Acts 2:5-13 comments: what speaking in tongues really means

2:5 ¶  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were

born? 9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Every nation under heaven does not mean that every nation on earth was represented but that a wide variety of nations where Jews lived had representatives there. There was no distinction with regard to where Jews dwelt as we must remember that words like every and all in English can be without distinction or the more strict without exception. For instance,

1Timothy 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

…cannot mean all without exception or you can toss out free will and include universal salvation as a doctrine. Of course, this would contradict almost every other verse in the Bible on the subject of salvation. This is clearly all without distinction. Salvation is open to all people. It is God’s wish that all men be saved although they will not be because of their own choices.

We get the word nation here from the Greek ethnos from which we get our modern ethnicity or ethnic which denotes people-groups as opposed to what we think when we see nation, as modern nation-states. There are different places represented here whose people speak various languages, all having in common that they were Jews, perhaps by blood or by conversion. These are native speakers, born in the places mentioned. Proselytes, converts to Judaism, called by some commentators of the Jews, new creatures, are mentioned elsewhere.

Matthew 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Acts 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

Acts 13:43  Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

As a note of interest, notice how the Holy Spirit appropriates the Jewish reference to the convert as a new creature.

2Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Galatians 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

These Jews and proselytes came from the area of present-day Iran and Iraq, Egypt and North Africa, and in the area of modern-day Turkey. What tongues are is made very clear here by their relationship to the languages spoken.

The mocking in verse 13 is based on the fact that the term new wine is defined based on the context. In the following it would be newly pressed juice;

Isaiah 65:8  Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

Remembering that in the specific context of Joseph’s pharaoh it was indeed that, squeezed by a trusted servant’s hand into the pharaoh’s cup.

Genesis 40:11  And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

However, in other contexts new wine is intoxicating and not just freshly squeezed grape juice.

Hosea 4:11  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

Zechariah 9:17  For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

And so, new wine here is in a mocking suggestion that the disciples are drunk which Peter will then deny saying it is only 9am, the third hour of the day, a bit early for a normal person to be making merry with wine.