I have been writing about the historicity of early Genesis. In my previous article, I discussed the Tower of Babel and concluded that the Babel event had global spiritual consequences. As the final part in this series, I will now explore Pentecost, focusing on its relationship to Babel and how its own historicity is linked to the Babel account in Genesis.
Pentecost (πεντηκοστή) is a Greek word meaning ‘fiftieth’ and was the Greek name for the Festival of Weeks because it took place seven weeks and a day (i.e. 50 days) after the Passover. This festival is described in Exodus 23:16, where it is called חג הקציר/ Hhag HaQatzir (‘Festival of the Harvest’), Numbers 28:26 where it is called יום הבכרים/ Yowm HaBicurim (‘Day of the First-Fruits’) and again in Numbers 28:26 as well as Deuteronomy 16:16 where it is called חג השבעות/ Hhag HaShavuot (‘Festival of the Weeks’). This latter term ‘Shavuot’ is the word that the festival was called during the Second Temple Period and is what Jews still call it today. Therefore, it was on the day of this festival in which the events of Pentecost, recorded in Acts chapter 2, took place.
Shavuot, in the Torah, is a festival in which Israelites were required to present grain and animal offerings to Yahweh to reflect that which they had been blessed with. Tradition also says that it was on this day that the Torah was given to the Israelites at Sinai (Rosenfeld, n.d.; Marshall, 1977) and because of this Jews today will read out the 10 Commandments on Shavuot (Posner, n.d.). This practice marks a form of covenant renewal for Jews. And there is even evidence that this association was a custom during the Second Temple period too, at least amongst certain groups (Marshall, 1977; Brown, 2020). Second temple literature supports this claim, as the Book of Jubilees, likely written in the first century B.C. or prior, associates Shavuot with both the Noaic, Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants:
“And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should not again be a flood on the earth. He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah -twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years [1309-1659 A.M.]: and Noah and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the day of Noah's death, and from the day of Noah's death his sons did away with (it) until the days of Abraham, and they eat blood. But Abraham observed it, and Isaac and Jacob and his children observed it up to thy days, and in thy days the children of Israel forgot it until ye celebrated it anew on this mountain [Sinai].”
(Chapter 6:15-19)
It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that during the time of the Shavuot/ Pentecost festival that we read about in Acts chapter 2, covenant renewal was expected.
How then does this help explain what happened during Pentecost? Let us look at what Acts chapter 2 says:
“And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in the same place. And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out.”
(Acts 2:1-4, LEB)
The description in Luke’s account of what occurred at Pentecost draws on the themes of covenant renewal and has specific corresponding language and imagery associated with Sinai (Marshall, 1977). In Philo’s Decalogue, written in the first century A.D., Jewish Philosopher Philo retells the giving of the 10 Commandments which includes the following:
“And a voice sounded forth from out of the midst of the fire which had flowed from heaven, a most marvellous and awful voice, the flame being endowed with articulate speech in a language familiar to the hearers, which expressed its words with such clearness and distinctness that the people seemed rather to be seeing than hearing it. And the law testifies to the accuracy of my statement, where it is written, "And all the people beheld the voice most evidently.””
Philo’s description gives us insight into how the giving of the 10 Commandments might have been understood by Luke and helps explain why he used some of the language he did in his description of the events of Pentecost. There are clear similarities between Philo’s and Luke’s descriptions; with both speaking of the presence of the Lord displayed in fire, and a relationship between this fire and speech. This is clear evidence of Luke’s intention to focus on covenant renewal, or the beginning of a new covenant, at Pentecost.
So what has this to do with Babel?
There is rabbinic commentary from the third century A.D. which states that when the law was proclaimed at Sinai, it was done so in the languages of the 70 nations of the world, that “each word which proceeded from the mouth of the Almighty divided into seventy tongues” (Jochanan, n.d. in Marshall, 1977; Roberts, 2021). As I have already written about, there is a relationship between the Babel event in Genesis 11 and the Table of 70 Nations in Genesis chapter 10 which emphasises the worldwide implications of the Babel curse.
The giving of the law provided an anti-Babel event in which heaven and earth met atop a high place and the law was proclaimed to (foreshadow) the uniting of the nations. This stands in contrast with the Tower of Babel in which heaven was to be reached (or even assaulted — see my previous article) through earthly effort, which then resulted in the dividing of all nations and languages (Marshall, 1977; Heiser, 2015).
Luke writes that Jesus said that his disciples would:
“Receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.”
(Acts 1:8, LEB)
And that:
“Repentance and the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
(Luke 24:47, LEB)
Luke also talks of Jesus appointing and sending out 70 disciples before his death and resurrection (or 72 in other manuscripts), saying to them that:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest that he send out workers into his harvest.”
(Luke 10:2, LEB)
It has been suggested that perhaps the appointing of the 70 disciples indicates the choosing of 70 people to preach the gospel to each nation (Cole, 1996; Soal et al., 2018).
Having explored some of the cultural context surrounding what Luke wrote, let us now read the verses that describe what happened immediately after the dividing fire came to rest upon the 12 Apostles at Pentecost:
“Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one was hearing them speaking in his own language. And they were astounded and astonished, saying, “Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how do we hear, each one of us, in our own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and those residing in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and the Romans who were in town, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the great deeds of God!” And all were amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another, “What can this mean?””
(Acts 2:5-12, LEB)
Although there are fewer than 50 nations listed in Acts 2, the passage still speaks of all the nations being represented. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the locations from which the Jewish people came are very similar to the list of nations in Genesis 10 - just that they are instead described in first-century language (Soal et al., 2018). Luke’s account, in the passage above, has allusions to the Tower of Babel story; there were people there “from every nation under heaven” and the people were “in confusion” (but this time it is inverted as a positive, because they heard them speaking about the “great deeds of God” in their own language). This is maybe even clearer when the Septuagint Greek translation of Genesis 11 is compared with Acts chapter two, as the same word συγχέω/ sugcheó (confounded) is used whilst the antonyms “scattered” and “gathered” are contrasted. Furthermore, the Greek word διαμερίζω/ diamerizó (divided) is used in Acts 2 to describe the fire and is used in Genesis 10, during the Table of Nations, to describe the Babel event.
It is clear from the context of scripture that both Babel and Pentecost, as historical events, had global implications. The Babel curse, caused by people seeking to make a name for themselves, resulted in division and a diversity of languages. Yet Pentecost, which expressed unity through the name of Jesus, overcame these linguistic barriers through the Holy Spirit. Luke records Pentecost as another Sinai event; a proclamation of the 12 amongst the (figurative) 70 - which brought about a new covenant and the lifting of the Babel curse through the unified Church.
Reference List
Brown, C.R., 2020. Exegesis of Acts 2: 1-13: Luke’s Theological Account for the Recovering of Nations from the Babel Event of Genesis 10/11.
Cole, S.J., 1996. Lesson 22: The Roots of the Nations (Genesis 10:1-32). Available from: https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-22-roots-nations-genesis-101-32
Heiser, M.S., 2015. The unseen realm: Recovering the supernatural worldview of the Bible. Lexham Press.
Marshall, I.H., 1977. The significance of Pentecost. Scottish Journal of Theology, 30(4), pp.347-369.
Posner, M., n.d. 10 Facts About the 10 Commandments. Available from: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5805257/jewish/10-Facts-About-the-10-Commandments.htm
Roberts, J.R., 2021. Reconciling the Tower of Babel Story in Gen 11.1–9 with the Table of Nations Genealogy in Gen 10. SIL International.
Rosenfeld, R.D., n.d. Why Do We Celebrate the Torah on Simchat Torah and Not Shavout? Available from: https://aish.com/why-do-we-celebrate-the-torah-on-simchat-torah-and-not-shavout/
Soal, A.D. and Henry, D., 2018. The reversal of Babel: Questioning the early church’s understanding of the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts as a reversal of the curse of Babel. Verbum et Ecclesia, 39(1), pp.1-10.