Oecumenius, on Acts 2:3

“And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them:”

“The Spirit is distributed as tongues of fire, and rests upon each one individually, obviously upon the one hundred and twenty who were also present in the house. For the grace of the Paraclete, though from one root, was being portioned into diverse gifts. And a tongue was needed to proclaim the great things of God, consuming every opposing thing like fire. Fire in form, because the Spirit is God, and so that thereby He might reveal the likeness to the Father, who therefore appears to Moses on the bush. (see Ex. 3:2) And He sits upon each one individually, indicating stability and permanence. For 'He sat down,' it signifies that He remained and ceased again. It means that concerning John it was about to be known to one man, as a dove is seen coming upon the head of Christ. (see Jn. 1:32) But when the whole multitude was to be turned, like fire. And what the Hebrews from old used to think about God, that He is consuming fire. (see Heb. 12:29, Deut. 4:24) Yet also when the disciples persevered in prayer and supplication, and in mutual love, then the guiding Spirit came upon them.”

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