Acts 28:6
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.
Acts 28:6 in other translations
| BSB | The islanders were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. |
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| WEB | But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but when they watched for a long time and saw nothing bad happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. |
| ASV | But they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but when they were long in expectation and beheld nothing amiss come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. |
| YLT | and they were expecting him to be about to be inflamed, or to fall down suddenly dead, and they, expecting it a long time, and seeing nothing uncommon happening to him, changing their minds, said he was a god. |
| DARBY | But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down suddenly dead. But when they had expected a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, changing their opinion, they said he was agod. |
| BBE | But they had the idea that they would see him becoming ill, or suddenly falling down dead; but after waiting a long time, and seeing that no damage came to him, changing their opinion, they said he was a god. |
| Webster | Yet they looked when he would have swelled, 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. |
What does Acts 28:6 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 28:4-6
4-6. No doubt this man is a murderer--His chains, which they would see, might strengthen the impression. whom ... vengeance suffereth not to live--They believed in a Supreme, Resistless, Avenging Eye and Hand, however vague their notions of where it resided.
Barnes' Notes
Or fallen down dead suddenly. As is sometimes the case from the bite of the serpent, when a vital part is affected.
They changed their minds. They saw he was uninjured, and miraculously preserved; and they supposed that none but a god could be thus kept from death.
That he was a god. That the Maltese were idolaters there can be no doubt. But what gods they worshipped is unknown, and conjecture would be useless. It was natural that they should attribute such a preservation to the presence of a divinity. A similar instance occurred at Lystra. Acts 14:11.
(+) "Howbeit" "However" (++) "looked" "expected" (g) "that he was a god" Acts 14:11
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Acts 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…
Acts 28:6 in the original Greek
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Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Acts 28:6
- Acts 12:22
And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
- Acts 14:11-13
And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
- Matthew 21:9
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Acts 28:5
And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
- Acts 28:6
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.
- Acts 28:7
In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.
Acts 28:6 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Empero ellos estaban esperando cuándo se había de hinchar, ó caer muerto de repente; mas habiendo esperado mucho, y viendo que ningún mal le venía, mudados, decían que era un dios. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | et ils s’attendaient à ce qu’il enflerait ou tomberait mort subitement. Mais quand ils eurent longtemps attendu et qu’ils eurent vu qu’il ne lui arrivait rien d’extraordinaire, changeant de sentiment, ils dirent que c’était un dieu. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Sie aber erwarteten, daß er aufschwellen oder plötzlich tot hinfallen würde. Als sie aber lange warteten und sahen, daß ihm nichts Ungewöhnliches geschah, änderten sie ihre Meinung und sagten, er sei ein Gott. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | At illi existimabant eum in tumorem convertendum, et subito casurum et mori. Diu autem illis exspectantibus, et videntibus nihil mali in eo fieri, convertentes se, dicebant eum esse deum. |