Pentecost Again

by peacefulpete 1 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • peacefulpete
    peacefulpete

    It has been discussed on this forum many times how many Gospel elements were sourced from the OT and related traditions and recast as typological 'fulfillments'. The same is true of certain sections from Acts.

    I recently ran across an interesting section of the Talmud that certainly seems a good candidate for the inspiration for Pentecost scene in Acts 2.

    Recall that the Shavuot or Pentecost festival was linked to the Exodus story of the reception of the 10 Commandments on Mt Sinai. The story naturally had inspired extensive midrashic commentary including the tradition below:

    “The Lord said to Aaron: Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” – that is what is written: “God thunders marvelously with His voice” (Job 37:5). What is “thunders”? When the Holy One, blessed be He gave the Torah at Sinai, He displayed His voice to Israel with miracles and wonders. How so? The Holy One blessed be He would speak, and the voice emerged and circulated throughout the world. ...“From the heavens, He sounded His voice to you to admonish you [and on the earth He showed you His great fire]” ...
    As it is stated: “The Lord came from Sinai and shone to them from Seir” (Deuteronomy 33:2), and it is written: “God came from the south” (Habakkuk 3:3), and it says: “All the people were seeing the voices” (Exodus 20:15). Voice is not written here, but “voices.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The voice would emerge and divide into seventy voices for seventy languages, so that all the nations could understand.
    Shemot Rabbah 5:9
    It is interesting, no? At some point prior to the mid second century (About the time of the writing of Acts) a Pentecost tradition circulated that associated God's fire, and miraculous translation of his voice into all the nations into all 70 of the world's languages.
  • Touchofgrey
    Touchofgrey

    Thanks peacefulpete

    Interesting how these authors adapted these stories and made them seem as actual events.

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