A teaching on Acts 2 has been circulating among certain (restrictive) Bible interpreters, which says that only the twelve apostles received the fullness or the baptism with the Spirit at Pentecost with the gift of speaking in Spirit-inspired languages (commonly called ‘tongues’). True?
The thesis here, however, is that the biblical data say that 120 received the promise of the Father and spoke in their God-inspired languages.
All (tentative) translations are mine. If you would like to see others, please click on biblegateway.com.
Also of interest:
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Let’s begin.
First, Jesus promised (key word) the fullness of the Spirit to Cleopas and his traveling companion and the eleven, in one room:
49 Now be attentive. I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But you settle in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:49, emphasis added)
So the promise is for more than the twelve.
Second, Jesus repeats the truth that the promise is the baptism in the Spirit:
[…] but to wait for the promise of the Father, “which you heard from me; 5 John baptized you with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4b-5, emphasis added)
We just saw in the first point that Cleopas and his companion were promised to receive the power and baptism of the Spirit, because they were in the process of reporting to the eleven what they had just lived. When Jesus appeared to the apostles, there is no abrupt scene change that indicates Cleopas and his travelling companion had left. And in Acts 2, at least, the promise involved Spirit-inspired languages, as we shall see.
Third, Galileans, in addition to the eleven, devoted themselves to prayer, including women (see Luke 8:2-3; 23:49).
14 They [the eleven] were all persistently devoted and attached to prayer with one, single-purposed heart and spirit and mind, with women too, and including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. (Acts 1:14)
Some may dispute whether they were from Galilee or Jerusalem, but geography does not matter, because the issue is whether the 12 or 120 received the Spirit baptism, even if they were all from Jerusalem (and they were not, though some were, like the host of the upper room!).
Fourth, some time later the 120 disciples (it says about 120, but for the sake of convenience, let’s use the precise number of 120) were witnesses to the replacement of Judas.
15 In those days Peter stood up among his brothers and sisters (the gathering of persons was about 120 there together) and said, 16 “Men and women, brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit had spoken beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus … (Acts 1:15).
It is safe to assume that most of these 120 were from Galilee since a large contingent of them followed him to Jerusalem. (Jesus did not seem to know many people in Jerusalem, but only a few.) Matt. 27:55-56 and Luke 23:39, 55 speak of women, and it is further safe to assume that a large contingency of Galilean men was there, as well. Also, Jesus commissioned 72 disciples in Galilee, so they too were probably Galilean (Luke 10:1). Therefore, many of these Galileans should surely be counted among the 120.
Fifth, they prayed in an “upper room” (Acts 1:13). This fact will be important because Acts 2:1 says “in the same place.” Most likely this “same place” is the upper room.
1 And when the Feast of Pentecost had fully come, all of them were together in the same place. (Acts 2:1)
Sixth, in Acts 2:1 the Greek literally reads “all” (pantes, pronounced pahn-tehs) “were together in the same place.” And to carry the theme of “all” from the entire chapter 1, in Acts 1:14, where the other “all” appears, it includes the women and some men. In 2:1, “all” refers to the 120 who witnessed the replacement procedure (Acts 1:21-26), not just to the twelve. It is not as if the 108 suddenly and unexpectantly disbanded after the replacement proceedings, when the text does say they disbanded (Acts 1 ends at v. 26). Luke’s narrative style is not as careless as that. Thus “all” is the theme carried on from 1:15, so let’s not be overly demanding on Luke’s narrative style. Thus “all” encompasses everyone in Acts 1:15 (the 120). And thus the 120 received the Spirit in Acts 2:1-4, particularly when the original manuscripts did not have chapter headings but flowed continuously.
Seventh, in Acts 2:7, the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for Pentecost from all over their known world heard the Galileans speaking in the pilgrims’ own languages.
5 There were staying in Jerusalem devout Jews, men and women from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound happened, the crowd came together and were amazed because each one heard them speaking in their own language. 7 They were beside themselves with amazement and marveled, saying, “Look! Aren’t all of them Galileans who are speaking? 8 So how do we each hear them in our own language, to which we were born? (Acts 2:5-8, emphasis added)
As noted, these Galileans made up most of the 120, who witnessed the replacement of Judas in the previous chapter. It is true that the noun “Galileans” is in the masculine plural, but this is how Greek was written in a mixed group of men and women–masculine plural. Therefore, the Galileans were not only the twelve.
The miracle was in the speaking, not the hearing, because the pilgrims were amazed at the 120 speaking foreign languages. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them inspiration to speak out” (Acts 2:4).
Let’s imagine that a Chinese Christian cannot speak English. He is praying in the Spirit, in ‘tongues.’ I hear him and say to him by a translator, “I didn’t know you spoke English! It was perfect!” He informs me through the translator that he does not speak English. He was talking in ‘tongues.’ So where was the miracle? In my hearing him speak my own language or in his speaking? Obviously the miracle is in his speaking. It does not take a miracle for me to understand my own native language.
Points 4-7 are dispositive for showing that the 120 received their Spirit-inspired languages, and not just the twelve. But let’s keep going to show that the promise (the Spirit baptism) of the Father is for everyone.
Eighth, in Acts 2:16-21, Peter stood up and proclaimed that Joel’s prophecy applied to sons and daughters and young men and old men, so the demographics was broad. The promised Holy Spirit is for everyone, and the 120 were speaking in their God-inspired Spirit language.
17 ‘It shall be in the last days, says God,
I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
And your sons and daughters shall prophesy,
And your young people shall see visions,
And your elderly people shall dream dreams
18 Even on my male servants and female servants in the last days
I shall pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)
Ninth, however, in 2:14 Peter stood up with the eleven, so does this indicate that only they were out in Jerusalem speaking in the Spirit? Not necessarily, because in Acts 5:29 Peter and the other apostles stood and spoke to the Sanhedrin; thus, Peter took the lead. In that context, the twelve were alone, but here, the twelve plus the other 108 are encompassed in the “all” in 2:1. Peter and the eleven represented all the other recipients of the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Spirit.
Tenth, Peter again connects the promise of the Father with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and, as noted, in Acts 2 at least the promise involved Spirit-inspired languages (Acts 2:33).
33 Therefore he was exalted to the right hand of God; receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out even what you see and hear. (Acts 2:33)
Once again, the 120 people, mostly Galileans, were speaking in languages unknown to themselves, and the pilgrims heard them in pilgrims’ own languages. As noted under the seventh point, the miracle was in the speaking, not the hearing. It did not require a miracle for the pilgrims to understand the 120 disciples speaking in the pilgrims’ own language. But it did take a miracle for the 120 to speak in languages they never learned or knew.
Eleventh, Peter expands even farther the candidates who can receive the promise of the Spirit (fullness and baptism of the Spirit) to everyone who is “far off,” which means both geographically and generationally, even for us, 2000 years later: “for you and your descendants” (Acts 2:38b-39).
… you shall receive the free gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your descendants and all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:38b-39)
Twelfth, in Caesarea, Cornelius and his household, who were Gentiles (or Cornelius was), needed their own Pentecost (10:44-48) and spoke in Spirit-inspired languages.
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone listening to the message. 45 And the circumcised believers who went with Peter were amazed that even upon the Gentiles the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, 47 Who can refuse water to baptize these who have received the Holy Spirit, as we also have?” 48 He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for some days. (Acts 10:44-48)
Therefore the gift of ‘tongues’ is not only for the twelve, but for everyone. And the miracle happened in their speaking, not in Peter’s hearing.
Thirteenth, about twelve men who were baptized under John the Baptist received the baptism or fullness of the Spirit, including their Spirit-languages (Acts 19:6), so this gift is not just for the twelve apostles.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul put his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. 7 They were about twelve men in total. (Acts 19:5-7, emphasis added)
Once again, the speaking in tongues was the miracle.
Fourteenth, Paul enjoyed his prayer language (1 Cor. 14:18), so this gift is not just for the twelve. “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you” (1 Cor. 14:18, NIV).
Fifteenth, many Corinthian Christians also enjoyed their prayer languages (1 Cor. 14), so this gift is not just for the twelve.
Conclusion
Adding up all these biblical data, especially points 1-7, the 120, and not just the twelve, received the fullness and baptism with the Holy Spirit with prayer languages (‘tongues’). This promise of the Father is for everyone, even for you and me (points 8-14).
I hope that this exegesis puts to rest the notion that only the twelve spoke in Spirit-inspired languages. In Acts 2:1 “all” were together in the same place, and in the previous chapter “all” must include the 120 who witnessed the replacement proceedings. Therefore, all spoke in tongues. And then many converts to Jesus spoke in their Spirit-inspired languages, throughout Acts and in 1 Cor. 12-14.
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Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 
Hi. Thanks for the article. The pronoun “all” should refer to the most recent noun(s) which is the 12 apostles in the previous verse. It appears you skipped over that noun to get back to the 120. They were all together on Pentecost. When the people supposed they were drunk, it says Peter was standing with the 11. Also, any other time someone received miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, it was by an apostle laying hands on them. The one exception would be Cornelius and his family to show the inclusion of the Gentiles and to prove to Peter and the Jews that they were included. Thanks again.
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Receiving the Spirit: Acts 9:17. Also possibly Acts 18:24-26, modeled on Acts 19:1-7 and the common link with the “baptism of John” being insufficient. In my work on Acts, Luke is elliptical. He expects us to fill in the gaps. Example: in Paul’s and Barnabas’s first missionary journey, Luke does not record one water baptism, not one, though many converted. Evidently Luke expects us to assume that water baptism happened since it was standard practice.
As to your “all” point, I added to my sixth point, in the post.
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I agree with Rob Little, also, your account of what happened in Luke 24 is off. Your point number 1 is wrong, which threw off the rest of your points. In verses 13 – 31, Jesus revealed himself to Cleopas and his traveling companion, which ended with Jesus breaking bread with them and it opened their eyes, then he vanished. In verses 32-35 they went back to Jerusalem, telling the apostles and the others gathered with them, that Jesus had risen and appeared to Simon. Then they told them about their interaction on the road with Jesus and him breaking bread with them. From verse 36 on, Jesus’s conversation was directed at the apostles.
So no, the promise of the Holy Spirit baptism was not made to Cleopas and his traveling partner, it was made to the apostles only. That’s backed up by Acts 1:4-8, as that conversation was also with the apostles only.
Skipping ahead of the conversation that Peter had with the 120, Acts 1:21-26 ended the chapter, focusing the attention on the apostles. When Acts 2 started by saying that they were all with one accord in one place, the “they” were the 11 original apostles plus the newly appointed apostle Matthias.
We can’t just assume that most of the 120 were from Galilee, there’s nothing in the scripture to support that. But what is supported, is that at the very least, 11 of the 12 apostles present on the day of Pentecost were from Galilee. That’s supported by Acts 1:11, when the two men in white apparel addressed the apostles as “Men of Galilee”. It’s assumed that Matthias was also from Galilee, but again, we can only go by what’s supported by scripture.
The Holy Spirit baptism was received by the 12 apostles, there’s nothing to support that it was received by the 120. The fact that the crowd stated “Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?” and the only ones confirmed as being from Galilee were the apostles, speaks to the point of where the scripture states that Peter stood up with the 11 and not “Peter stood up with the 119”.
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Friendly greetings, Darnell,
I will stick to my guns on this one. (1) As for whether the disciples were from Galilee or Jerusalem, this does not matter in deciding whether 12 or 120 were Spirit baptized and miraculously spoke in various prayer languages. But here’s the evidence that they were from Galilee. Many returned to their homes up north, but then they came back: Matt. 27:55 (“Many women”); 28:10; 28:16; (and parallel passages in Mark and Luke); John 21. I believe the disciples came back down to Jerusalem. Even Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers, were in the upper room, and they were from up north, So no, my first point about geography does not harm my later points, even if all of the disciples were from Jerusalem (and they were not). (2) The promise of Spirit baptism is promised to everyone (Acts 2:39; Acts 10:44-46; 19:6). God is generous with the gift of the Spirit and all other gifts that flow from this merciful Gift. (3) Acts 2:1 says all of them were together in the upper room. The word “all” carries forward the 120 in the upper room in Acts 1. There is nothing in the text that says no to this number. (4) I believe the rest of my points in the original article stand. No change.
I won’t be able to carry forward the conversation, but thanks for your thoughts on the matter.
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I appreciate everyone’s opinion on the filling of the Holy Spirit (or baptizing of the Holy Spirit). Unfortunately (for your arguments sake) the filling of the Holy Spirit means the entrance of the Holy Spirit into ones life at the time of salvation. The miracle at Pentecost was a miracle of hearing and understanding. Peter only spoke in one language and many heard in their own languages. This was a very special gift of God for a time when the church was having her beginning. Tongues in the bible is a physical understandable language just like it is today. The miracle is in the way that God used it for the time to show forth the power and infilling of the Holy Ghost. There is no real scripture to support that what I am saying is inaccurate. So, let’s get back to believing the bible like it is written.
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“Let’s get back to believing the bible like it was written.” MY post answers your interpretation. One example: Acts 2:38 says the promise of the Spirit is for them and many generations afterwards. It is not only for the apostolic generation. You could read or reread the entire post, to see a better interpretation.
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Though it might give an approximate answer it does not give a good answer. Acts 2:38 is precious verse that gives us the understanding of what it means to be saved. To turn from our sin and put our trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves but it is the gift of God” The next verse is the verse that you brought out, the promise in verse 39 is the gift of the Holy Spirit that is given at the time of salvation. Romans 8:8-9 “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” The point that I was making was that the filling of the Holy Ghost happens at salvation according to the bible. It is only by God’s grace through your faith…..you don’t have to laugh in the Spirit, cry in the Spirit, speak in the Spirit, sing in the Spirit, be slain in the Spirit…..their is an evidence of being filled with the Spirit though and it is found in Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The evidence of being saved is sharing the gospel with everyone that you can. Telling them that Jesus saves.
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I meant Acts 2:39. No one denies that the Spirit fills converts. In addition, Peter was filled with the Spirit three times for ministry and service: Acts 2:1-4, Acts 4: 8 and 31. If anyone was at Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4 and at the prayer meeting in Acts 4:31, and I suspect many were, then they were filled twice. We need lots of infillings. In any case I still stand by my exegesis in the post. I need to end this conversation now.
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Okay….sorry if I made you mad, I wasn’t trying to do that. I was raised in this type of indoctrination. The more that I read my bible, the more I started to see that things were not adding up. The way that the Holy Spirit was taught and the teaching on the “tongues”. Just because a man has “Dr.” in front of his name does not mean that he is giving a correct interpretation. In Acts 2 there was a reception “shall receive” in the other verses they were filled with the Holy Ghost (statements). Noting as well, that in either of the two later times do we find any mention of tongues. The filling of the Spirit is to empower us to boldly proclaim the Word of God (like Peter). I used to go in my closet as a young man and weep before God….the church I grew up in would say “loose your tongue and let it come to the roof of your mouth”. I believe in that church, there were some saved folk who really were moved by the influence of the Holy Spirit and they would be all over that place speaking in what they would call stammering lips and another tongue. It was mostly women and they were crying loudly. Well…..back to the closet….I would weep and loose the tongue….and the more that I read my bible in that little closet, I realized that those tongues were literally languages. I realized one day after just weeping before the Lord that there was no difference, except that I was believing and teaching something that was not real. It did not have the Word of God to back it up…..I had to go against what my Mom believed and sisters and brother….but I promised God many, many years ago….I’ll die believing every ounce of reality in this precious book. It is the inspired Word of God…..I understand this conversation will be over, I just wanted to share.
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No you did not make me mad. I just need to end the dialogue. That’s it.
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One thing that might help your argument is that Pentecost was one of the three feasts where it was mandated by God that all males had to be present at the temple in Jerusalem, because that is where God chose for them to be after accepting Solomon’s temple as the place of worship.
[Deu 16:16 KJV] 16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
[Exo 34:22-23 KJV] 22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end. 23 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
[Act 2:1 KJV] 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
I don’t know what translation you used, but most of the translations that I looked at said “one place” and not the “same place”. Since all the males had to be at the temple for Pentecost, and that it was the hour of prayer, the 120 disciples were probably in the temple and not the upper room. In Acts 2:15, Peter says it is the third hour of the day which is 9 a.m. and that is one of the three times in the day when prayer was made. Apparently sacrifices were also carried out at this time, but I would have to verify that further. In Acts 3:1 we read about Peter and John going up into the temple at the hour of prayer around the ninth hour, or 3 p.m. This shows that they would go to the temple at hours of prayer. This would also explain why all of Jesus Christ’s disciples from Galilee would be gathered together on the day of Pentecost.
What this means is that the 12 apostles along with the 108 disciples would have been gathered at the temple. It would be very weird for the 12 apostles to distance themselves from the 108 disciples while at the temple, especially with a very large number of religious Jews who had Jesus Christ crucified. I’m sure they would have felt safer staying with the large group of people that they knew.
Another data point that points to 108 people speaking in tongues along with the 12 apostles can be found in 2 Chronicles chapter 5. I don’t know how much you know about parallelisms from the Old Testament to the New Testament, but Hebrews 10:1 says, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.” 2 Chronicles chapter 5 is about the dedication of Solomon’s temple. All of the elders of Israel were gathered, the ark of the covenant was brought to the temple, all of men of Israel were assembled for feast of tabernacles, and Levite priests sang and played instruments.
[2Ch 5:12-14 KJV] 12 Also the Levites [which were] the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, [being] arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) 13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers [were] as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up [their] voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, [saying], For [he is] good; for his mercy [endureth] for ever: that [then] the house was filled with a cloud, [even] the house of the LORD; 14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.
We see here that 120 priests sang and played instruments as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. They were speaking great things about God such as God is good, and His mercy endureth forever. In Acts 2:11 it says they all heard the wonderful works of God. Another translation is that they heard the great things of God. Then after the 120 priests praised God by saying these things, the temple of God was filled with a cloud of glory. The glory of the Lord filled the temple after the 120 priests sang and played instruments. Then we read in 2 Chronicles chapter 7 that God accepts the temple that Solomon has built by sending fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifices. On the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, a new temple was chosen by God, and that is the body of Christ and fire came down from heaven as cloven tongues of fire on each of the 120 people speaking in tongues.
[1Co 3:16 KJV] 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
There are also a lot of parallels between mount Sinai where the Law was given and the day of Pentecost. It is mind blowing when you look at it. At mount Sinai, God wrote on tables of stone, but on the day of Pentecost he wrote on the tables of the heart. On mount Sinai, 3,000 people died for their idolatry, on the day of Pentecost 3,000 souls were saved. On mount Sinai the children of Israel heard God speaking from the mountain, on the day of Pentecost they heard God speaking through the speaking in tongues. There are other parallels of that day that you can look into if you want. Anyway, I hope this helps.
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One thing that I forgot to point out in my above post was that 2 Chronicles 5:12 and Acts 1:15 are the only two places in the Bible that I could find where 120 people are mentioned. This is very important because doesn’t seem to just throw random facts and numbers around for no reason.
Also, mount Sinai happened on Pentecost which is why a lot of what happened is mirrored on the day of Pentecost . While the dedication of Solomon’s temple happened during the feast of tabernacles, it is the dedication of the temple that points to the day of Pentecost. A new temple was dedicated when the holy spirit was poured out on those who believed.
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