Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon 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.
- BSB They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on 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 indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
- John 1:32–33John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him.
- Jer 23:29“Isn’t my word like fire?” says Yahweh; “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
- Acts 2:4They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
- Luke 24:32They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”
- Isa 11:2–3Yahweh’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.
- Gen 11:6Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.
- 1 Cor 12:10and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.
- Mal 3:2–3“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap;
- Acts 2:11Cretans and Arabians: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”
- Rev 14:6I saw an angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal Good News to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
- Matt 3:15But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.
- Isa 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
- Rev 11:3I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
- Jas 3:6And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.
- Ps 55:9Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
- Acts 1:15In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.