“Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?”
The full verse · Acts 2:7 · KJV
they , one to , , ?
Asked by
Crowd: the multitude of Jews, "devout men, out of every nation under heaven," dwelling at Jerusalem, who came together at the sound on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5-6)
Asked to
Crowd: the same multitude, speaking "one to another" in amazement (Acts 2:7)
The Scene
On the day of Pentecost the apostles are filled with the Holy Ghost and begin to speak with other tongues, and a multitude of devout Jews from every nation gathers, each hearing them in his own language (Acts 2:1-6).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThe crowd knew where these speakers came from, and that made what they heard even stranger. Barnes explains that Galileans were thought of as "ignorant, rude, and uncivilized," and that "their dialect was proverbially barbarous and corrupt." Gill calls them "rude, unpolished, and unlearned men" who had never learned any language but their mother tongue. Matthew Henry says the same: the speakers were Galileans "that know no other than their mother tongue." So the question is really a cry of wonder: how could men like these be speaking our languages?
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe question answers itself: yes, the speakers were Galileans. The crowd's wonder only grows: "And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" (Acts 2:8). They are "all amazed, and were in doubt" (Acts 2:12), while others mock that the men are "full of new wine" (Acts 2:13). Then Peter, standing with the eleven, explains: "these are not drunken, as ye suppose" but "this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:15-16).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe apostles were inhabitants of Galilee, as Gill notes, and the angels at the ascension had addressed the apostles as "men of Galilee" (Acts 1:11). Galilean speech was easy to recognize. On the night of Jesus' arrest, bystanders told Peter, "thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto" (Mark 14:70). Some leaders looked down on the region: "out of Galilee ariseth no prophet" (John 7:52).
The listeners, by contrast, came from all over the world: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Asia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Crete, and Arabia, "Jews and proselytes" (Acts 2:9-11).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyGod chose to announce the coming of His Spirit through the people the crowd least expected. The wonder of Pentecost was not only that many languages were spoken, but who was speaking them. The power was plainly not theirs. It was "as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4).
The same surprise shows up again soon after. When the rulers saw the boldness of Peter and John and "perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). In Acts, God's work through ordinary Galileans points people past the messengers to Jesus.
Look Closer
Why did the crowd point out that the speakers were Galileans?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, You spoke through ordinary Galileans; where are You at work through ordinary people around me that I have been slow to notice?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- What makes you quick to decide what someone can or cannot do because of where they come from?
- Tell about a time God spoke to you through someone you did not expect.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
God is not limited by anyone's background, accent, or schooling, including yours. At Pentecost He spoke through men the crowd had already sized up, and the result was wonder.
When you feel too ordinary to be used by God, remember who was speaking that day, and why: "as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). And when you are tempted to dismiss someone because of where they are from, remember that the crowd's surprise was the beginning of their hearing about Jesus.
This doesn't mean anyone who speaks with confidence is speaking for God. The crowd still needed Peter to explain what they saw from the Scriptures (Acts 2:16).
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