Acts 2:13 records a sneering explanation for a remarkable scene: some onlookers dismissed the believers’ speaking in many languages as drunkenness. The verse shows that the first witnesses to the Spirit’s arrival were not all impressed, and some looked for a natural explanation to avoid what was happening. The words are spoken by a group of bystanders in Jerusalem during the feast of Pentecost, aimed at the crowd of Jewish pilgrims who had gathered to hear the believers speak.
Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”
Acts 2:13 (WEB)
What Acts 2:13 Means
The phrase “others, mocking” tells you that not everyone in the crowd responded with faith. Some were amazed and puzzled, while others chose to scoff. The mockers did not deny that something unusual was going on; they simply offered a cheap explanation for it, one that made the strange event easy to dismiss.
The claim “they are filled with new wine” is a joke with an edge. New wine, fresh from the press, was known to be strong and could make people act foolishly. The mockers were saying the believers were drunk and therefore not worth taking seriously. The verse does not promise that God’s work will always be welcomed or understood. It records that people can explain away even genuine moves of God.
The Context of Acts 2:13
Acts was written by Luke, the same author who wrote the Gospel bearing his name. He wrote it for a readership familiar with the wider Greek-speaking world, and the book traces how the message of Jesus moved from Jerusalem outward. Pentecost, the Jewish harvest festival fifty days after Passover, drew pilgrims from many nations, which is why the crowd in verses 10 and 11 hears the disciples speaking in their own languages.
Just before verse 13, the crowd is described as amazed and perplexed, asking what the event means. Verse 13 gives one of the answers they offered. Verse 14 immediately follows with Peter standing to answer, and verse 15 notes that it was only the third hour of the day, too early for drinking. Read in this setting, verse 13 is the crowd’s dismissive reply, and Peter’s response is the correction that follows.
Key Phrases in Acts 2:13
Acts 2:14
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
(WEB)
Peter stands up immediately after the mockery and answers it directly. Reading verse 14 next shows how the apostles responded to scoffing: with a clear and bold reply rather than anger or silence.
1 Corinthians 2:14
Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
(WEB)
Paul explains that people without the Spirit cannot accept the things of God, which helps explain why some onlookers at Pentecost mocked rather than received the message. The verse gives a broader reason for the response Luke records in Acts.
A Short Prayer From Acts 2:13
Lord, when people around me dismiss the things that you are doing, help me not to be shaken or bitter. Give me a steady heart that does not need the crowd’s approval to keep trusting you. Where I am tempted to explain away your work, soften my heart and open my eyes to see you clearly. Teach me to speak the truth with gentleness, and to leave the results in your hands. Amen.
