28:2a
The islanders: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as islanders refers to those who did not speak Greek as their mother tongue. It implies a different culture as well. The people of Malta spoke Punic and culturally were Phoenician, but they were familiar with Greek and Roman languages and cultures. Other ways to translate this word are:
the natives (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
The inhabitants (New Jerusalem Bible)
showed us extraordinary kindness: The Greek tense probably indicates that the islanders showed kindness for some time. They did not just help them once and then ignore them. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
were very friendly to us (Good News Translation)
-or-
treated us with uncommon kindness (Revised English Bible)
extraordinary kindness: This phrase in Greek is literally “no ordinary kindness.” This emphasizes that the people showed them much kindness, more than what would normally be expected. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
unusual kindness (New International Version)
-or-
did many good things for us, much more than we anticipated
28:2b
The Greek conjunction usually translated “for” introduces the clauses here. It introduces how the people of the island were kind to the people from the shipwreck. Here is another way to translate this:
for (Revised Standard Version)
They kindled a fire: Here the verb kindled refers to piling wood and starting a fire. Many languages would use a different verb here. For example:
they lit a bonfire (Revised English Bible)
-or-
They started a fire
it was raining: The Greek clause indicates that the rain had started earlier and was still raining. Other ways to translate this clause are:
the rain that had set in (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
It had started to rain (Good News Translation)
cold: This was probably about 10°C (50°F). This is cold but not freezing. The people from the ship had already swum in cold sea water and the rain was cold and the wind was blowing.
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