Acts 5:10

Act 5:10. Εὗρον, found her) after their return from burying Ananias.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 5:10 . παραχρῆμα , see on Act 3:7 . The introduction of the word shows that the writer regarded the death as supernatural, see above on Act 5:5 . πρός , by, beside her husband = παρά with dative, Blass, Grammatik des N. G. , p. 135, note; Winer-Moulton, xlix. h. Although the whole narrative shows that in each case the death was caused by the judgment of God, yet nothing whatever is said as to the world beyond the grave: “As it is, both the man himself is benefited, in that he is not left to advance further in wickedness, and the rest, in that they are made more earnest,” Chrys., Hom. , xii. Wendt points out that the punishment inflicted by St. Paul, 1Co 5:5 , was of a wholly different kind, because it had the avowed aim of saving the spirit of the sinner in the day of the Lord by delivering him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh; but it should not be forgotten that St. Peter himself speaks of a judgment according to men in the flesh, which has its issue in a life according to God in the spirit (1Pe 4:6 ). St. Augustine’s words may fairly be quoted not against but in favour of applying to the cases before us the principle of judgment employed by St. Paul: “Credendum est autem quod post hanc vitam eis pepercerit Deus.… Correpti sunt mortis flagello, ne supplicio puniantur æterno,” Serm., de Verbis Act. v., 4, cf. Origen, Tract. viii., in Matth. , and Jerome, Epist. , 130. See Speaker’s Commentary, in loco , and Bengel, Felten, Zöckler, Plumptre. Felten’s reverent thoughts, p. 124, may well be compared with the remarks of Dr. Pusey on the case of Ananias, What is of Faith? etc. , p. 14.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

buried her by her husband--The later Jews buried before sunset of the day of death.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. Yielded up the ghost] See Ac 5:5. It was not by Peter's words, nor through Peter's prayers, nor through shame, nor through remorse, that this guilty pair died, but by an immediate judgment of God. The question of the salvation of Ananias and Sapphira has not been a little agitated; and most seem inclined to hope that, though their sin was punished by this awful display of the Divine judgment, mercy was extended to their souls. For my own part, I think their sin was what the apostle, 1Jo 5:16, calls a sin unto death; a sin which must be punished with temporal death, or the death of the body, while mercy was extended to the soul. It was right in this infant state of the Church to show God's displeasure against deceit, fraud, and hypocrisy: had this guilty pair been permitted to live after they had done this evil, this long-suffering would have been infallibly abused by others; and, instead of leading them who had sinned to repentance, might have led them to hardness of heart by causing them to presume on the mercy of God. That hypocrisy may be afraid to show her face, God makes these two an example of his justice; but, because they had not the ordinary respite, we may presume that God extended mercy to them, though cut off almost in the act of sin. Their case, however, cannot become a precedent, allowing them to have received mercy; because those who have seen in this case the severity of God must expect much sorer punishment, if, with such an example before their eyes, they should presume on the mercy of their Maker: this would be doing evil that good might come, and the perdition of such would be just.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Then fell she down straightway at his feet] Close to the place where the money, for which they had sinned, had been laid, and where perhaps it was still lying. For we cannot think that St Peter would be willing to mix an offering given in such a hypocritical spirit with the more pure offerings of the other brethren. It may be that as he spoke, in Act_5:8, he pointed to the money still lying there unaccepted, “Did ye sell the land for so much?”

and yielded up the ghost] The verb is only used in the N. T. of the death of this husband and wife, and of the end of Herod Agrippa (Act_12:23).

and the young men came in, and found her dead] They came to join the congregation again, for the worship appears not to have ceased during the time between the death of Ananias and the arrival of Sapphira. And this may be the explanation of the wife’s ignorance of her husband’s fate. None had gone forth but the younger men to bury the dead body.

and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband] Probably all that was required to be done was to roll a stone from some cave’s mouth and place the body within.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then fell she down straightway at his feet,.... In like manner, and by the same hand of God as her husband before:

and yielded up the ghost; died directly:

and the young men came in and found her dead; the young men who had been to inter her husband came into the house at that instant, and found her dead upon the floor, at the feet of the Apostle Peter:

and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband; as it was usual with the Jews to do. So they say (i), that in the cave of Machpelah were buried Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah.

(i) Cippi Hebraici, p. 4. T. Bab. Sota, fol. 13. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

Ver. 10. Then fell she down] Melancthon makes mention of a cursing woman, that had her neck writhed by the devil, as her mouth was full of cursing and bitterness, A.D. 1551.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The same sins meet with the same punishment; God is no respecter of persons, Jew or Gentile, male or female.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And she fell down immediately for then fell she down straightway, A.V.; gave up for yielded up, A.V.; they carried her out and buried her for carrying her forth buried her. She fell down immediately. The Spirit who killeth and maketh alive thus vindicated his discernment and his power, and testified to the truth of his prophet St. Peter, by whose mouth he had just foretold the death of Sapphira. Gave up the ghost (ver. 5, note). Buried her by her husband. What a strange example of conjugal unity! One in their Jewish religion, one in their conversion to the faith of Christ, one in their hypocrisy, one in their terrible death, one in their common grove! one in the undying record of their guilt in the Book which is read by every nation under heaven!

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Church - This is the first time it is mentioned: and here is a native specimen of a New Testament Church; which is a company of men, called by the Gospel, grafted into Christ by baptism, animated by love, united by all kind of fellowship, and disciplined by the death of Ananias and Sapphira.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

See notes on verse 8

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. The young men came in. It had required three hours to carry Ananias out of the city to the tomb and return. The gloomy incident occurred and is recorded for a wise purpose: to teach the church in the outset that even if we can deceive men, we cannot hope to deceive God. It is an example.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

10. πρὸς for παρὰ with אABD.

10. πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, at his feet. Close to the place where the money, for which they had sinned, had been laid, and where perhaps it was still lying. For we cannot think that St Peter would be willing to mix an offering given in such a hypocritical spirit with the more pure offerings of the other brethren. It may be that as he spake, in Act 5:8, he pointed to the money still lying there unaccepted, ‘Did ye sell the land for so much?’

εἰσελθόντες. The young men came to join the congregation again, for the worship appears not to have ceased during the time between the death of Ananias and the arrival of Sapphira. And this may be the explanation of the wife’s ignorance of her husband’s fate. None had gone forth but the younger men to bury the dead body.

πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς, beside her husband.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] εἰσελθόντες, when they came in: not implying that they immediately entered, but leaving room for some interval of time: see above.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.