Who were the apostles speaking in tongues at Pentecost, and what was their background?
The apostles speaking in tongues at Pentecost were Jewish, likely the twelve and possibly the whole hundred and twenty. Peter and most of the disciples came from Galilee, were uneducated fishermen, yet the Holy Spirit enabled them to speak known languages.
Les explains that Pentecost was Jewish; Gentiles had nothing to do with it. On that day, the twelve, and maybe the whole hundred and twenty, were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues. These were known languages, because Jews from all over the world—many displaced from Israel for generations, from Babylon and Spain—spoke different languages. The miracle was that God gave these apostles the gift to speak all the languages of the massive crowd. The hearers were confounded because each heard them speak, not an unknown guttural noise, but a language they could understand. This was the first time in Scripture the Holy Spirit manifested this gift of speaking known languages not intrinsic to the speakers’ own education. Peter and most of the disciples came from Galilee, uneducated fishermen, yet suddenly they spoke the various languages evident at Pentecost.
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
More Questions
Who were the men speaking in tongues at Pentecost and why was it surprising?
Peter and most of the disciples were uneducated fishermen from Galilee, yet they suddenly spoke the various languages present at Pentecost, showing the languages were not from their own learning.