Ten days after the Ascension of Jesus Christ there was a miraculous event on Jerusalem during the Feast of Shavuot or ‘Weeks’, most commonly referred to as Pentecost.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  (Acts 2:4)

The Greek word for tongue is γλῶσσα glossa (Strong’s 1100) and, as in English, it can mean either the tongue or a tongue – a language [and is where English derives words like ‘glossary’ and ‘gloss’, when used in the sense ‘to gloss over’, or ‘put a gloss on something’].

The Bible tells how once ‘the whole world had one language and a common speech’ (Genesis 11:1) but not only between all men and women, but also between humankind and God.  For instance, even after the Fall and expulsion from Eden, both Cain and Noah could converse directly with God.  But as men decided to supplant God and, in their futility, build a tower that would reach the heavenward, God intervened.

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.  The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’  (Genesis 11:5-7)

And so, through His Spirit, a babbling divergence of dialect and language came into being, and is so doing gave an onomatopoeic name to the vanity project:

That is why it was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.  (ibid 11:9)

But God’s prophets foresaw a day when all could speak to God again, and also when a common tongue would be re-instated.

‘Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord…’  (Zephaniah 3:9)

The Hebrew word שָׂפָה saphah (Strong’s 8193) also means tongue, speech or language.

And while this also means,

 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
no longer will their names be invoked.  (Hosea 2:17)

Zephaniah looks to that time when speech when speech will be one.  Both passages speak are in reference to the ‘Day of the Lord’ the coming judgement on all the nations, when all will know and say ‘Jesus is Lord.’  Or as his contemporary writes:

 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labour is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. (Habbakuk 2:13-14)

Many believe all will then speak Hebrew, but whatever the language, there is reversal of the curse of Babel through an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that began with the momentous events at Pentecost.

In the meantime, the Holy Spirit has anointed all languages differently as mediums through which the Gospel of God is necessarily communicated.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’  (Romans 10:14-15)

One such tongue was Koine, or Common Greek, the language used by the apostles to write the books of the New Testament.

It was God’s plan to raise up Alexander the Great.  Through his short-lived empire, Hellenistic culture spread throughout what we call today the Middle East.  This meant that when another, even more far-flung empire, Rome, came into being, the Apostles such as Paul could not only travel freely but speak in a common tongue, Alexandrian or Koine Greek.  Thus, Koine was the lingua franca at the time of Jesus.  The disciples would have spoken Koine to trade and barter, some of their names are Greek, Andrew (Andreas) and Philip and may not have needed the miracle at Pentecost to teach them that particular language.

Like Greek, some languages transcend their people and become a common tongue, take for example Spanish in the America continent.  Another, Anglo-Saxon, once an small off-shoot of the northern Germanic branch of Indo-European, and spoken perhaps by no more than half a million people at the most perhaps, gave rise to English.  While the number for those who have English as their first language is not high compared to Mandarin (375 million as opposed to 1 billion) English is widespread.  In 2015, 81 countries gave English as its official language, while 28% of all books worldwide published and 30% of all web content is in English.  It is the international language of business, finance, science, engineering and aviation, including space travel.  English is widely spoken as a second language is many countries, such as India, Nigeria, the Philippines, most of Europe and of course, the Middle East.

Because of the British Empire (another raised up by God) many people were introduced to the Gospel in English  And the Holy Spirit gave the Anglo-Saxon pagans a language that is replete with words to convey Biblical Truth:

The verb ‘to bless’ derives from the verb bletsian, meaning to sprinkle or anoint with blood.  While this applied to the sprinkling of blood on pagan shrines, what better way to convey the benefit of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.  From the shedding of His blood all humankind is therefore ‘blessed’.  A blessing is therefore ‘the benefit gained from a blood sacrifice’.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished… (Romans 3:25)

Take also the word ‘holy’.  This derives from halig (the ‘g’ is softened so it acts like a ‘y’).  Yet, in English, there is a etymological link with ‘whole’ and ‘health’.

Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed at that moment.  (Matthew 9:22NIV)

In the Authorised Version, it says ‘your faith has made you whole’.

Challenged after He had healed the paralysed man by saying that his sins were forgiven, Jesus responds:

^‘Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, take your mat and walk”? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ (Mark 2:9-10)

For Jesus making whole, healing and sanctifying, where the same act.  Whereas in modern English, Jesus is called ‘Saviour’, for the Anglo-Saxon, Jesus was called Se Helend, the Healer.

There are many other similar words with complex meanings and associations, be they:

• ‘righteousness’, rihtwisnes, the state of right thinking and acting, the very essence of repentance is changing one’s thinking and actions to align with God’s will.
• ‘forgiveness’, forgiefnes, literally ‘to let go’ or ‘give up’ judgment, retribution and vengeance.
• ‘belief’, geleafa, to bestow the title of respect leof, which is in turn close in derivation to lufu ‘love’; therefore belief is literally taking a risk in whom we love.
• or ‘lord’, derived from hlaford or hlaf-weard, meaning the keeper/giver of bread, in line with Jesus saying he is the ‘bread of life’ (John 6:35 – see previous post on this blog)

where the Anglo-Saxon word has been invested with Christian truth, making words from pagan history redolent of Christ.

If some Christians belief that Hebrew is spoken in heaven, others point to the speaking in tongues as an outpouring of Angelic speech:

For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 14:2)

Later in the chapter, Paul adds caution to this charismatic gift:

So, if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and enquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?…

 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two – or at the most three – should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.  If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God. (ibid 14:23 & 27-28)

All this in the context of the previous chapter on the foundation of love:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. (ibid 13:1)

Speech, the very ability to communicate, is God-given.  That we have a tongue is God’s doing and the central reason for this organ is to praise the Creator of all things.  To join with the elders in the heavenly throne room who say:

‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.’  (Revelation 4:11)