The natives showed us unusual kindness.
Paul is in captivity, and they’re sailing for Rome. Alas, a storm came up and the boat was smashed. But an angel told Paul no one would perish, and no one did. They land on an island, that they later learn is Malta. Paul and his companions note that the Maltese natives showed an unusual kindness.
The notion that residents of Malta would be referred to as ‘natives’ makes me think. I know that on one hand it references people who are from the area. But in scripture, we don’t hear about Hebrew natives, or Roman natives, or even Samaritan natives. These people are referenced as people. But the people of Malta seem to have been demoted to native.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that there’s anything negative about being a native. But it seems to me that the term is frequently used pejoratively – a people somehow less than the newcomers. People currently use the term with pride to indicate they’re really truly Portlanders, or Pittsburghers, but that seems like the exception to the common usage.
When I read this sentence, ‘the natives showed us unusual kindness’, I immediately imagined some tribal, uncivilized people Maybe that’s just my prejudice of the word. Malta was colonized by the Phoenicians in 700 bc, (modern day Lebanon), and then by the Romans in 200 bc, More modern history include governance by Byzantines, Romans again, Britain, France, and finally were made independent in 1964.
I ascribe 21st century usage of the term ‘native’, and while that is not likely the actual usage here, it does appear to be a put-down, or at least a pretty judgmental term. This morning, I’m thinking about why we always need to judge ourselves better than others, and why this has been happening since Paul’s time, particularly with the notion of ‘natives’.
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