Melita

(Acts 28:1) — under this name is undoubtedly meant the island of Malta, lying in the Mediterranean Sea, 50 English miles from the southern tip of Sicily. The name of the island appears to be of Phoenician origin, meaning “refuge.” This island is mentioned by Diodorus, Ovid, Cicero, and other classical writers. In the Bible the island of Melita is mentioned only in connection with the account, in the book of Acts (27:39-44), of the shipwreck of the holy apostle Paul at this island on his voyage to Italy.

Here St. Paul was detained for three months, during which he evidently enjoyed the hospitality of the Maltese and the particular favor of Publius, the governor. In the Adriatic Sea near Sicily there was, and still is, another small island bearing the same name, Melita, or Meleda. In the opinion of some, this was supposedly the Melita of the New Testament; but its location cannot be reconciled at all with the narrative of the holy evangelist Luke, and there is no good reason to think that a ship from Alexandria to Puteoli would have sailed in winter past this island.

References to the island of Malta occur already in remote antiquity, after which it was successively held by the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Saracens. At the present day the island of Malta belongs to England.