Acts 2:6

And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language.

'THIS SOUND'-The sound of rushing wind, the sound of the apostles speaking or both.

'THE MULTITUDE CAME TOGETHER'-Apparently people from the city or near the house (possibly the house was near the temple area), began tracking down the source of the noise and the languages they were hearing. from Acts 2:15, Acts 2:15 we learn that all this is happening around Acts 9, Acts 9 in the morning.

'WERE CONFOUNDED'-Luke uses descriptive word after another in this context ('confounded', 'amazed', 'marvelled', 'perplexed'), to point out that the crowd was truly taken back by all of this. 'bewildered' (RSV). 'They did not understand what was happening, nor could they come up with any reasonable explanation of it.' (Reese p. 51)

'EVERY MAN HEARD THEM'-'the Greek imperfect tense, which indicates the continuance of their "speaking" over. period of time.' (Reese p. 51)

'IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE'-i.e. his native tongue (Acts 2:8).

Points to Note:

Various groups try to argue that the speaking in tongues of this chapter are. different gift than the speaking in tongues mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:1. But the same Greek expression is used in both cases.

Others argue that Acts 2:1 must be interpreted in light of 1 Corinthians 14:1. But Acts chapter. is very clear about what constitutes this spiritual gift (Acts 2:6-11). Stott reminds us,. Acts 2:1 is the only passages in which it is described and explained; it seems more reasonable to interpret the unexplained in the light of the explained than vice versa.' (p. 68)

The tongues mentioned in Acts 2:1; Acts 10:46 are languages that the bystanders completely understood.

People forget that. Corinthians chapter 14 is dealing with the abuse of this gift, i.e. using this gift in the assembly when it happened that no one was present who spoke that dialect or language.

'Another says, "What need was there for the Apostles to speak in unlearned foreign languages? The whole world was bilingual. Everyone knew Greek."...It is true that Greek was. universal language in the early days of the church. But, it is also true that many would understand their mother tongue better than Greek.' (Reese p. 110) In addition, the thing that amazed these people, was that Galileans were speaking fluently--the particular dialect from the region in which they had been born (Acts 2:7).