Chapter 2
[Acts 2:1] -- And when the days of Pentecost were completed, they were all together in the same place. Some Codices incorrectly have, Pentecosten. For Pentecoste in the nominative case means fiftieth; Pentecostes in the genitive, fiftieth's; Pentecosten in the accusative, fiftieth. However, no rule of speech allows us to say Pentecosten, when it should be said: When the fiftieth day was completed; or certainly as it is read in Greek in the singular number: And when the fiftieth day was completed. But truly in the prayers of the same day, it should be said: And celebrating the most sacred day of Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth. From the usage of this word, it is thought by some who do not know the Greek language that the solemnity of this day should also be called Pentecosten in the nominative case.
[Acts 2:2] -- And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, etc. And in the very giving of the law and grace, the most evident difference between the old and new testament is apparent. There, the people stood far off, there was fear, but no love. For they were so afraid that they said to Moses: Speak to us yourself, and do not let the Lord speak to us, lest we die (Exodus 20). Therefore, God descended, as it is written, on Sinai in fire, but terrifying the people standing far off, He wrote the law with His finger on stone, not with His spirit in the heart. But here, when the Holy Spirit came, the faithful were gathered together in one place; He did not terrify them on a mountain, but entered the house. Indeed, a sound came suddenly from heaven, and it sounded as if a violent wind was coming; but no one was afraid. You heard the sound, see the fire, because on the mountain there was both, and fire and sound, but there also smoke, here fire, divided tongues as of fire. Was He terrifying from afar? By no means. For He sat on each one of them, and they began to speak in tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them to utter. Hear the tongue speaking, and understand the Spirit writing not on stone, but in the heart.
[Acts 2:3] -- And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them, etc. This fire, not this fire. For in Greek it is πυρὸς, not πῦρ. This distinction would be easier to see if, adding a word, it were said: Divided tongues appeared as if of burning fire, or as if of shining fire, so that it may be understood that the tongues were divided in the appearance of fire.
[Acts 2:4] -- And they began to speak in various tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak. But there were in Jerusalem Jews dwelling, religious men from every nation, etc. In Greek it does not say at this place "in various tongues," but "in other tongues." For Isaiah had said: With other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, and even so they will not hear me, says the Lord. Indeed, Blessed Luke, noting that this prophecy was fulfilled by this gift of the Spirit, took care also to place the same word which he saw in the prophecy in this sacred history.
[Acts 2:6] -- Since each one heard them speaking in his own language, they were all amazed and astonished, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" I know I have been criticized by some for saying that this sentence can be understood in two ways, or rather for asking how it should be understood. To them, I briefly respond that everything I wrote about the same sentence in my previous volume was not expressed from my own thought but taken from the words of the holy and utterly irreproachable teacher, that is, Gregory of Nazianzus. It is indeed clear that the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke in all tongues, nor is it allowed for any of the faithful to doubt this. But how they spoke is rightly questioned, namely whether the speech of the apostles had such power that everyone who knew different languages could equally understand it when heard, or if whoever spoke, as it was necessary for someone to speak among such a multitude, while the rest were silent, at first made his speech in Hebrew for the Hebrews, with the rest not knowing what he said. Then for the Greeks, he spoke in Greek while the others waited. Then for the Parthians, and after them the Medes, and thus for the Elamites, and those peoples enumerated in order, he spoke in their own language, with each group waiting and remaining silent until their turn came, so they could understand what was said and thus give assent to the words of the teaching in faith. However, Luke reports Peter speaking to the crowds, but does not report him repeating the same things a second or third time. Instead, he notes that they, heeding the counsel of salvation, were consecrated in the mysteries of the Christian faith. I do not think it would be wrong for someone to believe that both things could have happened: that the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, could have understood and spoken the languages of all nations, and also that their words, by a greater miracle, could have been equally understood by all who heard them, regardless of the language in which they were spoken.
[Acts 2:9] -- And those who inhabit Mesopotamia, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia. These provinces which are named after Judea, indeed all speak Greek, but if they sounded nothing different from the custom of their homeland, they would not by any means be mentioned with such a subtle distinction of languages. Hence, the wondrous grace of the Spirit is to be seen in the apostles, which not only taught them the diversity of all languages, but also made the distinctiveness of properties in each language recognizable in their speech, according to the number of provinces that used it.
[Acts 2:10] -- And Roman sojourners. It would be more correctly rendered in Greek as And Roman wanderers, that is, Jews who were living in Rome as foreigners, just as others elsewhere, as mentioned above. For it is shown in the following verse that among those present were foreigners who are called proselytes in Greek, that is, those who from the nations had converted to Judaism, abandoning the rites of their own cultures, as it is said: Jews and proselytes as well.
[Acts 2:19] -- Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. About fire and smoke it has been said in the previous book: he speaks of blood not only of the Lord’s wounds, but also of the Lord’s sweat, when, praying before the betrayal, His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. This is numbered among the divinely wrought signs, because it is proved not to be found in the custom of human nature. It is therefore a sign, because it signified that the whole world would be cleansed by the blood of the Lord, so that just as the tabernacle or temple was at some point consecrated to the Lord with the blood of victims, so now through the whole world the faithful people would be dedicated to Him as a holy house by His own blood, and not only in Jerusalem would be a place for prayer, but in every place of His dominion, the elect would lift their hands through pure prayers to the Lord.
[Acts 2:20] -- The sun will be turned into darkness. The name of darkness in Greek is read in the singular number, that is, σκότος, which the Latin translator necessarily rendered in the plural as tenebras because he could not express it in the singular. I thought it necessary to mention this so that anyone who reads this among the people of the Angles might know that it is not necessary, because of the authority of the Latin language, to render "darkness" in their own speech in the plural; rather, it should be in the singular, as this can just as easily be done owing to the authority of the Greek, from which it was translated into Latin scripture.
[Acts 2:23] -- By the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, this man was handed over to you, and with the help of wicked men, you put him to death by nailing him to the cross. The Greek has one more word which pertains significantly to the cause: "Foreknowledge of God handing him over." For he was handed over by the governor into their power with the condition that they could choose either him or the robber; and they, having received this option, granted life to the robber and, by their own shouts and prayers, put Jesus to death through the hands of the soldiers.
[Acts 2:24] -- Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains, just as it was impossible for Him to be held by it. The sense of this sentence seems to be that the pains of punishment were loosened when the Lord descended to the lower regions, that is, they were not able to touch Him at all. But if we look at the Greek authority, where it is written: Whom God raised up on the third day, loosening the pains of death through Him, just as it was not possible for Him to be held by it, it is clear indeed that He says that the pains of the underworld were loosened by the Lord, or of death, that is, through His descent to the lower regions the saints were freed from the places of the underworld, who, although they were in Abraham's bosom, that is, in the consolation of quiet rest, nevertheless were not entirely free from the pain of death or of the underworld. They did not yet deserve to see and enter the heavenly joys, until what was said through the prophet to the Lord was done: You also, by the blood of your covenant, have brought forth your prisoners from the pit where there is no water (Zech. IX). For if the saints in the pit of the infernal regions were utterly free from the pain of death, why does he say they were prisoners until they were brought forth by the blood of Christ? He therefore loosed the pains of death through Him, just as it was impossible for Him to be held by it. For just as He Himself was immune from the power of death, so He was also powerful enough to rescue whomever He wanted from the dominion of death.
[Acts 2:25] -- For David says in reference to Him, that is, in His person: I foresaw the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand, that I may not be moved. By explaining what the Mediator of God and men did, He gives us who are pure men advice on how to avoid sins. For whoever continuously looks upon the presence of his Creator with the eye of his mind in no way turns to sins. He also states the reason why he was not moved. Since indeed with the Lord helping at the right hand, the left side does not prevail; but the soul that He guards perseveres more firmly in Him. Appropriately, he was saying that the Lord is at his right hand, because if He does not hold this part, the insidious devil will immediately occupy it, as it is written about Judas: And the devil stood at his right hand (Ps. CVIII).
[Acts 2:26] -- For this reason my heart was delighted, and my tongue exulted. For this reason, because He, indeed, stood at the right hand, and He attests that in His thoughts, joy and exultation arose in His tongue. And indeed, as the passion was threatening, He said: "My soul is sorrowful unto death," and He began to fear and be weary (Mark 14). But He was sorrowful to show that He was truly man in soul and body, and truly passible; but His soul and tongue exulted because He knew that by His passion the human race was to be saved.
[Acts 2:26] -- Moreover, even my flesh will rest in hope. Indeed, He was rejoicing that He could not be moved or overcome by enemies; but beyond this joy, He declares that His joy increased even more in that He was to provide an example of resurrection in His flesh, by which He saved us through His death.
[Acts 2:27] -- Because you will not abandon my soul in hell, nor will you let your holy one see decay. It is certain that the soul of the Lord was not abandoned in hell, which, having taken away those for whom He descended there, soon returned to the heights above; it is certain that nor was His flesh corrupted, which was glorified by a swift resurrection. But it must be asked how He says in another psalm, reproaching the impenitent and the stubborn, the suffering of His passion: "What profit is there in my blood, while I go down into corruption?" (Psalm 29). This is solved because there He says He descends into corruption when His body is penetrated by the piercing of nails and the lance, for the transfixion of the solid body itself may not unreasonably be considered a kind of corruption spoken of. Here, however, He rightly denies that corruption, that is, putrefaction, not happening, which generally devastates human flesh, but it had no power to come upon His most sacred body.
[Acts 2:28] -- You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy with your face. These words are rightly understood not only of the Lord, who did not need any other guide to overcome the kingdom of death, but, once receiving the fullness of divine power and wisdom, he was able to destroy death by himself, rise to life, and ascend to the right hand of the Father; they also truly apply to his chosen ones, who, with His gift, find the path of truth through which they return to the life that they lost in the first man, and who themselves will be filled with joy with the face of God the Father; because this is our perfect happiness, that we have merited to see Him face to face, as Philip understood well when he said: Lord, show us the Father and it is enough (John XIV). For it is enough joy to see the face of the Lord, nor is anything further required, because neither will there be anything more required, when He who is above all is seen. And these are the things that follow in the psalm: Pleasures at your right hand forever (Psalm XV).
[Acts 2:30-31] -- Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit of his loins one would sit on his throne, he spoke foresightfully about the resurrection of Christ, etc. In the Greek it is more: To raise the Christ from the fruit of his loins and to sit on his throne. But in what follows: Foresightedly he spoke of the resurrection of his Christ, because neither was he left in hell; it is more consistently in the Greek: Because neither was his soul left in hell. And Saint Fulgentius, writing to Thrasamund, puts it this way: “For he also immediately added about the raising of his body from the dead, saying: Nor did his flesh see corruption.” As also the prophet encompassed both, saying: For you will not abandon my soul to hell, nor let your holy one see corruption (Psalm XV).
[Acts 2:33] -- And having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you see and hear. In Greek it is translated thus: He has poured out this gift which you now see and hear. Indeed, concerning Jesus, whom the Jews crucified and whom God raised, He taught that He is the Christ; but now gradually leading the listeners to higher belief, He signifies that this is the true God, by confirming that He has poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit, which any wise person recognizes to be of divine power alone. And fittingly, He used the same word 'pouring,' which the prophetic statement previously mentioned has the Lord say, to teach them from this that it is the same Lord Jesus Christ who both before taking flesh was accustomed to speaking in the prophets; who disposed the future ages according to His will; who gave signs and wonders in the heaven and on earth; who would save all invoking His name, and fulfill the other things described in prophetic discourse as the Son of God and true God.
[Acts 2:34-35] -- For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. Certain codices have 'The Lord says,' but Greek exemplars in both this book and the Psalter have 'The Lord said.' Most clearly, blessed Peter explains through this psalm how to understand what he previously assumed from another psalm, that the Lord swore to David to raise Christ from the fruit of his loins and to set him on his throne, namely, because this throne of the kingdom is not to be understood in earthly Jerusalem where David reigned, but at the right hand of His majesty in the heavens. Here he evidently asserts both natures of our one Redeemer from the prophetic scriptures: the human, from the fruit of David's loins through the virgin, and the divine because ascending into heaven, the man was received at the right hand of the Father. In this truly, He is the son of David, in that He is the Lord of David, for which reason he congruously added:
[Acts 2:36] -- Therefore, let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ. For he proved him to be Lord from the word of David, which says: The Lord said to my Lord; and from what the prophet Joel said: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, says the Lord: I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh (Joel II), when He declared that this truly happened on that very day. He also taught that he is Christ by the word of the same David, which sings as said to him by the Lord: Sit at my right hand, and also from the fact that speaking through the prophet he declared that his Holy Spirit is Spirit, and that he could give it to men by his own power. For indeed, who but an infidel would doubt that this could pertain to no other man at all, except the Mediator of God and men, man Jesus Christ? For how could it be thought that he was not truly Christ, that is, believed rightly to be anointed with all the fullness of the Holy Spirit, who was proven by the same Spirit to give to whomever he willed? Therefore, he says that God has made him both Lord and Christ. Is not the Lord Christ both God and man, one person existing in two natures? In divinity, he was eternally born from the Father; in humanity, he was made from time by the Father, when He willed him to be incarnate in the womb of the Virgin by the working of the Holy Spirit.
[Acts 2:36] -- And the Lord, he says, He made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Because Jesus is the proper name of that man whom the Jews crucified, just as Aaron or David are proper names of men: however, Lord is a term of power and majesty, to which every creature should rightly be subject, about which He Himself said to the disciples after appearing post-resurrection: All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, Christ is a title of royal or priestly dignity. For priests and kings were accustomed to be anointed with holy oil by law, and for that reason to be called anointed, a figure indeed of Him who was anointed with the oil of gladness, that is, the Holy Spirit above His companions by God, made to be our King and great Priest: a priest, namely, so that by the sacrifice of His passion He might cleanse us from all sin, so that, placed at the right hand of God, He might intercede for us even now; a king, however, so that, with all our adversaries defeated, He might lead us to an immortal kingdom.
[Acts 2:37] -- What shall we do, brothers? In Greek, it is rendered more: Show us. This word we frequently find appended to sentences in the works of those who expounded the holy Scriptures.
[Acts 2:38-39] -- And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, as the Lord says through the prophet: I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (Joel II). And what he added: And to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call, refers to that final testimony placed from the prophet, that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Ibid.). This particularly pertains to the calling of the Gentiles, who were far removed from the fellowship of the sons of Israel in both kinship and merit, and yet were to be saved by invoking the name of the Lord according to the prophet’s promise.
[Acts 2:41] -- Those, therefore, who received his word were baptized. Another translation, according to the accuracy of the Greek truth, has it thus: Those indeed willingly accepting his word were baptized. By this interpretation it seems more clearly expressed that not some of those who had heard Peter's word, but all who had assembled to hear, willingly hearing this, were baptized.
[Acts 2:47] -- But the Lord added daily those who were being saved. In Greek it is read thus: But the Lord added to the Church those who were being saved, and then another narration begins.