The question of where the baptisms mentioned in Acts 2.41 took place is debated, since Luke gives no precise indication. Several hypotheses have been put forward, but some appear more plausible than others.
The pools of Bethesda or Siloam?
Some authors have proposed the pools of Bethesda (John 5.2) or of (John 9.7). However, these reservoirs were not specifically intended for ritual purifications, and access to them would have been impractical for receiving several hundred, even several thousand people.
The ritual baths around the Temple
The hypothesis generally favored today by historians and archaeologists concerns the many mikvaot, that is, the Jewish ritual baths, located around the Temple esplanade.
Excavations carried out to the south and west of the Temple Mount have uncovered several dozen of these pools. They were used for the purifications prescribed by the Law before entering the Temple. The pilgrims who went up to Jerusalem for the great feasts used them regularly.
These installations offered several advantages:
- they were already filled with water;
- they were numerous;
- they could hold a large number of people at the same time;
- they were located in the immediate vicinity of the place where the apostles were probably teaching (Acts 2.46; Acts 3.1).
Thus, if the baptisms did indeed take place from Pentecost onward, the mikvaot of the Temple are the most natural hypothesis.
A possible spreading out of the baptisms
However, caution is in order. Luke specifies neither the place, nor the exact number of people baptized on the first day, nor the precise moment when these baptisms were administered (Acts 2.41). It is therefore conceivable that they took place over several days.
In that case, the many ritual baths of Jerusalem, as well as other water sources available in the city, could have been used gradually.
Another possibility: the disciples themselves
The one hundred and twenty disciples present at Pentecost (Acts 1.15) could also have taken part in administering the baptisms. Nothing in the text requires us to think that the twelve apostles alone baptized all the new believers.
Conclusion
From a historical point of view, the most probable solution is that the baptisms took place in the ritual baths (mikvaot) located near the Temple, where the first Christians were accustomed to gather (Acts 2.46; Acts 5.12). However, Luke's account does not allow us to assert with certainty that the three thousand people were all baptized immediately, nor that these baptisms took place in a single location.
If the baptisms mentioned in Acts 2.41 were indeed administered from Pentecost onward, the many ritual baths around the Temple are the most likely location. Nevertheless, Luke's silence on this point rules out any categorical assertion.
This caution is all the more justified because, unlike certain later episodes (Acts 8.38; Acts 16.33), Luke does not consider it useful to describe the practical details of these baptisms, his main interest being to emphasize the rapid expansion of the young Church.