“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.”
Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he was putting it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. - Paul, far from exhausted by the shipwreck, 'gathered a pile of brushwood' (synalizō hetera, synalizō hetera-'gathered together dry wood') to feed the fire. 'As he was putting it on' (epitithēmi, epitithēmi-'lay upon'), 'a viper' (echidna, echidna-a poisonous snake) 'fastened itself on his hand' (periplekō tēn cheira, periplekō tēn cheira-'wound around his hand'). The viper is 'driven out by the heat' (ek tēs thermēs, ek tēs thermēs-'because of the warmth'), a realistic detail: snakes shelter in wood during cool, wet weather. Paul becomes an instrument of hospitality even in adversity.
Church Fathers on Acts 28:3
Showed, he says, no little kindness to us — barbarians (as they were )— having kindled a fire: else it were of no use that their lives be saved, if the wintry weather must destroy them. Then Paul having taken brushwood, laid it on the fire. See how active he is; observe how we nowhere find him doing miracles for the sake of doing them, but only upon emergency. Both during the storm when there was a cause he prophesied, not for the sake of prophesying, and here again in the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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