John Gill Commentary Acts 2

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come
Or "was come", was begun and entered upon; for it was not over, or ended, it being but the third hour of the day, or nine of the clock in the morning, when Peter began his sermon; see (Acts 2:15) . The Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, "when the days of Pentecost were fulfilled"; not that there were more days than one, kept at this festival; for though the feasts of passover and tabernacles were observed each of them seven days, according to the law, and eight days according to the Scribes, yet the feast of Pentecost was kept but one day; and hence it is often said by the Jews, that Atzereth, which is one of the names they call this feast by, is but one day ^F12 ; in the captivity they kept two days ^F13 , as they did for the beginning of the year, because of the uncertainty of calculations; but the sense is, when the whole fifty days from the passover to this time were fully come, or fulfilled, when the fiftieth day from there, which was properly the day of Pentecost, was come: on the second day of the passover, on the sixteenth of Nisan, the sheaf of the first fruits was offered up; after which, and not before, it was lawful to reap the corn, (Leviticus 23:10Leviticus 23:11) from this time the Jews reckoned their feast of weeks, or seven weeks, or fifty days; see (Exodus 34:22) (Deuteronomy 16:9) (Leviticus 23:15Leviticus 23:16) which measured out the time of their harvest. Now the last of these fifty days was the day of Pentecost, on which day was offered the two wave loaves, as a thanksgiving that their harvest was ended. Josephus calls ^F14 this feast by the same name that Luke here does; and says ^F15 , the Jews so call it, from the number of the days, that is fifty; and so R. Sol Jarchi ^F16 calls this day, (Myvymx Mwy) , "the fiftieth day": on this day, the Jews say ^F17 , the law was given; and observe ^F18 , that ``from the day that Israel went out of Egypt, unto the day that the law was given, were fifty days.''.

And on this day, and which was the first day of the week, the Spirit was poured forth upon the disciples; the Gospel began to be preached to all nations, and a harvest of souls was gathered in:

they were all with one accord in one place ;
in two ancient copies of Beza's, and in some others it is read, "all the apostles"; Matthias, and the eleven, with whom he was numbered, who are last spoken of, in (Acts 1:26) . Though this need not be restrained to the twelve apostles, but may be understood of the hundred and twenty, on whom, as well as on the apostles, the Holy Ghost might be poured forth, so that they might speak with tongues; since among these were many ministers of the Gospel, as the seventy disciples, and it may be more; and that his extraordinary gifts should be bestowed on others, is but what was afterwards done; see (Acts 8:17) (10:14) (11:15) and though there were so many of them together, they were very unanimous and peaceable; there were no jars nor contentions among them; they were of the same mind and judgment in faith and practice, and of one heart and soul, and had a cordial affection for one another; and were all in one place, which seems to be the temple; see (Acts 2:46) . And indeed, no other place or house could hold so many as came to hear them, of which number three thousand were converted.

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 65. 1. Gloss. in. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 17. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 100. fol. 88. 2.
• F13: T. Bab. Erachin, fol. 10. 1.
• F14: Antiqu. l. 3. c. 10. sect. 6.
• F15: De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 3. sect. 1.
• F16: In Lev. xxiii. 15.
• F17: T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 68. 2.
• F18: Zohar in Exod. fol. 34. 4. Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 9. 4.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven
Which is expressive of the original of the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God, which come from above, from heaven, from the Father of lights; and of the freeness of them, being unmerited; and so come suddenly, at an unawares, being unthought of, undesired, and unexpected, and so certainly undeserved; and may be a symbol of the sound of the Gospel, which from hence was to go forth into all the earth; and may likewise express the rise of that, and the freeness of the grace of God in it, and its sudden spread throughout the world:

as of a rushing mighty wind ;
it was not a wind, but like one; and the noise it made, was like the rushing noise of a strong and boisterous wind, that carries all before it: the Spirit of God is sometimes compared to the wind, because of the freeness of his operations; as that blows where it lists, so he works when and where, and on whom he pleases; and also because of the power and efficacy of his grace, which is mighty and irresistible, and works with great energy upon the minds of men; and as the wind is secret and invisible, so the operations of the Spirit are in a manner secret and imperceptible unto men: this may likewise be applied to the Gospel, when it comes with the Holy Ghost, and with power; it makes its way into the heart, and throws down the strong holds of sin and Satan; there it works effectually, though secretly, and is the power of God to salvation:

and it filled all the house where they were sitting ;
which was the temple, or the upper room or chamber in it, where they were assembled; so in the Ethiopic confession of faith ^F19 it is said,

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Vid. Ludolph. not. in Claud. reg. Ethiop. Confess. p. 13.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, etc.] An emblem of the various tongues and languages, in which they were to preach the Gospel; these appearances were like flames of fire parted, and these parted flames looked like tongues; so, a flame of fire is with the Jews called, (va Nwvl), "a tongue of fire", (Isaiah 5:24) hence the Apostle James compares a tongue to fire, (James 3:6) this was the baptism with fire, John the Baptist speaks of, (See Gill on Matthew 3:11); and the Jews say^F20,

``the holy blessed God baptizes with fire, and the wise shall understand.'' Through this baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, the apostles became more knowing, and had a greater understanding of the mysteries of the Gospel, and were more qualified to preach it to people of all nations and languages. The Holy Spirit, in his gifts and graces, is compared to fire, because of its purity, light, and heat, as well as consuming nature; the Spirit sanctifies, and makes men pure and holy, purges from the dross of sin, error and superstition; and enlightens the minds of men, and gives them knowledge of divine and spiritual things; and fills them with zeal and fervour for the glory of God and Christ, and the good of his church and interest, and for the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel; as well as fortifies them against their enemies, whom he consumes, according to (Zechariah 2:5) a passage of Scripture the Jews make use of in an uncommon sense; for they say^F21, that as

``Jerusalem was destroyed by fire, "by fire it shall be built again"; as it is said, (Zechariah 2:5) "For I, says the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about".'' The pouring forth of the Spirit upon the apostles, in this form of cloven tongues, as of fire, was indeed the means of rebuilding Jerusalem, in a spiritual sense; or of founding the Gospel church state in the world:

and it sat upon each of them; the fire, or the Holy Ghost in the appearance of fire. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "and they sat upon each of them"; and so Beza's most ancient copy; that is, the cloven tongues sat on them; either one upon one of them and another upon another, or many upon each of them: where they sat, whether on their lips, or on their heads, it is not certain, probably on the latter; nor how long they sat; however, their sitting upon them may denote the continuance of the gifts and graces of the Spirit with them.

These cloven tongues cannot but bring to mind the division and confusion of the tongues or languages at Babel; which gave rise to different nations, and different religions; but these divided tongues gave rise to the spreading of the Gospel, and settling the true religion among the nations of the world. The Jews^F23

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: R. Menachem in Lev. viii. apud Ainsworth in Gen. xvii. 12.
• F21: T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 65. 3. Seder Tepillot, fol. 23. 2. Ed. Basil.
• F23: seem to have respect to this account, when they tell us of lights from above, that came forth and dwelt in the synagogues, (Nwhyvyrb), "on the heads" of those that prayed, and the lights (Nyglptm), "were divided" upon their heads.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost
With the gifts of the Holy Spirit; they had received the Spirit before, as a Spirit of grace, and were endowed with great gifts; but now they had great plenty of them, a large abundance; they were like vessels filled to the brim; they were as it were covered with them; there was an overflow of them upon them; and now it was, that they were baptized with him; (See Gill on Acts 1:5).

Not only the twelve apostles, but the seventy disciples; and it may be all the hundred and twenty, that were together, even women as well as men: (Acts 2:17Acts 2:18) .

And began to speak with other tongues ;
besides, and different from that in which they were born and brought up, and usually spoke; they spoke divers languages, one spoke one language, and another, another; and the same person spoke with various tongues, sometimes one language, and sometimes another. These are the new tongues, Christ told them they should speak with, (Mark 16:17) such as they had never heard, learned, nor known before:

as the Spirit gave them utterance ;
they did not utter anything of themselves, and what came into their minds, things of little or no importance; nor in a confused and disorderly manner; but they were wise and weighty sentences they delivered, as the word signifies; even the wonderful works of God, (Acts 2:11) the great doctrines of the Gospel; and though in different languages, yet in a very orderly and distinct manner, so as to be heard and understood by the people. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "as the Holy Spirit"

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews
The Ethiopic version adds, "proselytes"; but they were not all such, as appears from the following account of them; many, and it seems the most of them were of Jewish extract and descent, and others were proselytes to the Jewish religion: these were not natives of Jerusalem, but such as were born in other countries, (Acts 2:8) but were come to Jerusalem, either to learn the Hebrew language, which was necessary to their reading and understanding the books of Moses, and the prophets written in it; or for an increase of spiritual knowledge and piety; or, as is generally thought, to keep the feast of Pentecost; or rather, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, they were come hither in great numbers from all parts, in expectation of the Messiah and his kingdom; the time being up, according to Daniel's weeks, and other prophecies, that he should appear.

And these were devout men ;
men of religion and piety, of faith and holiness; and as the Syriac version renders it, "who feared God"; for in these worst of times, among this wicked generation of men, there were some who had the fear of God before their eyes, and on their hearts; and these were collected from different quarters, to be witnesses of this amazing dispensation: for they came out of every nation under heaven ;
that is, wherever the Jews were dispersed; being the descendants of those that were carried captive at different times, and into different places; as by Salmanezer, Nebuchadnezzar, Ptolomy Lagus, Antiochus, and in other lesser dispersions.