Acts 28:5

And he shook off the beast into the fire,.... Having held it a while, and as being master of it, and as not being afraid of it, though it was the ready way to provoke it to fasten on him again:

and…

And he shook off ... - In this was remarkably fulfilled the promise of the Saviour Mar 16:18; “They shall take up serpents,” etc.

Shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm - This is a presumptive evidence that the viper did not bite St. Paul: it fastened on his hand, but had no power to injure him.

What a great variety of places and circumstances do we find Paul in! He was a planet, and not a fixed star. Here we have him in an island to which, in all probability, he had never come if he had not…

And[R. V.Howbeit] he shook off the beast The rendering of the particles by the R. V.is to be preferred. The verb is the same which is used (Luk 9:5) of shaking off dust from the feet. The idea…