Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 2:11
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
11. Cretes ] Dwellers in the well-known island which lies south of the Cyclades in the Mediterranean, now called Candia. Christianity may perhaps have been spread in Crete also from the converts at Pentecost. Titus was made bishop of Crete.
Arabians ] Inhabitants of the great peninsula which stretches between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
the wonderful works ] More literally, the great works of God. So (Act 10:46) of the first Gentile converts on whom the Holy Ghost came it is said, “They heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.” And of those to whom the Spirit was given at Ephesus (Act 19:6), “They spake with tongues and prophesied.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Cretes – Crete, now called Candia, is an island in the Mediterranean, about 200 miles in length and 50 in breadth, about 500 miles southwest of Constantinople, and about the same distance west of Syria or Palestine. The climate is mild and delightful, the sky unclouded and serene. By some this island is supposed to be the Caphtor of the Hebrews, Gen 10:14. It is mentioned in the Acts as the place touched at by Paul, Act 27:7-8, Act 27:13. This was the residence of Titus, who was left there by Paul to set in order the things that were missing, etc., Tit 1:5. The Cretans among the Greeks were famous for deceit and falsehood. See the notes on Tit 1:12-13. The language spoken there was probably the Greek.
Arabians – Arabia is the great peninsula which is bounded north by part of Syria, east by the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf, south by the Indian Ocean, and west by the Red Sea. It is often mentioned in the Scriptures; and there were doubtless there many Jews. The language spoken there was the Arabic.
In our tongues – The languages spoken by the apostles could not have been less than seven or eight, besides different dialects of the same languages. It is not certain that the Jews present from foreign nations spoke those languages perfectly, but they had doubtless so used them as to make them the common tongue in which they conversed. No miracle could be more decided than this. There was no way in which the apostles could impose on them, and make them suppose they spoke foreign languages, if they really did not; for these foreigners were abundantly able to determine that. It may be remarked that this miracle had most important effects besides that witnessed on the day of Pentecost. The gospel would be carried by those who were converted to all these places, and the way would be prepared for the labors of the apostles there. Accordingly, most of these places became afterward celebrated by the establishment of Christian churches and the conversion of great multitudes to the Christian faith.
The wonderful works of God – ta megaleia tou Theou. The great things of God; that is, the great things that God had done in the gift of his Son; in raising him from the dead; in his miracles, ascension, etc. Compare Luk 1:49; Psa 71:19; Psa 26:7; Psa 66:3; Psa 92:5; Psa 104:24; etc.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. Cretes] Natives of Crete, a large and noted island in the Levant, or eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, now called Candia.
Arabians] Natives of Arabia, a well known country of Asia, having the Red Sea on the west; the Persian Gulf on the east; Judea on the north; and the Indian Ocean on the south.
The wonderful works of God.] Such as the incarnation of Christ; his various miracles, preaching, death, resurrection, and ascension; and the design of God to save the world through him. From this one circumstance we may learn that all the people enumerated above were either Jews or proselytes; and that there was probably none that could be, strictly speaking, called heathens among them. It may at first appear strange that there could be found Jews in so many different countries, some of which were very remote from the others; but there is a passage in Philo’s Embassy to Caius which throws considerable light on the subject. In a letter sent to Caius by King Agrippa, he speaks of to the holy city of Jerusalem, not merely as the metropolis of Judea, but of many other regions, because of the colonies at different times led out of Judea, not only into neighbouring countries, such as Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria, and Coelosyria, but also into those that are remote, such as Pamphylia, Cilicia, and the chief parts of Asia as far as Bithynia, and the innermost parts of Pontus; also in the regions of Europe, Thessaly, Boeotia, Macedonia, AEtolia, Attica, Argos, Corinth, and the principal parts of Peloponnesus. Not only the continents and provinces (says he) are full of Jewish colonies, but the most celebrated isles also, Euboea, Cyprus, and Crete, not to mention the countries beyond the Euphrates. All these (a small part of Babylon and some other praefectures excepted, which possess fertile territories) are inhabited by Jews. Not only my native city entreats thy clemency, but other cities also, situated in different parts of the world, Asia, Europe, Africa; both islands, sea coasts, and inland countries.” PHILONIS Opera, edit. Mangey, vol. ii. p. 587.
It is worthy of remark that almost all the places and provinces mentioned by St. Luke are mentioned also in this letter of King Agrippa. These, being all Jews or proselytes, could understand in some measure the wonderful works of God, of which mere heathens could have formed no conception. It was wisely ordered that the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost should take place at this time, when so many from various nations were present to bear witness to what was done, and to be themselves subjects of his mighty working. These, on their return to their respective countries, would naturally proclaim what things they saw and heard; and by this the way of the apostles was made plain; and thus Christianity made a rapid progress over all those parts in a very short time after the resurrection of our Lord.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Cretes; such as belonged to the island of Crete, now called Candia.
The wonderful works of God; those things which God had wonderfully wrought, especially the resurrection of our blessed Saviour from the dead, which was a most wonderful work, and the main argument whereby the world was converted, and unto which the apostles bare witness.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Cretes and Arabians,…. The former are either the same with the Cretians, Tit 1:12 the inhabitants of the island of Crete, Ac 27:7 now called Candia or Candy, which has on the north the Aegean sea, on the south the Libyan or African sea, on the west the Adriatic sea, and on the east the Carpathian sea. In it were an hundred cities; the most famous of which were, Gnosos, Cortyna, Lyctos, Lycastos, Holopixos, Phaestos, Cydon, Manethusa, Dyctynna e, and others; these spoke the Greek language; yet not the Attic, for the Cretian and Attic speech are distinguished f: or else, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, these were the same with the Cherethim or Cherethites, in Eze 25:16 whom the Septuagint interpreters call Cretes, as here; since these are mentioned with the Philistines, to whose land Arabia joined; the inhabitants of which are next mentioned here. There were three Arabias; Arabia Petraea, which had on the west part of Egypt, and on the north Judea, and part of Syria, on the south the Red sea, and on the east Arabia Felix. The second was called Arabia Deserta, and had on the north part of Mesopotamia, and on the east Babylonia, on the south Arabia Felix, and on the west, part of Syria and Arabia Petraea. The third was called Arabia Felix, and had on the north the south sides of Petraea and Arabia Deserta, and the more southern part of the Persian gulf, on the west the gulf of Arabia, and on the south the Red sea, and on the east, part of the Persian gulf g; and here dwelt Jews who spoke the Arabic language. Now these Jews, of different nations, declared concerning the apostles, saying,
we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God; not the works of creation and providence, though these are great and wonderful; but of redemption, pardon, atonement, justification, and salvation, by the Messiah, by his obedience, sufferings, and death, and also of his resurrection from the dead; things which struck them with amazement, and the more, that such illiterate persons should have such knowledge of them, and should be able to speak of them in such a clear, distinct, and powerful manner; and still the more, that they should speak of them in their several tongues in which they were born, and to which they were used, and which the apostles had never learned: and this they heard with their own ears, and were fully satisfied that they did speak divers languages.
e Mela, l. 2. c. 14. Vid. Solin. c. 16. & Plin. l. 4. c. 12. f Laert. in. vit. Epimenidis. g Ptolom. Geograph. l. 5. c. 17, & 19. & l. 6. c. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Cretes and Arabians . These two groups “seem to have been added to the list as an afterthought” (Knowling). Crete is an island to itself and Arabia was separate also though near Judea and full of Jews. The point is not that each one of these groups of Jews spoke a different language, but that wherever there was a local tongue they heard men speaking in it.
We do hear them speaking ( ). Genitive case with the participle agreeing with , a sort of participial idiom of indirect discourse (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 1040ff.).
The mighty works ( ). Old adjective for magnificent. In LXX, but only here (not genuine in Lu 1:49) in the N.T. Cf. 2Pe 1:16 for (majesty).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Arabians. Whose country bordered on Judaea, and must have contained many Jews.
Speak [] . Rev., rightly, gives the force of the participle, speaking.
Wonderful works [] . See on majesty, 2Pe 1:16. From megav, great. Rev., mighty works. Used by Luke only.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Cretes and Arabians,” (Kretes kai Arabes) “Cretans and Arabians,” listed here out of geographical sequence grouping, almost as if an afterthought. Crete is an island in the upper Mediterranean Sea while Arabia is south and far east of Palestine, yet from these far away places they were at Pentecost.
2) “We do hear them speak in our tongues,” (akouomen lalounton auton tais hemeterais glossais) “We hear them repeatedly speaking in our native languages; the “we” who heard the 120 Spirit unction empowered disciples speaking, in their own native tongues, were the Jews from these three continents and fifteen or more nations, who had journeyed to the Jerusalem festive Pentecost, but found more than any had ever found there before.
3) “The wonderful works of God,” (ta megaleia tou theou) “The great deeds of God we hear, do we not?” Their testimony in question form seems to be these witnesses who testify of the risen, living, and coming Messiah of God could tell it like they do, being Galileans only, but how? If not by Divine Supernatural power, how could they talk in our native dialects so clearly and keep their story straight?” Luk 1:49; Paul testified to these wonderful, manifest works of God thru Christ, 1Ti 3:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. The wonderful works of God. Luke noteth two things which caused the hearers to wonder; first, because the apostles being before ignorant and private persons, (87) born in a base corner, (88) did, notwithstanding, intreat profoundly of divine matters, and of heavenly wisdom. The other is, because they have new tongues given them suddenly. Both things are worth the noting, because to huddle out [utter] words unadvisedly and foolishly, should not so much have served to move their minds; and the majesty of the things ought the more to have moved them to consider the miracle. Although they give due honor to God, in that they are astonished and amazed, yet the principal and of the miracle is expressed in this, that they inquire, and thereby declare that they are prepared to learn; for otherwise their amazedness and wondering should not have done them any great good. And certainly we must so wonder at the works of God, that there must be also a consideration, and a desire to understand.
(87) “ Idiotae,” unlearned.
(88) “ Nati in contempto angulo,” born in a district of no repute.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) The wonderful works of God.Better, the great things, or the majesty, of God. The word is the same as in Luk. 1:49. The word points, as has been said above, distinctly to words of praise and not of teaching.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Wonderful works of God When the human spirit, wherein resides man’s susceptibility to the religious emotions, is breathed upon by the Divine Spirit, and awakened into ecstasy, it may call the poetic powers into action, and evolve itself in the psalm. And if the man be endowed with the gift of genius, his psalm, like those of David, may be a permanent gift of God to his Church. Even among our Aryan ancestors a few of the hymns of their Rig-Veda, or Psalm-lore, evince that there were even with them some faint breathings of the blessed Spirit. Minds less endowed, when awakened to religious devotion, rather avail themselves of the strains of their greater predecessors than succeed in producing psalms of pure and perfect originality. This present passage confirms the idea that Mary’s Magnificat (Luk 1:46) was improvised and uttered in a spiritual ecstasy. And the Magnificat may be read as furnishing some idea of the nature of these raptured Pentecostal utterances.
Besides these strains in Luke’s first chapter, the New Testament age was not inspired to furnish any permanent psalmody to the sacred canon. There is nothing in the New Testament corresponding with the Psalms in the Old. The prose narrative, epistle, and prophecy, ending in the semi-poetic Apocalypse, were all that the Church’s discerning of spirits could recognise as entitled to a place in her new Scriptures.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
11. . ] These words would seem as if they should precede the last.
] , ref. Ps., see also ref. Luke.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 2:11 . : both names seem to have been added to the list as an after-thought. Even if we cannot accept Nsgen’s idea that St. Luke is repeating verbatim the account which he had received orally from an eyewitness who had forgotten the Arabians and Cretans in going through the list geographically, yet the introduction of the two names in no apparent connection with the rest ought to show us that we are not dealing with an artificial list, but with a genuine record of the different nations represented at the Feast. Belser, who endorses this view, supposes that St. Luke obtained his information from an eyewitness who added the Cretans and Arabians supplementarily, just as a person might easily forget one or two names in going through a long list of representative nations at a festival. It is possible, as Belser suggests, that the Cretans and Arabians were thinly represented at the Pentecost, although the notices in Josephus and Philo’s letter mentioned above point to a large Jewish population in Crete. The special mention of the Cretans is strikingly in accordance with the statement of the Jewish envoys to Caligula, viz. , that all the more noted islands of the Mediterranean, including Crete, were full of Jews, “Crete,” B.D., 2 and Schrer, u. s. , p. 232. In R.V. “Cretans”; which marks the fact that the Greek is a dissyllable; in A.V. “Cretes” this is easily forgotten ( cf. Tit 1:12 ). only found here in N.T.; the reading of T.R., Luk 1:49 , cannot be supported; cf. Psa 70 (71):19, where the word occurs in LXX. (Hebrew, ) Sir 17:9 ; Sir 18:4 ; Sir 18:33 , Sir 42:21 , 3Ma 7:22 , R. The word is found in Josephus, and also in classical Greek: used here not only of the Resurrection of the Lord (Grotius), but of all that the prophets had foretold, of all that Christ had done and the Holy Ghost had conferred.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Crates = Cretans. See Tit 1:12.
wonderful works = great things. Greek. megaleios. Only here and Luk 1:49.
God. App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11. . ] These words would seem as if they should precede the last.
] , ref. Ps., see also ref. Luke.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 2:11. , both Jews and proselytes) That there were many proselytes in those times from among the Romans and their freedmen, and that they had been banished, is well known from Tacitus, l. 2, Annal. ch. 85. However it is not proselytes of the Romans only, but also of the other nations, as opposed to the Jews, that are meant in this place.-, Cretans) The island Crete is the representative of islands in this enumeration. The prophets had predicted many things as to the conversion of the islands : and several of these towards the west occur in the history of the Acts.-, speaking) viz. in the Psalms of David, which were usually employed for that purpose at that time, or even in fresh and new language (modes of expression).- , the wonderful works) the mighty exhibitions of power, the mighty operations.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
tongues
languages.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Cretes: Act 27:7, Act 27:12, Tit 1:5, Tit 1:12
Arabians: 1Ki 10:15, 2Ch 17:11, 2Ch 26:7, Isa 13:20, Isa 21:13, Jer 3:2, Jer 25:24, Gal 1:17, Gal 4:25
wonderful: Exo 15:11, Job 9:10, Psa 26:7, Psa 40:5, Psa 71:17, Psa 77:11, Psa 78:4, Psa 89:5, Psa 96:3, Psa 107:8, Psa 107:15, Psa 107:21, Psa 111:4, Psa 136:4, Isa 25:1, Isa 28:29, Dan 4:2, Dan 4:3, 1Co 12:10, 1Co 12:28, Heb 2:4
Reciprocal: Psa 98:1 – for he Psa 119:27 – so shall I talk Son 7:9 – the best Eze 27:21 – Arabia Act 2:3 – cloven Act 2:4 – began Act 10:46 – speak
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
The pronouns we and our refer to the people from the several countries named; them means the apostles. Tongues being plural is significant, and denotes that the apostles were speaking in more than one tongue. All of this was done for the purpose of demonstrating the miraculous power and divine authority being vested in the apostles, and not with the intention of imparting any doctrinal information to the multitude. That was to come later, after the attention or interest had been sufficiently fixed for them to listen thoughtfully. Wonderful works as a phrase comes from the Greek word MEGALEIOS, and Thayer’s definition is, “magnificent, excellent, splendid, wonderful.” It does not mean “works” as some physical or material deeds, but that God’s ability to enable these apostles to speak in this extraordinary manner was wonderful.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 2:11. Cretes and Arabians. In Crete the Jews were very numerous. Arabia, bordering on the Holy Land, of course counted among its inhabitants many Israelites. No sufficient reason, however, can be assigned for these two names occurring at the end of the list. Hackett considers them an after-thought of the apostle. Some reason, doubtless, of which we are ignorant, moved St. Luke to place them in their present position in the catalogue. No various readings here give us any clue to the solution of the difficulty. Ewald calls attention to the omission of Syria from the catalogue. Jerome reads Syria instead of Judea (Act 2:9). The apparent omission can be explained by concluding that the Syrian strangers spoke and understood Aramaic or Greek, in both of which tongues some of the inspired ones addressed the bystanders.
The wonderful works of God. We can imagine the glorious exposition of the Spirit to these children of Israel, to these converts to Judaism from many lands and strange peoples, which, in words sweeter and wiser than man had ever listened to before, described the grand mission of Israel, which was, to keep the torch of the knowledge of God ever burning through long centuries in a great heathen world; and this, in spite of sin and error, bitterly punished, had been done. And from the mission of Israel, now ended, we can conceive the Spirit passing and telling out to the awe-struck, entranced listeners the story of the wonderful works of God done and purposed to be done in Christ the Messiah, speaking of the blood of Jesus which shall wash away all sin of Jew and Gentile. Surely we may assume that in some of these Pentecostal utterances, at least, the outlines of the arguments of the great epistles (to the Romans and Hebrews, for instance) were first sketched out.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 6