Acts 28:2

The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. They kindled a fire and welcomed all of us because it was raining and cold.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator describes Paul and his shipwrecked companions arriving on the island of Malta. The local inhabitants respond by building a fire and sheltering the group during a cold, rainy day.

The words — The Greek βάρβαροι (barbaroi) and φιλανθρωπίαν (philanthrōpian) literally mean "natives" and "human-kindness," modified by οὐ τυχοῦσαν (ou tuchousan) to literally render "not ordinary kindness."

The thread — The narrative pattern of sheltering strangers appears in Hebrews 13:2, while the breakdown of ethnic barriers between Greeks and non-Greeks runs through Romans 1:14 and Colossians 3:11.

Why it lands — The text first records a practical response to weather and displacement before implying that uncalculated aid crosses cultural divides. It requires readers to provide immediate, unreserved help to those in need regardless of shared background or status.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.

Cross-references

Romans 1:14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
Colossians 3:11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Acts 28:4 When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
2 Corinthians 11:27 in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
Proverbs 24:11 Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.
Matthew 10:42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
1 Corinthians 14:11 If, then, I do not know the meaning of someone’s language, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.
Leviticus 19:34 You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
Acts 27:3 The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with consideration, allowing him to visit his friends and receive their care.