Bible Question: I'd like to throw in a question. At pentecost how many were in the upper room, 12 apostles or the 120??........also did the holy spirit fall on just the twelve apostles or on the 120.??? |
Bible Answer: Arrow, Remember that the chapter and verses we have in our translations today were not in the original letter. Keeping that in mind, Acts 1:26 specifically identifies the apostles. Acts 2:1-15 continues the narrative concerning the same people (and not necessarily the same or next day). How do we know the "they" in Acts 2:4 were not the 120? Aside from using proper grammatical rules, we must acknowledge that Jesus had disciples from all of the various regions He visited during His ministry. Acts 1:14 also tells us some of the disciples present were women. With these points in mind consider Acts 2:7 and Acts 2:14-15. One tells us those speaking in tongues were “all” Galileans. Would all of the 120 been Galileans? We know the apostles were. Were only Galilean disciples faithful to Jesus or would the 120 include Judean and Perean Jews, as well? Secondly, Peter acknowledges those mocked in verse 13 were all "men". If 120 people spoke in tongues, might it been unusual to separate the 12 from them so quickly and simultaneously identify the group displaying this miraculous gift as consisting solely of men? Why would Peter leave out the other 108? Was he a male chauvinist? Maybe he desired public attention only be focused on the apostles? Could it be 108 were not present? AO |