Acts 2:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

We Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, (verse 10) Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene. There are also among us visitors from Rome, Jews and proselytes, (verse 11) Cretans and Arabs. We hear them speaking in our languages, preaching the great works of God.'

Let no one be amazed on hearing that the Jews were scattered through so many countries of the world, and that they lived together with the nations from whom they received their names. Many of them were transferred to eastern lands by the Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser, and also by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. In Egypt they were transferred by Necho, king of Egypt: 'All the people, from small to great, and the commanders of the forces went into Egypt, for they feared the face of the Chaldeans' (1 Chr 5:26; 4 Kgs 18:11; 4 Kgs 3:14; 4 Kgs 23:34; 4 Kgs 25:26). Many of them also came to western lands and settled in Rome when the Romans subjected them to their power.

Rather, one should marvel at the compassionate providence of God. He so ordered matters that such a multitude of people, diverse in language, was then found in Jerusalem. They at once streamed into the house where Christ's disciples were staying and heard that most glorious miracle. Unlettered men were speaking so many languages, all different from one another. For this reason, 'on that day about three thousand souls believed and were baptized' (Acts 2:41).

Then they began inspired speech. It poured irresistibly from their mouths, formed of words in which each word was their heart, their embodied faith and love for their heavenly Teacher. What were the most famous orators of the classical world before them? They composed their speeches according to the rules of art, speeches animated only by their poor vanity. The inspired speeches of the Apostles thundered like thunder shaking mountains. They acted with the force of a hammer breaking rocks. Countless crowds listened in silence to the wondrous speeches. They marveled more at these speeches than at the dread manifestations that had drawn them there.

Under the first irresistible impression of these speeches, the masses of the people did not notice their miraculous outward feature. They only felt that these speeches were extraordinary. They felt that they pierced to the marrow and burned the listeners' hearts like fire. But when the first impression had passed, the multilingual masses looked at one another to share what they had experienced. Then they noticed with amazement that each had heard the speeches just delivered in his own native language. From astonishment, everyone's face seemed to freeze.

How could this be? The Egyptian, who until then had prided himself that his language was known only to those born in the land of the pyramids, now heard his own language. The Greek and the Roman, who considered their language the possession only of educated men, also heard each his own language. And from whom? From these ignorant, obscure, poor Galileans, whose very name sounded contemptuous. At first their silent amazement began to express itself in words and exclamations. A murmur of exclamations and questions ran through the masses. All turned to one another for an explanation of the mysterious event. 'Are not all these who speak Galileans?' they asked one another in astonishment. 'And how do we hear, each in our own native language, how we hear them speaking in our languages of the great works of God? And again all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another: What does this mean?'

Yet many remained in the lands of settlement. It seems that all from the kingdom of Israel remained there and spread widely through those lands.

'Inhabitants of Mesopotamia' refers to the broad plain watered by the Tigris and Euphrates. It is bordered on the north by the Taurus Mountains and on the south by the Persian Gulf. This was once the chief region of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian kingdoms. Here there were especially many Jews resettled when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem.

'Judeans' is an unexpected mention here, since Jerusalem, the chief city of Judea, was where the event described took place. Therefore some, assuming an error by a later scribe, replaced this word with India, Idumea, Armenia, or Bithynia, as Tertullian did. Yet in the ancient manuscripts there is no basis for such a substitution, and the attempt itself appears unnecessary. The mention of Judea here means that even native Judeans from the kingdom of Judea itself heard the inspired men speaking, among other dialects, the dialect used in Judea. This dialect differed somewhat from Galilean, and those speaking were Galileans.

Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia are all provinces of Asia Minor, which at that time also formed part of the Roman Empire. By Asia, according to the Roman reckoning of provinces, was meant the whole western coast of Asia Minor. There were the provinces of Mysia, Caria, and Lydia, and its chief city was Ephesus.

As for the geographical position of the regions from which the first hearers of the divinely inspired evangelists came, the writer of Acts first points to distant Parthia, considered almost inaccessible. Then he passes to the nearer regions of Mesopotamia. After pausing, as it were, at the center where the event occurs, that is, Judea, he turns to other lands, also distant and western in relation to Parthia. Then he moves to the southwest, to Egypt and Libya. From there he seems to return again to the east, to the Arabian peninsula and the island of Crete. At the same time he again points to Rome as a certain center. These localities embraced almost the whole world then known. In the persons of its representatives, that world then heard the universal preaching in all the languages of the world of that time.