to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person plural
them
αὐτοῖςautois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
cloven
διαμεριζόμεναιdiamerizomenai
G1266
to partition thoroughly (literally in distribution · verb — present middle or passive participle, nominative plural feminine
tongues
γλῶσσαιglōssai
G1100
the tongue · noun — nominative plural feminine
as
ὡσεὶhōsei
G5616
as if · preposition
fire
πυρὸςpuros
G4442
"fire" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
and
τέté
G5037
both or also (properly
sat
ἐκάθισενekathisen
G2523
to seat down · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
upon
ἐφ᾽eph᾽
G1909
properly · preposition
each
ἕκαστονhekaston
G1538
each or every · adjective — accusative singular masculine
them
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he sha…
John 1:32-33 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Isaiah 11:2-3 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowl…
Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures…
Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained…
Malachi 3:2-3 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 2:1-4
We have here an account of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples of Christ. Observe,
I. When, and where, this was done, which are particularly noted, for the greater certainty of the thing.
1. It was when the day of pentecost was fully come, in which there seems to be a reference to the manner of the expression in the institution of this feast, where it is said (Lev 23:15), You shall count unto you seven sabbaths complete, from the day of the offering of the first-fruits, which was the next day but one after the passover, the sixteenth day of the month Abib, which was the day that Christ arose. This day was fully come, that is, the night preceding, with a part of the day, was full…
cloven tongues, like as of fire, &c.--"disparted tongues," that is, tongue-shaped, flame-like appearances, rising from a common center or root, and resting upon each of that large company:--beautiful visible symbol of the burning energy of the Spirit now descending in all His plenitude upon the Church, and about to pour itself through every tongue, and over every tribe of men under heaven!
Adam Clarke on Acts 2:3
Cloven tongues like as of fire - The tongues were the emblem of the languages they were to speak. The cloven tongues pointed out the diversity of those languages; and the fire seemed to intimate that the whole would be a spiritual gift, and be the means of bringing light and life to the souls who should hear them preach the everlasting Gospel in those languages.
Sat upon each of them - Scintillations, coruscations, or flashes of fire, were probably at first frequent through every part of the room where they were sitting; at last these flashes became defined, and a lambent flame, in the form of a cloven tongue, became stationary on the head of each disciple; a proof that the Spirit of God had…
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,.... 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, , "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 (t),
"the holy blessed God baptizeth 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 mys…
The Church Fathers
This is the Spirit that was given to the apostles in the form of fiery tongues.
And there appeared to them separate tongues: So then, the thorns were consumed, that is, the transgression from Adam was consumed.
And it sat upon each of them. What is said to have sat is an indication of royal power. Or certainly because His rest is indicated in the saints.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Apostle — A person sent by another; a messenger; envoy. This word is once used as a descriptive designation of Jesus Christ, the Sent of the Father (Heb. 3:1; John 20:21). It is, however, generally used as…
Cappadocia, Cappadocians — (province of good horses), (Acts 2:3; 1 Peter 1:1) the largest province in ancient Asia Minor. Cappadocia is an elevated table-land intersected by mountain chains. It seems always to have been…
Fire — (1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the…
Joel — Jehovah is his God. (1.) The oldest of Samuel’s two sons appointed by him as judges in Beersheba (1 Sam. 8:2). (See VASHNI.) (2.) A descendant of Reuben (1 Chr. 5:4, 8). (3.) One of David’s famous…
Messiah — (Heb. mashiah), in all the thirty-nine instances of its occurring in the Old Testament, is rendered by the LXX. “Christos.” It means anointed. Thus priests (Ex. 28:41; 40:15; Num. 3:3), prophets (1…
Pentecost — I.e., “fiftieth”, found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken of in Ex. 23:16 as “the feast of harvest,” and again in Ex. 34:22 as “the day…
Providence — Literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God’s preserving and governing all things by means of second causes (Ps. 18:35; 63:8; Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God’s providence…
Tongues, Gift of — Granted on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4), in fulfilment of a promise Christ had made to his disciples (Mark 16:17). What this gift actually was has been a subject of much discussion. Some have…
Apostles, The · The Holy Spirit given to — The Holy Spirit given to
Acts 2:1-4
1. And when the day of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all with one accord gathered together: 2. And there was made from heaven suddenly a sound, as it were when a violent wind breaketh in, and it filled all the house where they sat: 3. And they saw cloven tongues, as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them. 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with strange tongues, even as the Spirit gave them to speak.
1. And when. To be fulfilled is taken in this place for to come. For Luke beareth record again of their perseverance, when he saith that they stood all in one place until the time which was set them. Hereunto serveth the adverb,…
Jews observed three great annual pilgrimage festivals, when many would go to the Temple in Jerusalem—Unleavened Bread (which includes Passover), Pentecost (Harvest), and Shelters (see Lev 23:1-44). On Pentecost, when the Jewish people were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the harvest of God’s blessings, and when the disciples were united and expectant as they gathered for prayer, the Holy Spirit came and filled the gathered believers.
Jerusalem · Miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit first given at — Miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit first given at
Language · Power of speaking different: Given on the day of Pentecost — Power of speaking different: Given on the day of Pentecost
Miraculous Gifts Of The Holy Spirit · Poured out on the day of Pentecost — Poured out on the day of Pentecost
Orator · .The apostles — .The apostles
Revivals · .At Pentecost, and times after Pentecost — .At Pentecost, and times after Pentecost
Tongue · Gift of — Gift of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Acts 2:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
