Acts 2:6–8

The sound drew them to the spot. There they heard the disciples speaking in the tones and accents that belonged to each one. Many of them were far from home. In that country Aramaic was the language of the common people, and Greek was fairly well understood as the language of trade in that day. Yet they heard voices that spoke to them in their own mother tongue, and told of the mighty works of God.

News of what had happened spread, and the crowd came together. They were bewildered, because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language. This completely reversed what happened at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11). There the Lord confused the language of the people so that they would not understand one another's speech. And it was not only that each heard in his own tongue, but in his own dialect.

Some have tried to find in the account the same kind of senseless jargon... others argue for a highly excited or ecstatic style of speech, suited to telling out the marvels of grace... The older rationalists supposed it was no other than their native tongue. Others, from Gregory of Nyssa and Cyprian to Erasmus and men of our own day, added to this the strange idea that the Spirit caused the crowd of foreigners to hear, each in his own tongue! But Gregory of Nazianzus rejects that notion. It makes the marvel lie with the hearers rather than the speakers, and that is contrary to the clear statement of Scripture.

God's judgment had inflicted these various tongues on them. It had completely broken up their ambitious plan to join together and build a unity of their own through the tower of Babel. But the grace of God went out exactly where His judgment had placed them. If a crushing blow laid their pride in many separate ditches, then the grace of God went out to those ditches. It blessed them where they lay, and raised them out of their fallen state.

But the languages were as real as they were different from their mother tongue, or from any language learned in the ordinary way... God had given His law to Israel, and that law was in itself the expression of man's moral duty. What could testify more clearly that He was now about to make known His grace in the gospel to every race and tongue? ...This was not the wiping out of difference in language. Nor was it the power that will one day make the whole earth of one lip and the same speech. It was grace lifting its objects and instruments above the effects of that judgment at Babel.

By an exercise of His power He had made dealings between nations difficult, in some measure. By power joined with grace He made provision that different nations, and those speaking different tongues, should hear about His Son and about salvation in their own language, with nothing to hinder them. Bewildered, amazed, and in doubt (or, perplexed) — this is how Luke describes the crowd. Bewildered, when each man heard his own language. Amazed, as they remembered that those addressing them were Galileans. Perplexed, since they could not understand what it meant. Something new, something strange, had undoubtedly happened.

Confounded, amazed, and in doubt (or, perplexed) — this is how Luke describes the crowd. Confounded, when they heard each man his own language. Amazed, as they remembered that those who addressed them were Galileans. Perplexed, since they could not understand what it meant.

It is likely that the Galileans pronounced words differently, or that the language spoken in Galilee was not as refined as the language spoken at Jerusalem. That is what gave Peter away when he spoke. But the voice of that same Peter, under the power of God, was mighty on the day of Pentecost. Even so, the hearers said, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" They were surprised to hear such men speak in foreign tongues. They were all the more surprised because no prophet was ever expected from there, nor any good thing from Nazareth.

God will have a wonderful witness going out from His House. But He will have that witness carried out by His own witnesses. And His witnesses are for the most part the poor and feeble of this world. So in Acts 2 we read, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" Galileans, of course, were the simple country folk — the peasantry. And Peter, "an unlearned and ignorant man," was their leader.

But there is an awkward difficulty in the way of calling them imaginary tongues. All the different nations whose languages these were understood them. "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?" And then Peter speaks to the Jews in theirs. Now this fact is the substantial point of the whole affair. It was what struck the multitude. It converted three thousand people. The Church begins its existence, and it was formed because this multitude understood what was said.

Gregory of Nazianzus rejects that idea. It places the marvel with the hearers rather than the speakers, and that goes against the clear statement of Scripture. So do all these empty theories.

There had been a Man on earth who never thought of Himself, but only of God and His glory. He "humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." As a result, God has put Him in the place that man in Genesis 11 could not reach. And the Holy Spirit comes down and reverses the judgment of Genesis 11 for a time. The difference of language did not disappear. But the divine grace and power that will one day make the whole world speak one language lifted the disciples above the effects of Babel's judgment. They had never learned those languages, yet they could speak in as many languages as their hearers had.

This happened because the word spoken and received was the incorruptible seed. It did not happen because the preacher spoke it in a language new to him, one he had never learned in the ordinary way. The living and energetic word of God awakened sleeping consciences. The speeches in other tongues only awakened surprise and wonder in the hearers. That wonder converted no one, and it left the great mass in Jerusalem more hardened than ever.

The two words dialektos and glossai are by no means synonymous. When the Spirit wished to express the language of each individual, the first was the right word. When the point was the sum total of many different languages, the second was the fitting expression.

It was not only that each heard in his own tongue, but in his own dialect.

Interpreters have given strange and conflicting explanations of this. There is no need to notice them. Though it was a miracle, the fact is simple. It is plain that this crowd of people of many languages heard these men, who were obviously Galileans, speaking in these tongues. The miracle, as someone long ago remarked, was with those who spoke, not with those who heard; and therefore the speakers used real languages.

But treating them as imaginary tongues runs into an awkward difficulty. All the different nations whose languages these were understood them. Now this fact is the substantial point of the whole affair. It was what struck the crowd. Three thousand people were converted by it. The Church begins its existence; it took form because this crowd understood what was said.

The Galileans probably had a different way of pronouncing words. Or the language spoken in Galilee was not as refined as the language spoken in Jerusalem. That is why people detected Peter by his speech. Matt. 26:69, 73; Mark 14:70. But the voice of that same Peter was mighty on the day of Pentecost, under the power of God. The hearers still said, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" Acts 2:7.

The judgment of God had inflicted these various languages on them. It had shattered their ambitious plan to join together and set up a unity of their own through the tower of Babel. But the grace of God went out exactly where His judgment had placed them. If a crushing blow had laid their pride in ever so many separate ditches, then the grace of God went out to those ditches. It blessed them where they lay, and raised them out of their fallen state.

The Holy Spirit enabled the messengers of grace to deliver their message in the very tongue in which each was born. What precious proof that God wanted to reach man's heart with the sweet story of grace! The law from the fiery mountain was not published like that. When God was telling what man ought to be, He spoke in one tongue; but when He was telling what He Himself was, He spoke in many.

The God of all grace would have each one hear of full salvation. And hear of it in those very words in which his infant ears had listened to the earliest whispers of a mother's love — in "his own native language." It did not matter whether the language was soft or harsh, refined or rough. The Holy Spirit would use it to carry the precious message of salvation right home to the poor heart.

In the time of the apostles, so many different languages in the earth were a serious obstacle. They made it hard to carry out their commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel quickly and easily. But at the very start these servants of the Lord saw that this difficulty was nothing when met by the energy of the Spirit of God. In a moment He was able to give the disciples power to speak to men in their own dialect about "the mighty works of God."