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Acts 2:1

in Acts 2

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place.

KJV

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

This verse in Acts 2

Commentary

22 notes on this verse
And when the day of Pentecost - The word “Pentecost” is a Greek word signifying the 50th part of a thing, or the 50th in order.

This site's exposition

the day of Pentecost

on Acts 2:1-4

The day of Pentecost was fully come: fifty days from the firstfruits sheaf, the feast of the wheat harvest, and in the synagogue's own reckoning the anniversary of Sinai, so that the bench old and new reads the scene's echoes deliberately, wind and fire on the mount, now wind and fire on the house. The sound as of a rushing mighty wind and the cloven tongues like as of fire are both similes, as of, like as, the text careful that these are signs of the Spirit's coming, not the Spirit himself. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance: the promise of 1:5 and 1:8 lands, and the speaking is the Spirit's gift working through their mouths, the first act of the empowered church being praise in languages it never learned.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 16.28 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

The Holy Spirit, through whom love is shed abroad in our hearts, which is the fulfilment of the law, is designated in the gospel as "the finger of God." Is it not because those very tables of the law were written by the finger of God, that the Spirit of God by whom we are sanctified is also the finger of God, in order that, living by faith, we may do good works through love? Who is not touched by this congruity, and at the same time diversity? For as fifty days are reckoned from the celebration of the Passover (which was ordered by Moses to be offered by slaying the typical lamb, to signify, indeed, the future death of the Lord) to the day when Moses received the law written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, so, in like manner, from the death and resurrection of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter, there were fifty complete days up to the time when the finger of God—that is, the Holy Spirit—gathered together in one perfect company those who believed.

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

HYMNS ON PARADISE 11.14 · Written before 373.

proposed

When the blessed apostles were gathered together the place shook and the scent of Paradise, having recognized its home, poured forth its perfumes, delighting the heralds by whom the guests are instructed and come to his banquet; eagerly he awaits their arrival for he is …

A commentator

Tertullian

On Fasting · Written before 220.

proposed

Further: since in the self-same commentary of Luke the third hour is demonstrated as an hour of prayer, about which hour it was that they who had received the initiatory gift of the Holy Spirit were held for drunkards; and the sixth, at which Peter went up on the roof; and the ninth, at which they entered the temple: why should we not understand that, with absolutely perfect indifference, we must pray always, and everywhere, and at every time; yet still that these three hours, as being more marked in things human-(hours) which divide the day, which distinguish businesses, which re-echo in the public ear-have likewise ever been of special solemnity in divine prayers? A persuasion which is sanctioned also by the corroborative fact of Daniel praying thrice in the day; of course, through exception of certain stated hours, no other, moreover, than the more marked and subsequently apostolic (hours)-the third, the sixth, the ninth.

A commentator

Leo the Great

SERMON 75 · Written before 461.

proposed

To the Hebrew people, now freed from Egypt, the law was given on Mount Sinai fifty days after the immolation of the paschal lamb. Similarly, after the passion of Christ in which the true Lamb of God was killed, just fifty days after his resurrection, the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles and the whole group of believers. Thus the earnest Christian may easily perceive that the beginnings of the Old Covenant were at the service of the beginnings of the gospel and that the same Spirit who instituted the first established the Second Covenant.

A commentator

Cassiodorus

Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles · Written before 585.

proposed

"When the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place," etc. When fifty days had passed, as the Lord Christ had promised them, there was suddenly a mighty sound from heaven as the Holy Ghost came, and heavenly fire appeared …
15 more voices on this verse

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 4 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Dost thou perceive the type? What is this Pentecost? The time when the sickle was to be put to the harvest, and the ingathering was made. See now the reality, when the time was come to put in the sickle of the word: for here, as the sickle, keen-edged, came the Spirit down. For hear the words of Christ: "Lift up your eyes," He said, "and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest." And again, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few." But as the first-fruits of this harvest, He himself took our nature, and bore it up on high. Himself first put in the sickle. Therefore also He calls the Word the Seed. "When," it says, "the day of Pentecost was fully come": that is, when at the Pentecost, while about it, in short. For it was essential that the present events likewise should take place during the feast, that those who had witnessed the crucifixion of Christ, might also behold these.

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

"when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled." That is, at Pentecost, about that feast itself, when the season of spiritual ripeness brings the sickle, when because of the feast many of those who had crucified him were present, and in order that they might …

The Medieval Church4 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

And when the days of Pentecost were completed, they were all together in the same place. This is in the upper room, which they are said to have ascended. For whoever desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit must necessarily transcend the dwelling of …

A commentator

Bede

Retractions on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

And when the days of Pentecost were completed, they were all together in the same place. Some Codices incorrectly have, Pentecosten. For Pentecoste in the nominative case means fiftieth; Pentecostes in the genitive, fiftieth's; Pentecosten in the accusative, fiftieth. However, no rule of speech allows …

A commentator

Rabanus Maurus

Commentary (church-history corpus) · Written before 856.

proposed

The Law was given on Mount Sinai, the Spirit on Mount Sion, the Law on an elevated place in the mountain, the Spirit in an upper room.

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

Why did this happen "when the day of Pentecost had come"? Because when the sickle was to come down upon the harvest, when it was time to gather the fruits, then the sickle of the word also had to come down; and as if in …

The Reformation1 voice

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

I will not refute that high and subtle interpretation of Augustine, that like as the law was given to the old people fifty days after Easter, being written in tables of stone by the hand of God, so the Spirit, whose office it is to write the same in our hearts, did fulfill that which was figured in the giving of the law as many days after the resurrection of Christ, who is the true Passover.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

At the pentecost of Sinai, in the Old Testament, and the pentecost of Jerusalem, in the New, where the two grand manifestations of God, the legal and the evangelical; the one from the mountain, and the other from heaven; the terrible, and the merciful one.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,.... Or "was come", was begun and entered upon; for it was not over, or ended, it being but the third hour of the day, or nine of the clock in the morning, when Peter began his sermon; see Act 2:

The Nineteenth Century6 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

when the day of Pentecost was fully come--The fiftieth from the morrow after the first Passover sabbath (Le 23:15, 16). with one accord--the solemnity of the day, perhaps, unconsciously raising their expectations.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

How absolutely necessary is the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit! It is not possible for us to promote the glory of God, or to bless the souls of men, unless the Holy Spirit shall be in us and with us. Those who were assembled on that memorable day of Pentecost were all men of prayer and faith. But even these precious gifts are only available when the celestial fire sets them on a blaze. They were all men of experience—most of them had been preachers of the Word, and workers of miracles.
How absolutely necessary is the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit! It is not possible for us to promote the glory of God, or to bless the souls of men, unless the Holy Spirit shall be in us and with us. Those who were assembled on that memorable day of Pentecost were all men of prayer and faith. But even these precious gifts are only available when the celestial fire sets them on a blaze. They were all men of experience—most of them had been preachers of the Word, and workers of miracles. They had endured trials and troubles in company with their Lord, and had been with Him in His temptation. Yet even experienced Christians, without the Spirit of God, are weak as water. Among them were the Apostles and the seventy evangelists. And with them were those honored women in whose houses the Lord had often been entertained, and who had ministered to Him of their substance. Yet even these favored and honored saints can do nothing without the breath of God, the Holy Spirit. Apostles and Evangelists dare not even attempt anything alone. They must tarry at Jerusalem till power is given them from on High. It was not a want of education. They had been for three years in the college of Christ, with perfect Wisdom as their Tutor, matchless eloquence as their Instructor, and immaculate Perfection as their example. Yet they must not venture to open their mouths to testify of the mystery of Jesus until the anointing Spirit has come with blessed unction from above! Surely, my Brothers and Sisters, if it was so with them, much more must it be the case with us. Let us beware of trusting to our well-adjusted machineries of committees and schemes. Let us be jealous of all reliance upon our own mental faculties or religious vigor.
[Sermon No. 511, Volume 9, is also entitled, "Pentecost." Its Scripture verses are Acts 2:1-4.] LOOKING into a silversmith's window on Thursday last, I observed a notice card upon which was printed as follows—"This shop will be closed this evening and will not be re-opened until Tuesday evening." I looked at the name over the window and observed that it belonged to one of the house of Israel. I had forgotten till that moment that we have now reached the Levitical feast of Pentecost which contains, among its regulations, that no servile work is to be done—and hence all business is laid aside by the faithful Jew. Surely, the Jews, in their care to observe their law, deserve much praise. At what an expense must large trading firms suspend their business! They send a lesson to many professed Christians who seem to have little regard for the Lord's Day, break in upon its rest in a thousand frivolous ways and half regret that they cannot pursue their earthly callings throughout the whole seven days of the week. It is true that we consider these days, weeks and sacred festivals to have become obsolete by the fulfillment of the great Truths of God which they typified, but as this is not the judgment of the Jew because he has not received Jesus as the Messiah, we may at least learn from his strict observance of the Sabbath, the Passover and the feast of Pentecost, that it becomes us to study the spiritual meaning of these types, and to guard with care the one great festival which remains to the Church, namely, the Lord's Day. On our Sabbath let us do no needless work, but seek rest both for body and soul. We are now at the season called Pentecost.
[Sermon No. 511, Volume 9, is also entitled, "Pentecost." Its Scripture verses are Acts 2:1-4.] LOOKING into a silversmith's window on Thursday last, I observed a notice card upon which was printed as follows—"This shop will be closed this evening and will not be re-opened until Tuesday evening." I looked at the name over the window and observed that it belonged to one of the house of Israel.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

When the day of pentecost was fully come - The feast of pentecost was celebrated fifty days after the passover, and has its name πεντηκοστη from πεντηκοντα, fifty, which is compounded of πεντε, five, and ηκοντα, the decimal termination. It commenced on the fiftieth day reckoned from the first day of unleavened bread, i.e. on the morrow after the paschal lamb was offered. The law relative to this feast is found in Lev 23:15, Lev 23:16, in these words: And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days. This feast was instituted in commemoration of the giving the law on Mount Sinai; and is therefore sometimes called by the Jews, שמחת תורה shimchath torah, the joy of the law, and frequently the feast of weeks. There is a correspondence between the giving of the law, which is celebrated by this feast of pentecost, together with the crucifixion of our Lord, which took place at the passover, and this descent of the Holy Spirit, which happened at this pentecost. 1. At the passover, the Israelites were delivered from Egyptian bondage: this was a type of the thraldom in which the human race were to Satan and sin. 2. At the passover Jesus Christ, who was typified by the paschal lamb, was sacrificed for the sin of the world, and by this sacrifice redemption from sin and Satan is now procured and proclaimed. 3. On the pentecost, God gave his law on Mount Sinai, accompanied with thunderings and lightnings. On the pentecost, God sent down his Holy Spirit, like a rushing mighty wind; and tongues of fire sat upon each disciple, in order that, by his influence, that new law of light and life might be promulgated and established. […]

How the passage was read

On Acts 2:1-13

On Acts 2:1-13

The feast the crowd came for

Pentecost is the Greek name (“fiftieth”) for the feast the Torah calls Weeks, in Hebrew Shavuot: kept fifty days after Passover, when the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were brought to God (Leviticus 23:15–17). That is why devout Jews “from every nation under heaven” fill Jerusalem in this chapter: it was a pilgrimage feast, one of the three yearly appearances.

Jewish tradition also came to keep Shavuot as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai; the Talmud states plainly that it is “the day on which the Torah was given” (Pesachim 68b). The synagogue still reads Ruth, the harvest-season story of a Gentile grafted into Israel, at this feast by long custom. On that day, in that city, the Spirit was given and three thousand were gathered in: the resonance is the reader's to weigh.

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Sources: Leviticus 23:15–17 (the fifty days and the wheat firstfruits) · Pesachim 68b (“the day the Torah was given”) · Rema on Shulchan Arukh OC 490 (Ruth read at Shavuot)

The words behind it

14 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Philippians 2:2

    then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 1:10

      I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Romans 12:16

      Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.

    • 1 Peter 3:8–9

      Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

  • Through

    Philippians 1:27

    Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm…

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 4:1

      As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:

    • 1 Corinthians 16:13–14

      Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.

    • 2 Peter 3:14

      Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

    • Philippians 2:1–2

      Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

  • Through

    Romans 15:6

    so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    it leads to

    • John 10:29–30

      My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Ascension, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 21 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 16.28; Bede, Commentary on Acts; Bede, Retractions on Acts; Cassiodorus, Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 511: “Pentecost” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1783: “Pentecost” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Ephrem the Syrian, HYMNS ON PARADISE 11.14; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 4; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Leo the Great, SERMON 75; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary (church-history corpus); Tertullian, On Fasting and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.