Malta

Biblical References

Acts 28:1-11 

The ship on which Paul was being transported to Rome was driven before a storm for some 14 days (Acts 27:27) before, eventually being driven ashore on the island of Malta (Acts 28:1). The company remained on the island for three months (Acts 28:12) before continuing the journey to Rome.

When first landed on the island some of the people regarded Paul as a god because he survived a snake bite (Acts 28:3-6). No doubt the subsequent miracles of healing God worked in response to Paul's prayers (Acts 28:8-9) provided an opportunity for him to give the glory to whom it belonged.

Visiting the Site

While it might seem obvious that the Malta of Acts 28:1 is the modern island nation of Malta, a number of doubts have been raised and alternate possibilities proposed. One reason given for rejecting modern Malta is the apparent lack of poisonous snakes on the island, certainly in modern times, but also possibly in antiquity. However, on a massive grain ship it is not difficult to imagine a population of stowaway rodents which could also attract predators aboard. Who is to say that a snake or two may not also have survived the shipwreck?

Contenders vying to replace Malta as the Biblical location include Mljet and Cephalonia. Another interesting read on this subject is available here. If Mljet were the location of the shipwreck it would seem to make Syracuse an unlikely next port of call. Even if the cargo were bound for the west of Italy passengers could well have been offloaded at Brundisium on the way past?

I was happy enough to visit Malta in 2010, as the first stage of following Paul's post-storm journey to Rome. We based ourselves in Valletta and used local buses to visit St Paul's Bay. I have also listed below a number of possible places of interest that we did not visit at the time.

Click here for a Google Earth view of St Paul's Bay, Malta.

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