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The Fiery Tongues of Ancient Judaism

לשנות אש

In the New Testament (NT) book of Acts chapter 2, a peculiar event occurred on the biblical holiday called Chag Shavuot { ותעב ג ש ח }, also known as Pentecost:

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. 5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were bewildered because they were each one hearing them speak in his own dialect.

This event, at first glance, seems unlike any other recorded in scripture. There appears to be no miracles that are comparable to it wherein one might gain a relative context. And in the apparent absence of any relative data, an entire Christian denomination was framed on a misinterpretation of what those “tongues” were. Though a thorough exegesis can present a fairly clear picture of what the tongues represented, the answer has been hidden in Jewish tradition all along - even before Yeshua0F

i walked the earth.

The Relevance of Jewish Tradition

“Why study Jewish tradition?” one might ask. In short, the NT is a Jewish book that actually quotes Jewish tradition at times. For example, Paul writes to his Jewish disciple Timothy,

NAS 2 Timothy 3:8 8 And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith.

Who are Jannes and Jambres? They surely aren’t recorded anywhere in the Tanach (OT). So whence did Paul derive this information? Many people forget that Paul remained a Pharisee even after his conversion to the sect known as “The Way”. Luke writes of Paul’s trial:

i Yeshua ישוע is the Hebrew name of Jesus of Nazareth.

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NAS Acts 23:6 6 But perceiving that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!"

Paul exclaimed in the present tense that he was undoubtedly a Pharisee. This means that he espoused their teachings, one of which is found in the Jewish Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Exodus 7 pericope. Regarding Jannes and Jambres it states,

And Mosheh and Aharon went in unto Pharaoh, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aharon threw down the rod before the sight of Pharaoh, and before the sight of his servants, and it became a basilisk. But Pharaoh called the wise men and magicians; and they also, Jannes and Jambres, magicians of Egypt, did the same by their burnings of divination. They threw down each man his rod, and they became basilisks; but were forthwith changed to be what they were at first; and the rod of Aharon swallowed up their rods. And the disposition of Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not hearken to them, as the Lord had said.

According to the Targum, Jannes and Jambres were the sorcerers that opposed Moses and Aaron with their staffs, corroborating Paul’s words to Timothy. As the aforementioned proves, Paul certainly relied upon Jewish tradition for exposition; therefore, it should not be discounted by any serious exegete.

Tongues of Fire

“So why are tongues likened to fire in Acts 2?” one might ask. Because ADONAI is a consuming fire, the spirits that issue from Him are fiery as well.1F

ii Therefore any speech issuing from ADONAI’s spirit is fiery. Attesting to this understanding, the construction “tongues of fire” actually predates the NT and is found in fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS):

Fragment 1 […] the stone, like… they will provide you with light and he will go out with it with tongues of fire {בלשונות אש}; the stone of the left side which is at its

left side will shine to the eyes of all the assembly until the priest finishes speaking. And after it (the cloud?) has been removed … and you shall keep and do

ii See Dt 4:24, 9:3; Ex 3:2; Ps 104:4; II Kgs 2:11; Is 66:15

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all that he tells you. And the proph[et] … who speaks apostasy […][… A]DONAI, GOD of […]2F

iii

The foregoing liturgy is not only fascinating, but it corroborates the notion that “tongues of fire” was a concept not unique to the NT. The Qumran fragments indicate that the high priest who wore the ’urim and tumim would speak with fiery tongues while receiving information from GOD via those two stones. And the congregation would be bound to keep his charge. 3F

iv The DSS fragments and the Pentecost incident of Acts 2 have a commonality: in both cases GOD speaks through men using tongues of fire.

Pentecost and Sinai

Acts 2 records Jews from every place “under heaven” (v.5) as living in Jerusalem to fulfill the requirement of appearing before the temple. 4F

v Our first clue in establishing a link between this case and another in the Tanach is found in verse 41:

NAS Acts 2:41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

There were about three thousand people brought to new life that day. Now notice what occurred at Mount Sinai fourteen hundred years earlier:

NAS Exodus 32:28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

Those 3,000 that perished were of the golden calf idolaters. So in the first case about three thousand were gained while about three thousand were lost in the second case (over a millennium earlier) – also note the approximating word “about” in both pericopes. There is certainly an affinity between the Pentecost outpouring of Acts 2 and the Sinai event of Ex 19-20 when Israel received the Torah from GOD. With the understanding that these Jews in Acts 2 would’ve been situated in front of the Temple, 5F

vi the possible connection between the Sinai Mountain and the Temple also becomes clear as both places held the presence of GOD.

iii 1Q29 - 1QLiturgy of the Three Tongues of Fire; also confer 4Q376. iv See also how even the wicked high priest Caiaphas prophesied in the NT Gospel of John 11:51 regarding Yeshua. v The day of Pentecost is one of the Shelosh Regalim or “three pilgrimages” of the year. It mandates that all men come before the temple an submit their offerings (Ex 23:14-17; Dt 16:16). vi The outpouring of fiery tongues occurred around nine o’clock antemeridian (Acts 2:13-15) being when the shacharit prayer was (and still is) conducted. It was the hour of prayer on Pentecost; these Jews would’ve certainly been at the Temple.

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But why would Pentecost be connected with the giving of the Torah at Sinai? Though our scriptures are silent on the matter, Jewish tradition says that the Torah was given on Pentecost (the 6th day of the Jewish month Sivan). The Babylonian Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin 86b states,

Our Rabbis taught: On the sixth day of the month [Sivan/Pentecost] were the Ten Commandments given to Israel. R. Jose maintained: On the seventh thereof. Said Raba: All agree that they arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai on the first of the month. [For] here it is written, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai; whilst elsewhere it is written, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: just as there the first of the month, so here [too] the first of the month [is meant]. Again, all agree that the Torah was given to Israel on the Sabbath.

Apart from Rabbi Jose’s disagreement, the overall opinion was that the Torah was given on the 6th of Sivan, again, which is Pentecost. Judaism still teaches this today. So, here is a second clue that links Ex 19-20 with Acts 2. Further, these Jews from every land and tongue under the sky all heard the disciples speak their own respective languages. Now notice what Jewish tradition tells us occurred at Sinai. An ancient Jewish commentary known as the Midrash Exodus Rabbah (5:9) states,

When GOD gave the Torah on Sinai, He displayed untold marvels to Israel with His voice. What happened? GOD spoke and the Voice reverberated throughout the world… It says: And all the people perceived the thunderings (Ex. XX, 18). Note that it does not say ‘the thunder ‘,but ’ the thunderings ‘; wherefore R. Johanan said that GOD's voice, as it was uttered, was distributed into seventy voices, in seventy tongues, so that all the nations should understand. When each nation heard the Voice in their own dialect their souls departed, save Israel who heard…

According to this ancient midrash, the Torah was given in seventy tongues or languages – not ecstatic utterances. Moreover, each nation “heard the Voice (of GOD) in their own dialect”! This wording is almost identical to the report of Acts 2:6: “…every man heard them speak in

his own dialect”. Further, Acts 2:3 describes the fiery tongues as “distributing themselves” while Midrash Rabbah reports that GOD’s voice was “was distributed… in seventy

tongues”.6F

vii As is well known, The Book of Genesis documents seventy peoples coming from the loins of Noah in a pericope called the table of nations.7F

viii In that same pericope, the seventy peoples having one language are stricken with the confusion of speech and left unable to

vii Perhaps an allusion to the multiple languages spoken at Mt Sinai, the Decalogue’s first word is ’anokhi {אנכי} which means “I (am)” in Hebrew, but also in Egyptian {anok}. See Midrash Tanchuma Buber Yitro 16. viii The table of nations is found in Gn 10-11. Also cross-reference Dt 32:7-8 where GOD is said to have partitioned the sons of Adam (mankind) according to the number of the children of Israel (MT). Then see Gn 46:27 & Ex 1:5 where Israel is reckoned as seventy persons in total.

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understand each other.8F

ix This explains why ADONAI9F

x spoke the Torah in seventy tongues at Mount Sinai: the “mixed multitude”, being a combination of nations, sojourned with Israel and was present at the mountain also. 10F

xi Next, Rabbi Johanon in the midrash brought up how Ex 20:18 doesn’t say “the thunder”, but “the thunderings”. What did he mean by this? The first part of Ex 20:18 states,

And each of the people (were) perceiving the thunders and the lamps.

וכל־העם ראים את־הקו�ת ואת־הלפידם…

The plural noun {קלת qoloth} meaning “thunderings” can also mean “sounds” or “voices”. Rather than the text speaking of a singular sound {קול qol}, it speaks of plural sounds or voices - the crux of R. Johanon’s observation. So this ancient commentary provides great insight into a pericope that has caused much controversy in the Christian world. Christendom has much to learn from its older brother Judah.

Summary

In conclusion, the episode of Acts 2 is not only consistent with events in the Torah but also with details found in Pharisaic and Rabbinic tradition. Certainly the Jews from every nation that stood before the temple hearing fiery words, each in his own language, were familiar with the story of the Torah being issued in seventy languages at Sinai. GOD, who is a consuming fire, spoke Torah in seventy tongues and then destroyed about 3,000 idolaters before the mountain by the hands of the Levites. Fourteen-hundred years later, He saved about 3,000 souls before the Temple wherein He spoke in each man’s native dialect by the twelve apostles using fiery tongues. 11F

xii And both events occurred on the morning of Pentecost. 12F

xiii What begins as a possible correlation between the Pentecost of Acts 2 and the Sinai event is only solidified by the backdrop of Judaism’s traditions. There is much to glean from the written word, but one can only reach its fullest understanding by seeking the rich history that Yeshua and Paul were brought up in – Jewish tradition.

ix See Genesis 11:1-9 x The Hebrew term “ADONAI” {דני my Lords”} is a biblical title used instead of the name YHWH so as to keep“ = אfrom profaning GOD’s holy name. xi See Ex 12:38, 49 & Nm 11:4 xii Also compare Ex 24:3-8 with Acts 2:1-15 where in both accounts the people are all of one accord; the twelve pillars and twelve apostles; the ratification of the covenant at Sinai and the Temple etc. Perhaps there is more to document than I’ve undertaken. xiii The giving of the Torah occurred in the morning - confer Ex 19:16 & Acts 2:15.