Bible Questions and Answer

Acts 27 and 28 describe Paul's ship being driven by a violent storm for fourteen days before running aground on an island called Malta, which in Greek is Melite. The traditional location is St. Paul's Bay on the northeast coast of Malta, near two small islands called St. Paul's Islands, where a statue of Paul stands. Luke mentions the ship striking "a sandbar" or "a place where two seas met," and sailors measuring the depth before running aground. Malta fits well with the storm drift described in Acts. After landing, Paul survived a snakebite, healed the father of the island's chief official, Publius, and stayed three months. Some writers have suggested other places, such as the island of Cephalonia in Greece, or Mljet in Croatia, which also had the ancient name Melite. Most scholars and Maltese tradition hold to Malta, where Paul is honored as the island's founder of Christianity.