Did they speak in Tongues?

 

This document is a collection of ancient and modern commentaries on this passage:

 

Acts 8:14-21 (New International Version)

   ¹⁴When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into^[a] the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

   ¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money ¹⁹and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

   ²⁰Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

Footnotes:

a.       Acts 8:16 Or in

 

 

 

From http://www.victorious.org/chur63.htm:

 

The fifth century church father, Augustine of Hippo, was very insightful about the beliefs held by the early church regarding speaking in tongues and supported this view. From his comments about Acts 8:17-19, it was his assumption, due to his own experience in such matters, that Simon must have seen the Samaritans speaking in tongues. Augustine wrote, "We still do what the apostles did when they laid hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them by laying on of hands. It is expected that new converts should speak with new tongues."¹

 

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SAMARIA -- ACTS 8:14-21

The next case is that of the Samaritans.  It has been argued that they did not speak in tongues.  But the Bible record will indicate they did.  There was a great city wide revival  under Phillip in which many were converted and baptized in Jesus Name (Acts 8:5-8).  Many signs and wonders occurred in that revival (Acts 8:13).  But the new converts had not received the baptism of the Holy Ghost yet, and this necessitated the Apostles making a special visit to Samaria.  When they arrived, they "prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:14-16).  The first thing that strikes us is, how did Phillip and the Apostles know they had not received the Spirit?  What evidence was lacking in their experience?  They had repented, they had joy, many were healed and delivered from demons.  What was the one missing element that tipped everyone off that the Holy Ghost had not yet fallen?"  If Phillip had been like most modern day pastors he would have sent the Apostles packing back to Jerusalem, telling them not to bother his "members,"  they already had the Spirit Baptism in a quiet unobservable way, and didn't need any "signs" to prove it.

But there was a sign that Phillip and the Apostles were expecting:

 

"Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost"  (Acts 8:17-19).   Simon, who was a practitioner of magic, saw something amazing occur the minute the Apostles laid hands on the believers.  It was a sign so unique and unusual, something he had never seen before, that he blasphemously attempted to buy this power from the Apostles so he could duplicate the same sign through  the laying on of his hands.  What was it he saw, if it was not the miracle of tongues?  Remember, Simon had already witnesses healings, exorcisms and many other "miracles and signs" in the revival prior to this incident (Acts  8:7-9, 13).  He never offered money before for any of those things.  This, however, was something new; something which had not yet occurred in the revival.  It was the absence of that same element that prompted  the Apostles earlier to conclude the Samaritans had not yet received the Spirit Baptism.  What was this element?  It was the sign of tongues.

 

The response of Peter to his impious offer was:   

 

Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter...

(Acts 8:20-21),

 

The Greek word for "matter" is "word" or "speech".  This indicates that the miracle Simon saw was "vocal," for he had no part in that "speech."

 

TESTIMONY TO SAMARITAN TONGUES

That tongues were the outward sign that Simon saw is the universal conclusion of every major commentator and Bible scholar through centuries.  Here are their comments on the Samaritan reception.

 

MATTHEW HENRY

Commenting on the Samaritans before the Apostles arrived:   

"They were none of them endued with the gift of tongues, then to have been the most usual, immediate effect of the pouring our of the Spirit... This was both an eminent sign to them that believed not, and of excellent service to them that did..."

 

ADAM CLARKE -- METHODIST

"It was the miraculous gifts of the Spirit which were thus communicated -- the speaking with different tongues..."

 

THOMAS SCOTT -- EPISCOPALIAN

Commenting on Simon's perverse desire to purchase the power of laying on of hands:

 

"This he supposed would admirably serve his purpose.. enabling men at his own will to speak foreign languages."

 

JOSEPH BENSON -- METHODIST

 

"These new converts spoke with tongues and performed other extraordinary works."

 

PHILLIP SCHAFF -- REFORMED

 

"Outward miraculous gifts of some kind or other were plainly bestowed."

 

LUTHERAN COMMENTARY

 

"When Simon had seen the effects of the communication of the Holy Ghost, speaking with tongues, and like."

 

ALBERT BARNES -- PRESBYTERIAN

 

"The phrase, 'Gift of the Holy Ghost...' signified not merely his ordinary influence in converting sinners, but... the power of speaking in tongues."

 

WILLIAM ROBERTSON

 

"That prayer was answered by an outpouring of the Spirit, accompanied by some of the manifestations which marked his coming at Pentecost."

 

THE EXPOSITORS GREEK NEW TESTAMENT

Dr. Hort, who holds that the reception of the Holy Spirit is here explained as in Acts 10:44 by reference to the manifestation of the gifts of tongues.

Thus we see from the context of Acts 8, Simon "saw" which so fascinated him, something he had not seen previously, must have been the sign of tongues.  With this conclusion agree commentators and scholars from all denominations, the original Greek of the passage, logical deduction, and comparative incidents in Acts.  If it wasn't tongues, what was it?