What does the Greek word for tongues in Acts 2 actually mean?
In Acts 2, the underlying Greek term denotes an actual language—an understandable language—not unknown gibberish. It refers to the many dialects and languages that existed throughout the then-known world after the Tower of Babel, including those spoken by dispersed Jews outside the land.
Les teaches that the Greek word for tongues in Acts 2 is not unknown gibberish but a language—an understandable language. He ties this to the period after the Tower of Babel, when many dialects and languages spread throughout the then-known world. Many Jews were already in dispersion: the ten tribes of the southern kingdom were taken captive into Syria around 775 B.C. and never returned as tribes, and later the southern two tribes of Judah and Benjamin were taken to Babylon, with only a few thousand returning after seventy years. The rest were assimilated into the Middle East. Les illustrates this with immigrants in America who kept their native language, so their children often became bilingual before later generations lost the mother tongue and adopted English.