1 And having been brought safely through, we then found out that the island is called Malta.
2 And the natives were showing not the ordinary kindness to us for, because of the geshem (rain) that had set in and because of the cold, they lit a hadlakah (bonfire).
3 And when Rav Sha'ul gathered some brushwood and placed the sticks on the hadlakah (bonfire), a nachash (serpent) from the heat came out and fastened onto Rav Sha'ul's hand.
4 And when the natives saw it hanging from his hand, they were saying to one another, "Surely this man is a rotzeach (murderer); for though he was brought safely from the sea, Yashrus (Justice) did not allow him to live."
5 Then, having shaken off the nachash into the eish (fire), Rav Sha'ul suffered no ill effects. (Mk 16:18)
6 But the natives were expecting him to be about to swell up or suddenly to fall down. But they watched him expectantly for a long time, and when they observed nothing unusual happening to him, they changed their minds and were saying that he was a g-d.