The Day of Pentecost.

The story, some of the details of which are too primitive to be Luke's free composition, must have come from an early document underlying the first part of Acts. The chief difficulty is the use of foreign languages. "Speaking with tongues", ecstatic utterance, is abundantly testified in all ages, down to Siberian shamans and mediums of white race today. In certain abnormal states of mind a person pours forth words, largely unintelligible and sometimes of foreign origin,, such as he could not use when speaking rationally; the foreign words, opportunities for having heard which can generally be traced, have been buried in the Unconscious. The classic example in the N.T. is at Corinth (see on 1 Cor. 14). Paul knew the phenomena, indeed could speak in this way himself, but rated the faculty very low in comparison with rational utterance. It is best to suppose that something similar happened at Jerusalem, but without any speaking in foreign languages. If 6‑11 is treated as a later interpretation, difficulties are removed and nothing more than ordinary ecstatic speaking is meant, such as was common in early Israel (see I Sam. 10:5, 10) and was a natural accompaniment of a revival of prophecy.

1f. Pentecost. The fiftieth day from Passover. Properly a harvest festival, it had come to be associated with the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai. The lessons read in the synagogue were Dt. 16:9; Ex. 19; Hab. 3; Ezek. 1; the psalms were 29 and 68. The physical manifestations of Ex. 19 and the other passages may have been in the minds of the Apostles and have predisposed them to receive similar psychical ones.

now come. The Greek is "being fulfilled", i.e. probably of the period between Passover and Pentecost. The A.V. "was fully come" may suggest, and rightly, that the feast which began at sunset on the previous day was well advanced.

all. Probably Luke means the Twelve, after 1:26 ; but the gift is to be ..xtended to "all flesh" in 17f.

one place. The story is more intelligible if they are in a room in the Temple.

wind, fire. Only by such symbols could the supernatural event be described.

For parting asunder read distributed among them.

For "fire", cp. Lk. 3:16.

other tongues need not mean more than oracular utterance.

5. Devout Jews came up for the feasts whenever possible, those living at a dis­tance perhaps once in a lifetime. Elderly men would come to Jerusalem to spend their declining years there. Judaism was dispersed very widely and all the countries mentioned were places of residence for Jews.

6. came together. Easier to explain if the scene is laid in the Temple.

own language. The eastern Jews would speak Aramaic, practically the language spoken in Palestine, the Egyptian and western ones Greek. No one would be likely to know more than a few scraps of local dialects. There may be an allusion to the belief that the Law of Mt. Sinai was offered to all nations, but that only Israel accepted it.

7. Galilaeans. Suggests that the Twelve are the speakers, not the 120 of 1:15.

9f. Judaea. Not in geographical order and in any case out of place in a list of foreign countries; probably a textual error.

proselytes. As these are mentioned only in connection with Rome, the others on the list must be born Jews.

wonderful works. The utterances may have been snatches of praise from the Psalms, etc.

14f. The address, coupled with "ye men of Israel" in v.22, makes it clear that the hearers are inhabitants of Jerusalem and Jews from abroad residing there permanently.

third hour. No one would be drunk so early. Cicero describes a habitual toper who begins to drink at the third hour.

16f. Joel 2:28-32 . The speech is not a verbatim report, but neither is it Luke's idea of an appropriate speech to put into the mouth of Peter. The application of key passages of the O.T. to current events must have begun at once; see on 1:20.

Note that the last days have come, but the pith of the prophecy is the coming of the Spirit on all, including slaves. The physical portents are interpreted symbol­ically, a hint for the interpretation of similar language on the lips of Jesus.

21. After the general cleansing of the nation that of the individual follows.