paul had gathered a great bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire. The Apostle, having come out of the sea, kindled a fire because of the cold, as he warmed the hearts of those he had rescued from the tempests by his …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

A viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. Because the unclean spirit, repelled by the flame of virtues from the heart of the faithful, tries to inject the poison of persecutions into the teachers of truth to harm the hand, …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

When Paul was gathering brushwood, a viper bit his hand and caused him no harm, because the holy man was a practitioner of faith. Having sunk its fangs into the apostle's hand and finding no sinful wound in it, the viper immediately recoiled and threw …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

As there is a snake under the green grass, so there is often under the dry leaves. See how many perils human life is exposed to, and what danger we are in from the inferior creatures, which have many of them become enemies to men, since men became rebels to God; and what a mercy it is that we are preserved from them as we are.
And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Though he was free from all, and of greater account than any of them, yet he made himself servant of all. Paul was an industrious active man, and loved to be doing when any thing was to be done, and never contrived to take his ease.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Had gathered a bundle of sticks - For the purpose of making a fire. There came a viper - A poisonous serpent. See the notes on Mat 3:7. The viper was doubtless in the bundle of sticks or limbs of trees which Paul had gathered, but was concealed, and was torpid. But when the bundle was laid on the fire, the viper became warmed by the heat, and came out and fastened on the hand of Paul. And fastened on his hand - καθῆψεν kathēpsen. This word properly means to join oneself to; to touch; to adhere to.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

There came a viper out of the heat - We may naturally suppose that there had been fuel laid before on the fire, and that the viper was in this fuel, and that it had been revived by the heat; and, when St. Paul laid his bundle on the fire, the viper was then in a state to lay hold on his hand.

The words behind it

21 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 23:33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?5 worksMatthew 12:34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.3 worksActs 28:4When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”2 works2 Corinthians 11:23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.2 works2 Corinthians 6:9as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed;1 worksIsaiah 59:5They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.1 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Matthew 3:7But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?1 worksJob 20:16He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.1 worksIsaiah 41:24Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.1 worksIsaiah 30:6This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.1 worksAmos 5:19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.0 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 12:34

    You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

    it leads to

    • Luke 6:45

      The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow…

    • Matthew 15:18

      But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.

    • Ephesians 4:29

      Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

    • James 3:5–8

      In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

    • 1 Samuel 24:13

      As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand will never be against you.

  • Through

    Matthew 23:33

    You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

    it leads to

    • Matthew 3:7

      But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

    • Matthew 12:34

      You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 11:23

    Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of…

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 6:4–5

      Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 28 →
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Arator, ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE HEXAEMERON 9.6; Bede, Commentary on Acts; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 54; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Tertullian, Scorpiace; Theodoret of Cyrus, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 28.3 and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.

Read on in Acts 28 →