Acts 2:1

Day. Rabbinic authority allowed Palestinian Jews one day for the celebration of Pentecost, but the Jews of the Dispersion were given two days for the feast.

Pentecost. Gr. pentekostes, from the adjective meaning “fiftieth,” a reference to the fifty days between the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of the First Fruits (Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost). The first known uses of this Greek word for the Hebrew Feast of Weeks occur in Tobit 2:1 (written c. 200 B.C.) and 2 Maccabees 12:32, showing that the word had been employed among the Jews for many years before the Christian Era. For a fuller discussion of Pentecost and its position in the Jewish calendar see on Ex. 23:16; Lev. 23:16; cf. Vol. I, p. 709; Vol. II, pp. 106, 108; Resurrection to Ascension. A brief summary of relevant facts and their connection with the bestowal of the Holy Spirit at that time, follows:

The dating of Pentecost hinges upon the date of the Passover. The Passover was held on Nisan 14. The 15th marked the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and on the 16th a sheaf of the first fruits (of the barley harvest) was waved before the Lord (Lev. 23:5-11). From the 16th, seven weeks and a day, 50 days by inclusive reckoning, were counted to the Feast of First Fruits (of the wheat harvest), which was also known as the Feast of Weeks, because of the seven weeks that intervened (Lev. 23:15, 16). It is this feast that came to be known as Pentecost.

Since, in the year of the crucifixion, Nisan 16 fell on a Sunday (see Additional Notes on Matt. 26, Note 1), Pentecost, coming 50 days, inclusive, later (seven weeks and one day), would also fall on a Sunday in that year. There is no scriptural support, however, for assigning sacredness to Sunday on this account (cf. on Matt. 28:1).

Pentecost, of all feasts of the Jewish year, attracted the largest number of pilgrims from distant lands. The dangers of travel by sea and land in the early spring and late autumn (see Acts 27:9) prevented the coming of people from abroad in any large numbers to the Passover or to the Feast of Tabernacles. But the Pentecostal season was favorable, and at no other feast would there have been present at Jerusalem representatives of so many nations. There was no other time in which the gift of the Spirit was likely to produce such direct, immediate, and far-reaching effects. Also, the character of the offerings, which were mainly those of peace and consecration, put a joyous stamp upon the day. Even the bread was leavened, indicating a new spirit of release and fellowship working through the celebrants as they rejoiced together. Pentecost had much of the air of a harvest festival. Even Paul, least interested in observances as such (Rom. 14:5), was eager to celebrate Pentecost at Jerusalem in spite of his missionary journeys in Asia and Greece (Acts 18:21; 20:16).

Each aspect of the old Feast of Weeks presented a symbolic meaning that made it typical of the work now about to be accomplished. As the Feast of First Fruits, it was fitting that it should be the occasion of the first great gathering from the fields that were “white already to harvest” (Ex. 23:16; John 4:35). At this feast the Israelites, remembering that they had been slaves in Egypt, could feel again the liberty the Exodus had given them (Deut. 16:9-12), and be free of servile work (Lev. 23:21). It was therefore a fit time for the outpouring of the Spirit of God; and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). That Spirit was to guide the church into the truth, which makes all who receive it free indeed (John 8:32).

It is interesting to recall that the rabbis, who computed the interval between the first Passover and the giving of the law on Sinai, concluded that God spoke the law to the people (Ex. 20:1) on the day that was later observed as Pentecost. Through this tradition, the feast is thought to have acquired a commemorative character.

Pentecost was a great day in Israelitish experience, and was fittingly a type of the greater day that made the Spirit of God available for all who prepared themselves for Him.

Was fully come. Literally, “was being fulfilled,” or “filled up.” The words seem chosen to express the fact that the day was in the progress, perhaps to indicate the early morning hour.

They. Probably the 120 and other believers who may have joined them.

With one accord. Important textual evidence may be cited (cf. p. 10) for the reading “together.” Here, the writer is merely stating that “they were all together.”

However, though the Greek word does not say there was “accord,” it is evident that unity existed among the disciples. The jealousies revealed in their failure to heal the demon-possessed boy (Mark 9:14-29; DA 427, 429-431), in their striving for high position (Luke 22:24), and in refusing to wash one another’s feet (cf. John 13:3-17; DA 643, 644), had all been swept from their hearts by the agonies of the crucifixion, the glory of the resurrection, and the majesty of the ascension. Their Master had risen on the day of the offering of the wave sheaf of barley, which typified Himself, the first fruits. Over a period of 40 days He had had repeated contact with them on earth. Ten more days had remained till this day, while they awaited “the promise of the Father.” What would this promise bring forth? The ten days of expectancy had been ten days of earnest prayer (Acts 1:14), offered in unity of desire (AA 36, 37). This is the unity that must characterize the people of God whenever they aspire to a special experience with their Lord, or expect of Him a manifestation of power. Whatever interferes with such unity must be removed, or it will obstruct the Spirit, who does the work of God for His people.

In one place. Perhaps the same large upper room in which the Lord’s Supper was eaten (Luke 22:11–14), which may have been the same as that in which the disciples were sheltered after the crucifixion, and to which they returned after Jesus had ascended (see on Acts 1:13). Some hold that the disciples were perhaps meeting in one of the rooms of the Temple, which Josephus (Antiquities viii. 3.2 [65, 66]) calls oikoi, “houses,” and which could be used by groups of friends, or members of an association, at a feast time. But it seems unlikely that the disciples would risk being seen together in so public a place as the Temple precincts.