Acts 28:1

They were escaped. Textual evidence attests (cf. p. 10) the readings “we were escaped” and “we knew.”

Melita. That is, Malta, a small island to the southeast of Sicily. Some have assigned the shipwreck to the island of Meleda, in the Adriatic Sea near the Jugoslavian (Illyrian) coast. They hold that the mention of Adria, in ch. 27:27, indicates that the ship had left the Mediterranean Sea and was in what is known today as the Adriatic Sea. They note also that the people of Meleda were at that time non-Roman and non-Greek, and hence barbarians (see ch. 28:2), and that today no vipers are found on Malta. Perhaps it is sufficient to observe that this explanation is highly improbable and is not taken seriously by any competent scholar today. See further on chs. 27:27; 28:2.