There's a sad story hidden behind the words, "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." ( Acts 2:5).
The story begins as we take note that it was the day called Pentecost (see Acts 2:1). This day had the air of a harvest festival and came at the beginning of the gathering of the wheat crop. Pentecost is often referred to as a pilgrim festival. To us living here in the United States, the Pentecost season might be compared to our annual Thanksgiving celebration. For us, Thanksgiving is a time when people travel great distances to spend a few days with their family and enjoy the reunion. Typically, it's America's busiest travel time of the year. And, although our Thanksgiving is not a religious pilgrim festival, the comparison seems close enough to partly explain the ancient meaning of Pentecost.
A Bible commentary states, "Pentecost, of all feasts of the Jewish year, attracted the largest number of pilgrims from distant lands. The dangers of travel by sea and land in the early spring and late autumn prevented the coming of people from abroad in any large numbers to the Passover or to the Feast of Tabernacles. But the Pentecostal season was favorable, and at no other feast would there have been present at Jerusalem representatives of so many nations." 6BC134
The sadness of the story unfolds as we note that the ancient Jews had been scattered far and wide throughout their world. Herod Agrippa II, (a Roman ruler) stated, "there is not a people in the world which does not contain a portion of our race" (Josephus War ii. 16. 4 [399]. We also note from the Bible that the book of James is addressed "to the twelve tribes which are scattered aboard." (James 1:1). The reason behind the scattering is what is really sad. Mostly, the Jews were ripped out of their homeland by military force and replanted in colonies in distant parts of the world.
The dispersion of the Jews was due primarily to the great captivities they had suffered: (1) the ten northern tribes were taken to Assyria and Media in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17:6): (2) most of the tribe of Judah was resettled in Babylonia, in three separate waves of aggression beginning in 605 B.C., (3) and great numbers of captives were shipped to Egypt (Josephus Antiquities xii 1. 1 [6,7]). In addition to the Jews who were taken captive, thousands were lured to every part of the world because of their superior business abilities.
In modern times, the terms Russian Jew, Ethiopian Jew, German Jew, American Jew and all of the other nationalities of Jews reminds us of how widely the Jewish people have been dispersed around the world. Today, as we read the list of nations where Jews were living in Bible times (Acts 2:9-11) we can more fully understand why they would have been in Jerusalem during the feast of Pentecost. Many were visiting their ancestral home, or in terms we in the United States might use, they were home for Thanksgiving. The real sadness of the occasion is why they left originally left home.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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