Yes — the Jews were present because they had been scattered across the nations for centuries and returned for the Feast of Pentecost.
Ever since the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, most Jews remained dispersed throughout the Middle East and the Roman Empire. They adopted the languages and customs of those nations but kept their Jewish faith. Because they were devout, they traveled to Jerusalem for Pentecost, which Les identifies as one of the seven feasts in Leviticus 23.
Acts 2:5 — This verse directly states that devout Jews from every nation under heaven were dwelling in Jerusalem at Pentecost.
Acts 2:9-11 — This list names the specific nations from which these faithful Jews had come.
Leviticus 23:15-17 — This Old Testament passage establishes Pentecost as a set feast of the Lord, the reason these Jews returned to Jerusalem.
Acts 2:5 records that there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Acts 2:9-11 then lists the regions: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Cretes, and Arabians. These were Jews and proselytes, not Gentiles. The Old Testament reveals Pentecost as one of the Lord's appointed feasts (Leviticus 23:15-17), a day when these dispersed people came to Jerusalem to worship.
Les Feldick explains that the Jews came from every nation because of a long dispersion. Since the Tower of Babel, languages multiplied, and the captive Israelites spread across the known world. The ten tribes were taken into Syria around 775 B.C. and never returned as tribes, and later Judah was exiled to Babylon in 606 B.C., with only a few thousand returning. Most assimilated into the Gentile nations, adopting their languages and customs while retaining their Judaistic practices. When Pentecost—one of the seven feasts from Leviticus 23—arrived, devout Jews from nations as distant as Babylon and Spain made the journey to Jerusalem. Les emphasizes that this was a wholly Jewish gathering: even the Medes, Parthians, and Elamites mentioned in Acts 2 were Jews who had settled in those regions.
Les shows that the dispersion began with the captivities. The ten tribes were taken captive into Syria about 775 B.C. and never returned as tribes. Approximately 150 years later, Judah and Benjamin were taken to Babylon; only a few thousand came back to Jerusalem. The rest assimilated into the Middle East and, later, throughout the Roman Empire, so Jewish communities existed across the known world.
Because they had grown up in those foreign nations, they spoke the languages of their adopted lands. Les compares this to immigrant children in America who first learn their parents' native tongue before English. Thus, when the Spirit enabled the disciples to speak, each Jew heard the message in his own regional dialect, as Acts 2:8-11 records.
Pentecost was one of the seven feasts listed in Leviticus 23 — the 50th day after Passover. Because these Jews were devout and practiced their religion, they were willing to spend the time, money, and effort to travel from every part of the known world to celebrate at Jerusalem. Les says this is why the huge crowd was gathered in the temple area when Peter spoke.
The Dispersion Begins
Les explains that from the Tower of Babel onward, languages increased, and both the northern tribes (taken to Syria) and the southern tribes (taken to Babylon) remained scattered, so Jews lived throughout the known world.
Pentecost Was Jewish
Les stresses that Pentecost was a Jewish event, with Jews arriving from all over the world, including Babylon and Spain, each speaking a different language.
Assimilation Into the Nations
Les details how, since 606 B.C., the Jews assimilated into the Roman Empire's nations, taking their language and customs while keeping their Judaistic practices, and were called 'Grecians' when they returned to Jerusalem.
The Feast of Pentecost
Les identifies Pentecost as one of the seven feasts in Leviticus 23, the fiftieth day after Passover, and says this feast drew the huge crowd of Jews from every known region to Jerusalem.
Why Paul Went to Arabia: The Revelation of Grace
And how many people wouldn't get the idea that as soon as Christ left the scene, the twelve went all over the world preaching the gospel. No, they didn't. They stayed in Jerusalem, and even the believing Jews that were scattered because of the persecution preached to nobody but Jews. They had no idea that God was going to go to a Gentile. That was anathema to them. Now, read on.
Revelation vs. Instruction: How Paul Received the Gospel
In other words, this called out group of Jewish believers who had believed who Jesus really was. And they were still within the confines of Judaism. They were still practicing the law. They were still worshiping at the temple. But they were also a set-aside group who had recognized their Messiah and put their faith in Him.
The Nations Listed in Acts 2
Les clarifies that the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and others in Acts 2 were Jews who had come from those nations, not Gentiles, confirming the Jewish nature of the crowd.
What the Bible Really Says About Speaking in Tongues
Not just the Latin in which they were grown and probably practiced, maybe not even just Greek that they probably used in their military conversations, but now as many as came with Peter, these six Jews, saw that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:5: And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
This is the direct biblical statement that devout Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem at Pentecost.
Acts 2:8-11: And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
These verses list the nations from which the dispersed Jews had come and show that they heard the disciples speaking in their own native languages.
Leviticus 23:15-17: And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
This establishes Pentecost as the feast on the fiftieth day after Passover, the very feast the dispersed Jews came to Jerusalem to observe.
No. Les Feldick emphasizes that Pentecost was Jewish. The Medes, Parthians, Elamites, and others listed in Acts 2 were Jews who had settled in those nations, along with some Jewish proselytes.
They were devout, practicing Jews who observed the Feast of Pentecost, one of the seven feasts in Leviticus 23. They returned to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, even though many had lived abroad for generations.
Les Feldick explains that the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities scattered God's people. Most of the ten tribes never returned from Syria, and only a few thousand Judahites returned from Babylon; the rest assimilated into the surrounding nations.
Watch the Teaching: What Really Happened at Pentecost? Acts 2 Explained