kept back. Greek. noaphizomai. Only here, Acts 5:3 . Tit 9:10 . of = from. App-104 . being privy to = being conscious of. Greek. suneidon. Only here, Acts 12:12 ; Acts 14:6 . 1 Corinthians 4:4 . at. App-104 . apostles'. App-189 . read more
And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet."This means that they secretly kept back a part, while professedly devoting all to God."[9] Their sin was that of pretending to a degree of generosity higher than they actually possessed, a pretense which they had determined to support with falsehood.The excessive enormity of this sin, in context, was that it placed in jeopardy the entire Christian movement. As Lange... read more
Acts 5:1-2. But a certain man, &c.— In Psalms 110:0 where our Saviour is prophetically described in the person of a king advanced to the throne of divine majesty, glorious and triumphant, it is said, that his people, in the day of his power, should offer him free-will-offerings; which alludes to the Eastern custom of bringing presents to their kings on their inauguration. This prophesy was fulfilled in some small degree, in a temporal sense, as we find in the fore-going chapter; when, after... read more
2. kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it—The coolness with which they planned the deception aggravated the guilt of this couple. brought a certain part—pretending it to be the whole proceeds of the sale. read more
"But" introduces another sacrificial act that looked just as generous as Barnabas’ (Acts 4:37). However in this case the motive was quite different. Ananias’ Jewish name, Hananiah, means "Yahweh is gracious," and Sapphira’s Aramaic name, Sappira, means "beautiful." Their names proved as ironic as their behavior was hypocritical.The Greek word nosphizo, ("kept back") also appears at the beginning of the record of Achan’s sin in the Septuagint (Joshua 7:1, translated "took"). Ananias presented... read more
The death of Ananias 5:1-6 read more
The hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira 5:1-11We might conclude from what precedes that the church was a sinless community at this time. Unfortunately this was not the case. There were sinning saints in it. This episode reveals that God was working dramatically in the church’s early days in judgment as well as in blessing. Luke did not idealize his portrait of the early church but painted an accurate picture, "warts and all.""The passage shows that God knows the hearts of believers. Peter is not... read more
The Apostles Again Imprisoned1-16. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not keeping back part of the price, which they had a perfect right to do (Acts 5:4), but pretending that the money which they offered to the Apostles was the whole price of the possession sold, which was not the case. Their motive was vanity and ambition. They wished to have a greater reputation for liberality than they were entitled to.1. Ananias] i.e. ’Jehovah hath been gracious.’Sapphira] If the word is Greek it means... read more
V.(1, 2) A certain man named Ananias.—The name meets us again as belonging to the high priest in Acts 23:2, and was the Greek form of the Hebrew Hananiah. It had the same significance as John, or Johanan, “The Lord be gracious.” “Sapphira,” is either connected with the “sapphire,” as a precious stone, or from a Hebrew word signifying “beautiful” or “pleasant.” The whole history must be read in connection with the act of Barnabas. He, it seemed, had gained praise and power by his self-sacrifice.... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Acts 5:1-16
Sin, cleansing and further growth (4:32-5:16)Believers continued to sell their property and bring money from the sales to the apostles for distribution among the poor (32-35). One example of generosity came from a Jew from Cyprus who so consistently helped and encouraged others that people gave him a name to suit his character, Barnabas (meaning ‘son of encouragement’) (36-37).There was no rule that forced people to sell their property. When Ananias and Sapphira sold some property, their sin... read more