Acts 2:12
in Acts 2Astounded and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
KJV
And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
⋯
This verse in Acts 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Were in doubt - This expression, διηπόρουν diēporoun, denotes “a state of hesitancy or anxiety about an event.” It is applied to those who are traveling, and are ignorant of the way, or who hesitate about the road. They were all astonished at this; they did not know how to understand it or explain it, until some of them supposed that it was merely the effect of new wine.
This site's exposition
What does this mean?
on Acts 2:12-15
The sign divides its hearers, some asking what it means and others mocking that the men are drunk on new wine. Peter answers the mockery with the hour: it is only the third hour of the day, nine in the morning.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Well then might they be in doubt: for never had the like occurred. Observe the ingenuousness of these men. They were amazed and were in doubt, saying, "What meaneth this?" But "others mocking said, 'These men are full of new wine'" and therefore mocked. O the effrontery! And what wonder is it? Since even of the Lord Himself, when casting out devils, they said that He had a devil! For so it is; wherever impudent assurance exists, it has but one object in view, to speak at all hazards, it cares not what; not that the man should say something real and relevant to the matter of discourse, but that he should speak no matter what. "They are full of new wine." Quite a thing of course, that men in the midst of such dangers, and dreading the worst, and in such despondency, have the courage to utter such things! And observe: since this was unlikely; because they would not have been drinking much at that early hour, they ascribe the whole matter to the quality of the wine, and say, "They are full" of it.
"And, they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine." O the excessive folly! O the excessive malignity! Why it was not even the season for that; for it was Pentecost. For this was what made it worse: that when those were confessing-men that were Jews, that were Romans, that were proselytes, yea perhaps that had crucified Him-yet these, after so great signs, say, "They are full of new wine!"
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The sermon which Peter preached to them hereupon, wherein he shows that this pouring out of the Spirit was the accomplishment of an Old-Testament promise (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
): They were all amazed, they were in an ecstacy, so the word is; and they were in doubt what the meaning of it was, and whether it was to introduce the kingdom of the Messiah, which they were big with the expectation of; they asked themselves and one another ti an theloi touto einai ;-- Quid hoc sibi vult?--What is the tendency of this?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And they were all amazed,....
How the passage was read
On Acts 2:1-13On 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
13 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐξίσταντο | existanto | Were amazed | G1839 → | 17 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| διηπόρουν | dieporoun | they were perplexed | G1280 → | 4 times |
| ἄλλος | allos | other | G243 → | 155 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| ἄλλον | allon | other | G243 → | 155 times |
| λέγοντες· | legontes | saying; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| τί | ti | What | G5101 → | 563 times |
| θέλει | thelei | intends | G2309 → | 208 times |
| τοῦτο | touto | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| εἶναι; | einai | to be? | G1511 → | 123 times |
ἐξίσταντοWere amazed
existantoG1839 →17 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
διηπόρουνthey were perplexed
dieporounG1280 →4 times
ἄλλοςother
allosG243 →155 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
ἄλλονother
allonG243 →155 times
λέγοντες·saying;
legontesG3004 →1325 times
τίWhat
tiG5101 →563 times
θέλειintends
theleiG2309 →208 times
τοῦτοthis
toutoG3778 →1381 times
εἶναι;to be?
einaiG1511 →123 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Acts 17:20For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
it leads to
- Hosea 8:12
Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
- 1 Corinthians 1:23
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- 1 Peter 4:4
Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.
- Hosea 8:12
Through
Acts 2:7Astounded and amazed, they asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
it leads to
- Acts 1:11
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have…
- John 7:52
“Aren’t you also from Galilee?” they replied. “Look into it, and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee.”
- Acts 14:11–12
When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
- Acts 1:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies54
On this verse
On this chapter
- Afterlife Vocabulary
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit (the Acts Evidence)
- The Twelve
- Bread
- David
- David, a Type of Christ
Show the next 6 titles
- Dreams in Scripture and in Egypt
- The Fall Feasts
- The Hebrew Feasts
- Fire
- Father, Forgive Them
- God and the Nations, from Abraham to the New Jerusalem
Show the next 6 titles
- Head Coverings
- The Words Tiqvah and Elpis
- How Prophecy Works
- Infant Baptism and Believers' Baptism
- Jesus on the Holy Spirit
- Joel, the Study Guide
Show the next 6 titles
- Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2
- Locusts in Scripture
- Mesopotamia
- The Messianic Psalms
- Miracles of Jesus
- The 153 Fish
Show the next 6 titles
Show the next 6 titles
About Acts
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 4; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.