What physical deprivations did Paul experience in his ministry?
Scripture records he endured five scourgings, three beatings with rods, one stoning, three shipwrecks, and a night and a day in the deep. He also faced robberies, dangers from countrymen and heathen, wilderness and sea perils, weariness, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, and fastings.
Les explains that Paul went through five scourging episodes, which were so severe that a man could not usually take thirty-nine lashes and live. He was beaten with rods three times, stoned once, and suffered shipwreck three times, including being dumped into the ocean and spending a night and a day in the deep. Les adds that Paul faced perils from robbers, his own countrymen, the heathen, the wilderness, and the sea. He also experienced weariness, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, and fastings, showing he was human and suffered greatly without antibiotics or hospital care.