“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.”
The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing that nothing unusual happened to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. - The Maltese 'expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead' (pimplēmi ē katō piptō aphnō, pimplēmi ē katō piptō aphnō-'expecting him to be swollen or fall down suddenly'). 'After waiting a long time' (animenos kai theōreō, animenos kai theōreō-'waiting and observing'), seeing nothing, they 'changed their minds' (metaballō ta dogma, metaballō ta dogma-'changed their opinion') and 'said he was a god' (theos, theos). Their reversal from 'murderer' to 'god' shows how quickly pagan folk theology makes sense of the inexplicable. Paul is neither cursed criminal nor divine being, but a human apostle through whom God works.
Church Fathers on Acts 28:6
fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffers not to live. Acts 28:4 Well also was this permitted, that they should both see the thing and utter the thought, in order that, when the result ensued, there might be no disbelieving the miracle. Observe their good feeling (towards the distressed), in saying this (not…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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