For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. The tongues used on this occasion were clearly not intended for the preaching of the Gospel, but merely as incontestable evidence that the Holy Spirit was resting on them (see the note at 1 Corinthians 14:22, "Wherefore tongues are for a sign"). The "For" at the beginning of the verse makes this evident. It was the same with the tongues spoken on the day of Pentecost. But just as the miracle then consisted not in the mere employment of foreign tongues, but in proclaiming in those tongues, to them unknown, "the wonderful works of God;" so here this company of Cornelius are heard "magnifying God" in foreign languages. Nor is there any reason why these Gentile converts, speaking as the Spirit gave them utterance, may not have magnified God in similar strains of Old Testament inspiration, as we supposed it probable that the Jewish converts on the day of Pentecost did (see the note at Acts 2:11); in which case the company of Peter that listened to them would the more marvel.