Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 2:3

"And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them." — Acts 2:3 (ASV)

There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire.—Better, and tongues as of fire were seen by them, parted among them. The word translated “cloven” cannot possibly have that meaning. It is not uncommon (e.g., Acts 2:45; Matthew 27:35; Luke 22:17), and is always used in the sense of dividing or distributing. What the disciples saw would, perhaps, be best described in modern phrase as a shower of fiery tongues, coming, they knew not from where, lighting for a moment on each head, and then vanishing. The verb “it sat upon (namely, a tongue of fire)” is in the tense which expresses momentary, not continuous, action.