Acts 28:5
What does Acts 28:5 mean?
A plain-English look at Acts 28:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Acts 28:5 means
Paul simply shakes the viper into the fire and suffers no harm. The description is understated yet powerful. Luke wants readers to see that God shields His servant from the expected effects of the bite. This is not bravado but quiet confidence in divine protection consistent with God’s earlier promise that Paul would bear witness in Rome. The preservation is immediate and complete, contradicting the belief that he is under judgment. Rather than confirm guilt, the event vindicates God’s care over Paul. Such deliverance is not an end in itself; it clears the way for further ministry and points onlookers from superstition to the living God who preserves His messengers.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Howbeit he shook off the creature into the fire, and took no harm.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Howbeit he shook off the creature into the fire, and took no harm.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But shaking off the beast into the fire, he got no damage.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862he then, indeed, having shaken off the beast into the fire, suffered no evil,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And he indeed, shaking off the beast into the fire, suffered no harm.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890He however, having shaken off the beast into the fire, felt no harm.
Context
After the islanders conclude Paul must die (v. 4), verse 5 narrates the surprising outcome—no harm. This overturns expectations and prompts a swift reversal in public opinion in verse 6, where they shift from condemning Paul to exalting him excessively. The incident becomes the hinge moving the story from suspicion to welcome, culminating in the courteous reception by the island’s chief man, Publius (v. 7).
v.4And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from his hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live.
v.5This passage
v.6But 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.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 91:13
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.
- Numbers 21:6
And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
- Mark 16:18
they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
- Luke 10:19
Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.
- Romans 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
- John 3:14
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
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