Acts 2:4

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

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Acts 2:4 in Other Translations

KJV
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
ESV
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
NLT
4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
MSG
4 and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
CSB
4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.

Acts 2:4 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 2:4

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost
With the gifts of the Holy Spirit; they had received the Spirit before, as a Spirit of grace, and were endowed with great gifts; but now they had great plenty of them, a large abundance; they were like vessels filled to the brim; they were as it were covered with them; there was an overflow of them upon them; and now it was, that they were baptized with him; (See Gill on Acts 1:5). Not only the twelve apostles, but the seventy disciples; and it may be all the hundred and twenty, that were together, even women as well as men: ( Acts 2:17 Acts 2:18 ) .

And began to speak with other tongues;
besides, and different from that in which they were born and brought up, and usually spake; they spake divers languages, one spoke one language, and another, another; and the same person spoke with various tongues, sometimes one language, and sometimes another. These are the new tongues, Christ told them they should speak with, ( Mark 16:17 ) such as they had never heard, learned, nor known before:

as the Spirit gave them utterance;
they did not utter anything of themselves, and what came into their minds, things of little or no importance; nor in a confused and disorderly manner; but they were wise and weighty sentences they delivered, as the word signifies; even the wonderful works of God, ( Acts 2:11 ) the great doctrines of the Gospel; and though in different languages, yet in a very orderly and distinct manner, so as to be heard and understood by the people. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "as the Holy Spirit"

Acts 2:4 In-Context

2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Luke 1:15
  • 2. S Mark 16:17; 1 Corinthians 12:10

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or "languages" ; also in verse 11
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