Theophylact of Ohrid, on Acts 2:1

“And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place:”

“Why did this happen "when the day of Pentecost had come"? Because when the sickle was to come down upon the harvest, when it was time to gather the fruits, then the sickle of the word also had to come down; and as if in place of a sickle, the sharpened Holy Spirit descended. And Christ says: "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few" (Matt. 9:37), and in another place: "Look at the fields, how they are already white for harvest" (John 4:35). Having received the firstfruits, Christ Himself was the first to offer them up, and He Himself was the first to send the sickle. Why then did He send it "when the day of Pentecost had come"? Because this had to happen when the feast came again, so that those who had been present at the cross of Christ could see this as well. The descent of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost for the following reason. On the day of Pentecost in the Old Testament, the law was given. And so, on the same day that the law written on tablets was given, on that same day the legislation of the Holy Spirit was granted, inscribed not on tablets but on hearts. On the day of Pentecost the people of Israel received the law in the wilderness of Sinai, because on the fourteenth day of the first month by the lunar reckoning, when they celebrated the feast of unleavened bread and the mystery of Pascha, the sons of Israel went out of Egypt. From the fourteenth day count seventeen days to the end of the month, then thirty days of the following month and three days of the third. That is how many days Pentecost falls after the feast of unleavened bread or Pascha. Thus, from the fourteenth day of the first month to the third day of the third month is fifty days. Therefore it is said: "In the third month after the departure of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt… the Lord said to Moses: Go to the people, [declare] and sanctify them today and tomorrow" (Exod. 19:1, 10). This the Lord says at the new moon. "On the third day," it continues, "the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai" (v. 11). And so, on the same day that the law was given, it was fitting that the grace of the Spirit should also be granted, because just as the Savior, being about to undergo the holy passion, was pleased to surrender Himself to that passion not at any other time but at the time when the lamb was slain, so as to unite the truth with the very figure, so also the descent of the Holy Spirit, by the good pleasure from above, was granted not at any other time but at the time when the law was given, in order to show that both then and now the Holy Spirit is the Lawgiver. Thus, in the Old Testament the law was given on the fiftieth day. And after their arrival in the promised land, the Israelites established a feast in memory of this event, and at this time they offered to God from the firstfruits of the new harvest and from the new ears of grain; and this was a symbol of the feast. Since on the day of Pentecost they brought in sheaves of new fruits and various persons gathered under one sky, on this same day it was fitting that the firstfruits from every nation of all peoples living under heaven should be gathered into one sheaf of piety and, according to the apostolic word, be brought to God. A sheaf of ears of grain served as a prototype of this, in order to prefigure the sheaves of souls chosen from different countries and brought to God.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.