Insights
They reached shore safely, learning that the island was Malta (the name means, appropriately enough, "refuge"). It was inhabited by people of Phoenician background, who spoke a Phoenician dialect. They kindly welcomed the shipwreck victims with a fire and probably food and blankets. The storm was raging, and it was cold. A fire was needed, and one big enough to warm almost 300 people required lots of wood!
Paul, just as he had done onboard, busied himself being useful. Snakes, being reptiles, become stiff and unmoving with the cold, and Paul accidentally gathered a poisonous snake with the wood. (This may sound unlikely to us, but a very similar event is recorded by T. E. Lawrence in "Revolt in the Desert.") It may even have crept into a crack in one of the larger branches. When it warmed up enough to move, it "fastened itself on his hand." The natives could see that he was a prisoner, and although he had managed to survive the shipwreck, they quickly assumed that their goddess, Justice (or Dike) was punishing him for a crime he had committed elsewhere.
There are no poisonous snakes on Malta now, but obviously there used to be. The natives were well aware of the poisonous qualities of this particular snake, and Luke, a physician, would have been familiar with the different poisonous breeds.
So What?
Paul could have sat down by the fire, expecting Aristarchus to bring him something hot to drink. But instead he was gathering firewood. Jesus said, "The greatest among you will be your servant," (Matthew 23:11) just as He waited on His disciples (John 13:15). Don't consider yourself too important to help others.
And see how foolish it can be to judge others by their circumstances, or put superstitious meanings to the events that happen around us!
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