They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
Parallel translations
- WEB Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them.
- KJV And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
- NKJV Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
- NASB And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them.
- NLT Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Tongues like fire appear and rest on each believer. It visibly marks each one as filled with the Spirit.
Overview
Fire often signifies God's presence and purifying power in Scripture. The distribution of flames 'on each of them' shows the Spirit comes upon every believer, not just leaders. This visible sign confirms the new-covenant gift of the Spirit to all God's people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Matt 3:11I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- John 1:32–33Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.
- Jer 23:29“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”
- Acts 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
- Luke 24:32They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
- Isa 11:2–3The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
- Gen 11:6And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.
- 1 Cor 12:10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
- Mal 3:2–3But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Acts 2:11both Jews and converts to Judaism; Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
- Rev 14:6Then I saw another angel flying overhead, with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
- Matt 3:15“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.
- Isa 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
- Rev 11:3And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
- Jas 3:6The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
- Ps 55:9O Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.
- Acts 1:15In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 2:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.