Pentecost

== Background ==
{{see also|Shavuot}}
In [[Judaism]], Shavuot is a [[harvest festival]] that is celebrated seven weeks and one day after the first day of [[Passover]] in  Deuteronomy 16:9, or seven weeks and one day after the [[Sabbath]] according to Leviticus 23:16.<ref name=EDNT>{{Cite book |isbn=978-0-8028-2803-3 |last1=Balz |first1=Horst Robert |last2=Schneider |first2=Gerhard |title=Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament |date=1994}}</ref><ref name=keil>{{Cite book |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |isbn=978-0-913573-88-4 |last1=Keil |first1=Carl Friedrich |last2=Delitzsch |first2=Franz |title=Commentary on the Old Testament |location=Peabody, Massachusetts |date=2011}}</ref><ref name=EBC>{{Cite book |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-36500-6 |last=Gaebelein |first=Frank E |title=The expositors Bible commentary with the New International Version of the Holy Bible in twelve volum |location=Grand Rapids, MI |date=1984}}</ref> It is discussed in the [[Mishnah]] and the [[Babylonian Talmud]], tractate [[Arakhin]]<ref>[http://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Arakhin.7 Mishnah Arakhin 7:1–9:8]; Tosefta Arakhin 5:1–19; [https://www.sefaria.org/Arakhin.24a Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 24a–34a].</ref> The actual mention of fifty days comes from  Leviticus 23:16.<ref name="auto" /><ref name=niv>{{Cite book |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-92605-4 |title=NIV archaeological study Bible an illustrated walk through biblical history and culture : New International Version. |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |date=2005}}</ref> 

The Festival of Weeks is also known as the Feast of Harvest in  Exodus 23:16 and the Day of First Fruits in Numbers 28:26.<ref name=keil /> In Exodus 34:22, it is called the "first fruits of the wheat harvest."<ref name=EBC /> 

Sometime during the Hellenistic period, the ancient harvest festival also became a day of renewing the [[Seven laws of Noah|Noahic covenant]], described in [[Noach|Genesis 9:17]], which is established between God and "all flesh that is upon the earth".<ref name=jansen>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-504645-8| last = Jansen| first = John Frederick| editor1-first = Bruce M| editor1-last = Metzger| editor2-first = Michael D| editor2-last = Coogan| title = The Oxford Companion to the Bible| chapter = Pentecost| access-date = 2018-12-02| date = 1993| chapter-url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046458.001.0001/acref-9780195046458-e-0560| doi = 10.1093/acref/9780195046458.001.0001| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195046458}}</ref> After the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Temple in 70 CE]], offerings could no longer be brought to the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] and the focus of the festival shifted from [[agriculture]] to the Israelites receiving the [[Torah]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111377/jewish/Shavuot.htm|title=Shavuot - The Holiday of the Giving of the Torah - Chabad.org|website=chabad.org}}</ref> 

By this time, some Jews were already living in the [[Diaspora]]. According to {{Sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Acts|chapter=2|verse=5|range=-11}} there were Jews from "every nation under heaven" in Jerusalem, possibly visiting the city as [[pilgrims]] during Pentecost.<ref name=ebcacts>{{Cite book| publisher = Zondervan| isbn = 978-0-310-53203-3| last = Longenecker| first = Richard N.| title = Acts| year= 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gu8xDgAAQBAJ}}</ref>