Malta
Acts
28:1-11
After drifting at sea for two weeks, Paul's ship came near the island of Malta. As the crew attempted to land, the ship struck a reef and was damaged. The crew and prisoners managed to reach land and spend three winter months there. Paul survived a snake bite and healed a number of people on the island.
Context: Malta is an island sixty miles south of Sicily that was a stopping place for ships plying Mediterranean trade routes. The island was settled by Phoenicians and for centuries it was under the control of Carthage--a Phoenician city in north Africa. Acts calls the people of Malta barbaroi, which means that they did not speak Greek or Latin. Malta came under Roman control in 218 B.C. The local official in Paul's time was named Publius.