Acts 2:9

Parthians. The list begins at the east with the great Parthian kingdom, which was still, as it had been in the days of the defeated Roman general Crassus a century before, the chief enemy of the Roman government. It lay south of the Caspian Sea, from the Tigris to the Indus. The language was Persian, as was probably also the language of the Medes.

Medes. The country of the Medes lay southwest of the Caspian Sea, east of the region of Assyria. It was to Media that some of the ten tribes had been carried captive (2 Kings 17:6). See on Gen. 10:2; Dan. 2:39.

Elamites. These people lived in a kingdom bounded by Parthia on the east, Media on the north, and Babylonia on the west. The Persian Gulf lay to the south. See on Gen. 10:22; Esther 1:2; Dan. 8:2. The people of Elam are called “Persians” in the LXX, but the Elamite language was different from that of Persia.

Dwellers in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia lay “between the rivers,” that is, between the Tigris and the Euphrates (see on Gen. 24:10). The “dwellers” would include several linguistic groups that would speak variants of Aramaic (see Vol. I, p. 30; see on Dan. 2:4).

Judaea. It has puzzled Bible students that Luke should have named Judea here, rather than leaving it to be taken for granted. Some have supposed it to be a mistake for India or Idumaea. But it would be natural for the Gentile Luke to mention Judea, the focal point of his history. Its presence makes the list the more complete. “Judea” may also be taken in a wider sense to include all Palestine.

Cappadocia. As he moves in his record from east to west, Luke names next the province lying northwest of Mesopotamia. Cappadocia lay in the eastern part of what is now Turkey, bounded by Armenia on the east, with the Black (Euxine) Sea and the province of Pontus on the north, Galatia on the west and Cilicia, the country of Paul (ch. 21:39), to the south. It is not known what language was spoken. Perhaps it was similar to the “speech of Lycaonia” (ch. 14:11).

Pontus. This region lay on the southern shore of the Black Sea, north of Cappadocia. Like its neighbor it was under Roman administration. Its native language is not known.

Asia. This is not the modern Asia, but a Roman province lying in the western end of Asia Minor, embracing much of the western part of modern Turkey. Ephesus was its chief city. The Holy Spirit prevented Paul on his Second Missionary Journey from entering this region. It was frequently called Ionia, and was markedly Greek in population. The seven letters of Rev. 1:2, 3 are addressed to cities in the province of Asia. Although Greek was understood by the majority in this and the following regions, the common people doubtless used their own local tongues.