Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

2:1 Pentecost was the second of the annual harvest festivals, coming 50 days after Passover. All most likely included the entire 120 assembled in the upper room (1:15).

2:2 Jesus had compared the Holy Spirit's work to the wind (John 3:8), but here the Holy Spirit is coming in greatly increased power, and it was appropriate that this event be accompanied by a sound that was not like a gentle breeze but like a mighty rushing wind. The house where they were sitting probably was the upper room (Acts 1:13), which must have been located close to the temple grounds.

2:3 The divided tongues as of fire were not literal flames (for Luke says "as of") but looked enough like fire that this was the best description that could be given. "Fire" in the OT often indicates the presence of God, especially in his burning holiness and purity, consuming everything that is impure (see Ex. 3:2; 13:21; 19:18; 40:38; Isa. 4:5; Ezek. 1:4). These tongues may therefore portray both the purity and the power of the speech of these disciples as they proclaimed "the mighty works of God" (Acts 2:11), as well as the holy presence of God.

2:4 filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a fulfillment of what Jesus promised (see notes on 1:5; 1:8). It does not mean that the Holy Spirit was completely inactive prior to this time (for the Spirit of God was active in the world from Gen. 1:2 onward), but now the Spirit was coming to people in a new, more powerful way, signifying the beginning of the new covenant age (the time from Christ's death until he returns at some time in the future). to speak in other tongues. The word translated "tongues" (Gk. glōssa, plural) can also be translated "languages," and that is the sense that it has in this verse. In this case the other languages were understood by various people present in Jerusalem, but in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul expects that no one present in the church at Corinth will understand the languages being spoken "in tongues" (see 1 Cor. 14:2). Acts and 1 Corinthians are probably not speaking of different types of gifts but different kinds of audiences: people who understood the languages were present in Jerusalem but were not expected to be present in Corinth (see notes on 1 Cor. 12:10; 12:29-30; 14:2). This is clearly a miracle of speaking, not of hearing, for the disciples began "to speak in other tongues." As the Spirit gave them utterance indicates that the Holy Spirit was directing the syllables they spoke. Speaking in tongues in this way also seems to be the phenomenon experienced by those at Cornelius's house (Acts 10:45-46) and the disciples of John at Ephesus (19:6).

2:5 The presence of the crowd indicates that the setting must be the temple grounds, the only place in Jerusalem that could accommodate more than 3,000 persons (v. 41). The fact that they were dwelling in Jerusalem suggests not only Jewish pilgrims but local residents as well.

2:6 hearing them speak. They spoke the "mighty works of God" (v. 11), the language of praise.

2:9-11 The long list of nations covers most of the first-century Roman world, particularly areas where Jewish communities existed (see map). It provides one of the most comprehensive ancient catalogs of the Jewish Diaspora (Jews living outside Palestine) and is confirmed by other ancient lists (esp. Philo, Embassy to Gaius 281-284), by early Jewish archaeological remains, and by many ancient literary sources. It is only natural that first-century Jerusalem would be filled with devout Jews "from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5). The list also demonstrates that already at Pentecost the Christians were starting their worldwide witness. At this point the converts were mainly Jewish. The only Gentiles at Pentecost were proselytes (v. 11), Gentiles who had become full converts to Judaism.