^28:3When Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood⁶ and was putting it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. ^28:4When the local people⁷ saw the creature hanging from Paul’s⁸ hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself⁹ has not allowed him to live!”¹⁰^28:5However,¹¹ Paul¹² shook¹³ the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. ^28:6But they were expecting that he was going to swell up¹⁴ or suddenly drop dead. So after they had waited¹⁵ a long time and had seen¹⁶ nothing unusual happen¹⁷ to him, they changed their minds¹⁸ and said he was a god.¹⁹

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Footnotes

6 Or “sticks.”
7 Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone …).”
8 Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty—‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikē) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.
10 The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.
11 οὖν 4 indicates the particle has an adversative sense here: “but, however.”
12 Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 Grk “shaking the creature off … he suffered no harm.” The participle ἀποτινάξας (apotinaxas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
14 Or “going to burn with fever.” According to πίμπρημι, either meaning (“swell up” or “burn with fever”) is possible for Acts 28:6.
15 The participle προσδοκώντων (prosdokōntōn) has been taken temporally.
16 The participle θεωρούντων (theōrountōn) has been taken temporally.
17 Grk “happening.” The participle γινόμενον (ginomenon) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
18 Grk “changing their minds.” The participle μεταβαλόμενοι (metabalomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
19 And said he was a god. The reaction is like Acts 14:11–19 where the crowd wanted to make Paul and Barnabas into gods. The providence of God had protected Paul again.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

NLTNew Living Translation

As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And when Paul had gathered a large number of sticks and was placing them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. And when the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Doubtless this man is a murderer whom, although he was rescued from the sea, Justice has not permitted to live!” He, in turn, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. But they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly to fall down dead. So after they had waited for a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began saying that he was a god.

KJV 1900King James Version

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. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

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