Acts 2:7

Thursday, 28 October 2021 <p> </p> <p>Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? Acts 2:7</p> <p> </p> <p>In verse 1:5, Luke made a point of recording who the people were that were seeing the events occurring, saying, “And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.” Then, in verse 1:6, he noted that “everyone heard them speak in his own language.”</p> <p> </p> <p>As was seen, the word “language” is more appropriately rendered “dialect.” This would include the “dialect” of those in (meaning “from”) Jerusalem. Because of what they were hearing emanate from the disciples, Luke next notes, “Then they were all amazed and marveled.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Both verbs are in the imperfect tense, “they were amazed, and they were marveling.” As the tongues were being spoken, the astonishment of the people continued. The word translated as “amazed” means “to put out of place.” In other words, it is as if they were out of their mind because they were unable to grasp what was happening.</p> <p> </p> <p>The other word is described by Vincent’s Word Studies as, “to cause ‘wonder; ... to regard with amazement, and with a suggestion of beginning to speculate on the matter.’” Vincent’s is correct because the speculation immediately begins to follow. Luke says they were “saying to one another.”</p> <p> </p> <p>In other words, the people were seeing the spectacle and were beginning to speculate on what was going on. There is a hint of contempt in their attitude towards those who were speaking because the talk is among those beholding the spectacle and not directed towards those who were engaged in what was occurring. That is clearly evidenced in the next words, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?”</p> <p> </p> <p>The focus is on who these people are. They were understood to be Galileans and as such they were considered the hicks of the nation. They had their own dialect that was clearly distinguished from those i