Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on Acts 2:9
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, etc.] These are the words of the men continued, and not of the historian, as appears from (<440210>Acts 2:10) and so the Arabic version reads, “of us Persians, Parthians, and Medes”; that is, we hear them speak in the language of everyone of us: the order in this version is inverted, otherwise the same persons are intended; for the Elamites and Persians are the same: by the Parthians are meant, Jews that were born in Parthia, and had dwelt there, and who spoke the language of that country; and that there were Jews, in those parts, is clear from Josephus f72, who speaks of them together with the Jews of other nations. Many of the Parthian Jews were afterwards converted to the Christian faith; to whom the Apostle John is thought, by some, to have written his first epistle; and which, by some of the ancients, is called the epistle to the Parthians. The kingdom of Parthia, according to Pliny f73, Ptolomy f74, and Solinus f75, had Media on the west, Hyrcania on the north, Aria, or Ariana, on the east, and the desert of Carmania on the south; the metropolis of it was Hecatompylos, so called from the hundred gates that belonged to it; and which, it is thought, stood on the same spot of ground that Ispahan does now, the seat of the Sophies of Persia. And by the Medes are intended the Jews that were natives of Media: so called from “Madai”, one of the sons of Japhet, (<011002>Genesis 10:2) and this, according to Ptolomy f76, has on the north the Hyrcanian, or Gasptan sea, on the west Armenia Major and Assyria, and on the east Hyrcania and Parthia, and on the south Parthia. The Elamites are so called, from Elam the son of Shem, (<011022>Genesis 10:22) and these, according to Josephus f77, were the founders of the Persians, or from whom they sprung; and so we find Elam and Media, and the kings of Elam, and the kings of the Medes, mentioned together in Scripture, (<232102>Isaiah 21:2, <242525>Jeremiah 25:25). And certain it is, that Elam was at least a part of the empire of Persia, in Daniel’s time; for Shushan, where the kings of Persia then kept their palace, was in the province of Elam, (<270802>Daniel 8:2) and it is evident, that hither the Jews were carried captive, (<231111>Isaiah 11:11, <244934>Jeremiah 49:34-39). So that there might be some remaining in those parts, that were their descendants; and from hence also were people brought by Asnapper, into the cities of Samaria, to supply the room of those who were carried captive, and are called Elamites, (<150409>Ezra 4:9) And that there were Elamite Jews, may be concluded from the writings of the Jews; for so they say f78, that “the Hagiographa, or holy writings, which were written in the Coptic, Median, Hebrew, tymly[, “Elamite”, and Greek tongues; though they did not read in them (on the sabbath day in time of service) they delivered them from the fire,” when in danger of being burned: so the Megilla, or book of Esther, might not be read in the Coptic, Hebrew, Elamite, Median, and Greek languages; but it might be read in Coptic to Coptites, in Hebrew to Hebrews, µymly[l tymly[, in “Elamite” to the “Elamites”, and in Greek to the Greeks f79; and such sort of Jews as the Elamite ones, were these in the text: the Syriac version reads Elanites; and so R. Benjamin in his Itinerary f80 , makes mention of a country called, hynla, “Alania”, and of a people called, ˆala, “Alan”; and whom he speaks of in company with Babylon, Persia, Choresan, Sheba, and Mesopot…
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