a current of air · noun — nominative singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
began
ἄρχομαιárchomai
G756
to commence (in order of time)
with
λαλεῖνlalein
G2980
to talk · verb — present active infinitive
other
ἑτέραιςheterais
G2087
(an- · adjective — dative plural feminine
tongues
γλώσσαιςglōssais
G1100
the tongue · noun — dative plural feminine
as
καθὼςkathōs
G2531
just (or inasmuch) as · conjunction
Spirit
πνεῦμαpneûma
G4151
a current of air
gave
ἐδίδουedidou
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτοῖς.¶autois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
utterance
ἀποφθέγγεσθαιapophthengesthai
G669
to enunciate plainly · verb — present middle or passive deponent infinitive
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
Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they sp…
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
1 Corinthians 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another th…
1 Corinthians 14:21-23 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me…
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to you…
Acts 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of Go…
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…
they . . . began to speak with . . . tongues, &c.--real, living languages, as is plain from what follows. The thing uttered, probably the same by all, was "the wonderful works of God," perhaps in the inspired words of the Old Testament evangelical hymns; though it is next to certain that the speakers themselves understood nothing of what they uttered (see on 1Co. 14:1-25).
Adam Clarke on Acts 2:4
To speak with other tongues - At the building of Babel the language of the people was confounded; and, in consequence of this, they became scattered over the face of the earth: at this foundation of the Christian Church, the gift of various languages was given to the apostles, that the scattered nations might be gathered; and united under one shepherd and superintendent (επισκοπος) of all souls.
As the Spirit gave them utterance - The word αποφθεγγεσθαι seems to imply such utterance as proceeded from immediate inspiration, and included oracular communications.
John Gill on Acts 2:4
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 2:17.
And began to speak with other tongues; besides, and different from that in which they were born and brought u…
The Church Fathers
For you have heard that the Holy Spirit appeared upon the disciples in tongues of fire and gave them knowledge of all languages. What indeed was signified by this miracle, except that the holy Church, filled with the same Spirit, would speak with the voice of all nations? Those who attempted to build a tower against God lost the communion of one language, but in these who humbly feared God all languages were united. Here therefore humility merited virtue; there pride earned confusion.
And they began to speak with various tongues. The unity of tongues that the pride of Babel had dispersed, the humility of the Church gathers together again. Spiritually, however, the variety of tongues signifies the gifts of various graces. But it is not inconsiderate to understand that the Holy Spirit is therefore first understood to have given the gift of tongues to men, by whom human wisdom is learned and taught from the outside, as a sign that by the wisdom of God, which is internal to them, He could easily make them wise.
"He heard a tongue which he knew not." We must interpret tongue here as the precepts of the New Testament, for if you understand it as "language," how did the Jewish people hear a tongue that they did not know, when we are sure that the Lord Christ spoke in Hebrew? So the passage means that in the gospel they heard a tongue or precepts that their earlier knowledge did not embrace; alternatively it refers to the time when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in unknown and varied tongues.
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…
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…
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 · Miraculous power given to — Miraculous power given to
Apostles, The · The Holy Spirit given to — The Holy Spirit given to
Baptism · OF THE HOLY SPIRIT — OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Baptism With The Holy Spirit · Typified — Typified
Charism · An inspired gift, bestowed on the apostles and early Christians — An inspired gift, bestowed on the apostles and early Christians
Confession · General references — General references
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,…
everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit: This event marks the coming of the Holy Spirit to fill Jesus’ disciples, as he had promised, so that they could be powerful witnesses (1:4-5, 8). The Spirit’s wisdom, energy, and power were the driving force behind the church’s work and witness (e.g., 2:14-41, 43; 4:31; 9:17, 20; 13:9-12; see also Eph 5:18). • began speaking in other languages: The Holy Spirit gave extraordinary communication that made it possible for people from other countries to hear in their own languages about what God had done (Acts 2:6-11). This passage is one of several references to speaking in “other languages” or “tongues” (see also 10:44-48; 19:6; 1 Cor 14:2-28, 3…
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).
