The Idea Of The Cloven Tongues Has Always ...

The idea of the cloven tongues has always bothered me. At least, that’s the way we usually see this phrase translated. When I was young, that really used to bother me. I’d watched all those old westerns where the Native Americans would say, “White man speak with forked tongue.” I didn’t like the idea of cloven tongues because that would imply that the Spirit and spiritual people were speaking with forked tongues. For a while, I was thinking that it might be a way of describing the way fiery tongues would look with multiple flames.

It wasn’t until I was looking at the Greek text that I realized that the verb Äéáìåñéæüìåíáé doesn’t have to mean “divided in two.” It can mean to be divided between. If I were dealing from a deck of cards like those naval games and that Roman game we play after church sometimes, I wouldn’t be cutting the cards in two. I’d be dividing the cards between us. In the same way, these “tongues” or “languages” were divided among the people at prayer, the people of God who were willing to serve at Pentecost.