John Calvin Commentary Acts 2:14

"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spake forth unto them, [saying], Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear unto my words." — Acts 2:14 (ASV)

Concerning the phrase And Peter, standing: by the word standing, it was signified that a solemn sermon was delivered in the assembly, for they rose when they spoke to the people so that they might be better heard. The sum of this sermon is this: Peter concludes that Christ was already revealed and given by the gift of the Holy Spirit, which they saw. Yet, first, he refutes their false opinion that the disciples were drunk. This refutation is based on a probable argument, because men are not usually drunk early in the morning. For, as Paul says,

Those which are drunk are drunk in the night, (1 Thessalonians 5:7).

For they flee the light out of shame. And surely, so great is the filthiness of this vice that for good reason it hates the light. Yet this argument would not always be good, for Isaiah inveighs in his time against those who rose early to pursue drunkenness. And today there are many who, like hogs, as soon as they awake, run to heavy drinking.

But because this is a common custom among men, Peter says that it is not a likely thing. Those who have even a little knowledge of antiquity know that the civil day, from sunrise until sunset, was divided into twelve hours, so that the hours were longer in summer and shorter in winter.

Therefore, what would now be the ninth hour before noon in winter (and the eighth in summer) was the third hour among ancient people. Therefore, while Peter only lightly dismisses the idea of drunkenness, he does so for this reason: because it would have been superfluous to dwell on any lengthy excuse.

Therefore, as in a matter that was certain and beyond doubt, he pacifies those who mocked rather than laboring to teach them. And he does not refute them so much by the circumstance of time as by the testimony of Joel. For when he says that what was foretold has now come to pass, he briefly touches on their unthankfulness, because they do not acknowledge such an excellent benefit promised to them in times past, which they now see with their own eyes. And while he rebukes all for the fault of a few, he does not do it for the purpose of making them all guilty of the same fault; but because their mocking offered a suitable occasion to teach them all together, he does not delay in seizing it.