Acts 2:13

13 But others jeered [and] said, "They are full of sweet new wine!"

Acts 2:13 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 2:13

Others mocking, said
These were the native inhabitants of Jerusalem, the common people; and it may be also the Scribes and Pharisees, who did not understand the languages in which the apostles spake, and therefore derided them both by words and gestures:

these men are full of new wine;
the Syriac, version adds, "and are drunk"; a very foolish and impertinent cavil this; there was, at this time of the year, no new wine, just pressed, or in the fat; and if there had been any, and they were full of it, it could never have furnished them with a faculty of speaking with many tongues; men generally lose their tongues by intemperance. They were indeed filled with wine, but not with wine, the juice of the grape, either new or old; but with spiritual wine, with the gifts of the Spirit of God, by which they spake with divers tongues. They might hope this insinuation, that they were drunk with wine, would take and be received, since it was a feasting time, the feast of Pentecost; though, as Peter afterwards observes; it was too early in the day to imagine this to be their case.

Acts 2:13 In-Context

11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our [own] languages the great deeds of God!"
12 And all were amazed and greatly perplexed, saying {to one another}, "{What can this mean?}"
13 But others jeered [and] said, "They are full of sweet new wine!"
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them, "Judean men, and all those who live [in] Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words!
15 For these [men] are not drunk, as you assume, because it is the third hour of the day.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("jeered") has been translated as a finite verb
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.