Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 5:9
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband [are] at the door, and shall carry thee out.
9. ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ] To try whether the deception which you had planned would be found out; whether God’s Spirit would make it known to us.
behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door ] They were heard returning from the burial of Ananias.
and shall carry thee out ] Better, and they shall, &c. thus making it clear that the verb refers to the bearers. St Peter, as before, was prompted by the Holy Ghost in what he said, and was enabled to predict the punishment of Sapphira for her persistent dissembling. We are not told that St Peter knew what would befal Ananias, but as the Spirit shewed him what was to come on the wife we may perhaps conclude that he knew what the fate of the husband would be also.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Agreed together – Conspired, or laid a plan. From this it seems that Sapphira was as guilty as her husband,
To tempt – To try; to endeavor to impose on, or to deceive; that is, to act as if the Spirit of the Lord could not detect the crime. They did this by trying to see whether the Spirit of God could detect hypocrisy.
At the door – Are near at hand. They had not yet returned. The dead were buried without the walls of cities; and the space of three hours, it seems, had elapsed before they returned from the burial.
Shall carry thee out – This passage shows that it was by divine interposition or judgment that their lives were taken. The judgment was in immediate connection with the crime, and was designed as an expression of the divine displeasure.
If it be asked here why Ananias and Sapphira were punished in this severe and awful manner, an answer may be found in the following considerations:
(1) This was an atrocious crime – a deep and dreadful act of iniquity. It was committed knowingly, and without excuse, Act 5:4. It was important that sudden and exemplary punishment should follow it, because the society of Christians was just then organized, and it was designed that it should be a pure society, and should be regarded as a body of holy men. Much depended on making an impression on the people that sin could not be allowed in this new community, but would be detected and punished.
(2) God has often, in a most solemn manner, shown his abhorrence of hypocrisy and insincerity. By awful declarations and fearful judgments he has declared his displeasure at it. In a particular manner, no small part of the preaching of the Saviour was employed in detecting the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and denouncing heavy judgments on them. See Matt. 23 throughout for the most sublime and awful denunciation of hypocrisy anywhere to be found. Compare Mar 12:15; Luk 12:1; 1Ti 4:2; Job 8:13; Job 13:16; Job 15:34; Job 20:5; Job 36:13; Mat 7:5; Luk 11:44. In the very beginning of the Christian church it was important, by a decided and awful act, to impress upon the church and the world the danger and guilt of hypocrisy. Well did the Saviour know that it would be one of the most insidious and deadly foes to the purity of the church; and at its very threshold, therefore, he set up this solemn warning to guard it, and laid the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira in the path of every hypocrite that would enter the church. If they enter and are destroyed, they cannot plead that they were not fully warned. If they practice iniquity in the church, they cannot plead ignorance of the fact that God intends to detect and punish them.
(3) The apostles were just then establishing their authority. They claimed to be under the influence of inspiration. To establish that, it was necessary to show that they could know the views and motives of those who became connected with the church. If easily imposed on, it would go far to destroy their authority and their claim to infallibility. If they showed that they could detect hypocrisy, even where most artfully concealed, it would establish the divine authority of their message. At the commencement of their work, therefore, they gave this decisive and most awful proof that they were under the guidance of an infallible Teacher.
(4) This case does not stand alone in the New Testament. It is clear from other instances that the apostles had the power of punishing sinners, and that a violation of the commands of Christ was attended by sudden and fearful judgments. See 1Co 11:30, and the case of Elymas the sorcerer in Act 13:8-11.
(5) Neither does this event stand alone in the history of the world. Acts of judgment sometimes occur as sudden and decided, in the providence of God, as in this case. The profane man, the drunkard, the profligate offender is sometimes suddenly stricken down, as in this instance. Cases have not been uncommon where the blasphemer has been smitten in death with the curse on his lips; and God often thus comes forth in judgment to slay the wicked, and to show that there is a God that reigns in the earth. This narrative cannot be objected to as improbable until all such cases are disposed of, nor can this infliction be regarded as unjust until all the instances where people die by remorse of conscience, or by the direct judgment of heaven, are proved to be unjust also.
In view of this narrative, we may remark:
(1) That God searches the heart, and knows the purposes of the soul. Compare Ps. 139.
(2) God judges the motives of people. It is not so much the external act, as it is the views and feelings by which it is prompted, that determines the character of the act.
(3) God will bring forth sin which man may not be able to detect, or which may elude human justice. The day is coming when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, and God will reward every man according as his works shall be.
(4) Fraud and hypocrisy will be detected. They are often detected in this life. The providence of God often lays them open to human view, and overwhelms the soul in shame at the guilt which was long concealed. But if not in this life, yet the day is coming when they will be disclosed, and the sinner shall stand revealed to an assembled universe.
(5) We have here an illustration of the power of conscience. If such was its overwhelming effect here, what will it be when all the crimes of the life shall be disclosed in the day of judgment, and when the soul shall sink to the woes of hell? Through eternity the conscience will do its office; and these terrible inflictions will go on from age to age, forever and ever, in the dark World of hell.
(6) We see here the guilt of attempting to impose on God in regard to property. There is no subject in which people are more liable to hypocrisy; none in which they are more apt to keep back a part. Christians professedly devote all that they have to God. They profess to believe that he has a right to the silver and the gold, and the cattle on a thousand hills, Psa 1:1-6. 10. Their property, as well as their bodies and their spirits, they have devoted to him, and they profess to desire to employ it as he shall direct and please. And yet, is it not clear that the sin of Ananias has not ceased in the church? How many professing Christians there are who give nothing really to God; who contribute nothing for the poor and needy; who devote nothing, or next to nothing, to any purposes of benevolence; who would employ million for their own gratification, and their families, but not a cent for tribute to God. The case of Ananias is, to all such, a case of most fearful warning. And on no point should Christians more faithfully examine themselves than in regard to the professed devotion of their property to God. If God punished this sin in the beginning of the Christian church, he will do it still in its progress; and in nothing have professed Christians more to fear his wrath than on this very subject.
(7) Sinners should fear and tremble before God. He holds their breath in his hands. He can cut them down in an instant. The bold blasphemer, the unjust man, the liar, the scoffer, he can destroy in a moment, and sink them in all the woes of hell. Nor have they any security that he will not do it. The profane man has no evidence that he will live to finish the curse which he has begun; nor the drunkard that he will again become sober; nor the seducer that God will not arrest him in his act of wickedness and send him down to hell! The sinner walks over the grave, and over hell! In an instant he may die, and be summoned to the judgment-seat of God! How awful it is to sin in a world like this; and how fearful the doom which must soon overtake the ungodly!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. To tempt the Spirit of the Lord?] So the Holy Ghost, God, and the Spirit of the Lord, are the same person.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To tempt the Spirit of the Lord; this expression, of tempting God, or the Spirit of God, is not used amongst profane writers; and this sin is not (at least to such a degree) committed amongst pagans and heathens, and is to be dreaded by all that profess the gospel. As often as men sin against their conscience, and their consciences condemn them in what they do, so often they dare, tempt, or try, whether God be omniscient, and knows of, or holy hand powerful, and will punish, their sins; which they find at last to their cost.
The feet of them which have buried thy husband, are at the door; this the apostle foretells ere it came to pass, the more to confirm his authority and the truth of the gospel.
Shall carry thee out, after thou art dead, to thy burial.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. How is it that ye have agreedtogether(See on Ac 5:2).
to tempt the Spirittrywhether they could escape detection by that omniscient Spirit ofwhose supernatural presence with the apostles they had had such fullevidence.
feet of them that buried thyhusband are at the doorHow awfully graphic!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then Peter said unto her, how is it that ye have agreed together,…. For husband and wife to agree together in what is good, in things civil, honest, and lawful, and in religious matters, is very commendable; but to agree in a fraud, in a lie, is very dreadful:
to tempt the Spirit of the Lord; to try whether the apostles had the Spirit of the Lord, or not; and whether the Spirit of the Lord that was in them was omniscient and omnipotent, would take any notice of it, and inflict punishment for it:
behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door; which Peter knew either by hearing the sound of their feet, as Ahijah the prophet heard the sound of the feet of Jeroboam’s wife, as she came in at the door, 1Ki 14:6 or by the same spirit as Elisha knew that Gehazi ran after Naaman, and received money and garments from him, 2Ki 5:26 and shall carry thee out; of this house dead, and bury thee, as they have thy husband.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Ye have agreed together ( ). First aorist passive indicative of (to voice together, symphony), impersonal with dative; It was agreed together by you (or for you). “Your souls were allured together respecting this deceit” (Vincent).
To tempt the Spirit of the Lord ( ). Like “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” It was close to the unpardonable sin which was attributing the manifest work of the Holy Spirit to Beelzebub.
The feet ( ). Graphic picture by Peter as he heard the steps of the young men at the door.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Ye have agreed together [ ] . The verb is passive. Lit., was it agreed by you. The figure in the word is that of concord of sounds. Your souls were attuned to each other respecting this deceit. See on music, Luk 14:25.
To tempt [] . To put it to the proof whether the Holy Spirit, ruling in the apostles, could be deceived. See on ver. 3.
The feet. Graphic. The steps of the young men returning from the burial are heard at the door.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then Peter said unto her,” (ho de Petros pros auten) “Then Peter responded to her,” after Peter had made a specific judgement inquiry of her, regarding the total sale price of their land possession, he further indicted her, Jas 4:17.
2) “How is it that ye have agreed together,” (ti hoti sunephonethe humin) “Why is it agreed (with you two) or why did you and your husband conspire to enter a collusion to orchestrate this lie?” They supposed that even the Holy Spirit might be deceived. A willful falsehood is like a cripple – – it cannot stand an honest test alone, so one having lied is tempted to tell another to prop it up, Pro 23:23.
3) “To tempt the Spirit of the Lord?” (periasai to pnema kuriou) “To tempt (or test) the Spirit of the Lord?” Such is tantamount to the equivalent of testing or challenging the veracity or truthfulness of God, Act 15:10. It is men who are tempted when drawn away of lust, Jas 1:14. And they, for coveting lust and its fruit, do suffer the chastening hand of just judgement from God, 1Co 11:31-32.
4) “Behold, the feet of them which have buried,” (idou hoi podes ton thapsanton) “Behold the feet of those (the young men) who have buried; her husband – – young men perhaps ministering in some appointive physical capacity to the church and the apostles even, before election of deacons, Act 6:1-15.
5) “Thy husband are at the door,” (ton andra sou epi te thura) “Your husband (Ananias)(are) at the door,” waiting for you to reap what you have covetously and deceitfully sown, Gal 6:7-8.
6) “And shall carry thee out,” (kai eksoisousin se) “And they will (also) carry you forth,” carry you out for burial. Peter had read the deceitful lying heart of Ananias and by that same Spirit now projected to her immediate doom, Pro 29:1. Fraud, deceit, and dishonesty are always devoid of God’s blessings, though His mercy lingers longer with some liars and deceivers than with others, but His mercy will not linger forever, Ecc 12:13-14; Num 32:23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. To tempt the Spirit. He uttereth the same thing in other words which he had said before; to wit, that they did mock God unreverently and contemptibly. But he said that they tempted the Spirit, because they had cunningly packed their fraud, as if the Spirit of God were not the knower of the hearts. For it was a point of too great carelessness, seeing the one made the other privy to their wickedness, to make their match between themselves, having, as it were, excluded God. For the Scripture saith, that God is tempted either when his power is taken from him, or the knowledge of all things is denied him. Furthermore, he meaneth that Spirit which governed the Church by the apostles. For when Christ saith, When the Spirit cometh, he shall judge the world, he noteth no other kind of authority than that which he exerciseth by the ministry of the Church.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) To tempt the Spirit of the Lordi.e., to try, or test, whether the Spirit that dwelt in the Apostles was really a discerner of the secrets of mens hearts. The Spirit of the Lord is probably used in its Old Testament sense, as the Spirit of Jehovah. The combination is rare in the New Testament, occurring only in 2Co. 3:17, but is common in the Old, as in Isa. 61:1 (quoted in Luk. 4:18); 1Ki. 22:24; 2Ki. 2:16.
Behold, the feet of them. . . .In this instance the coming judgment is foretold, and the announcement tended to work out its own completion. Here, to all the shame and agony that had fallen on Ananias, there was now added the bitter thought of her husbands death as in some sense caused by her, inasmuch as she might have prevented the crime that led to it. The prophetic insight given to St. Peter taught him that the messengers, whose footsteps he already heard, had another task of a like nature before them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Agreed together So that it was a deliberate, contrived, mutual sin.
To tempt the Spirit That is, to try and put to the test the present Holy Ghost. The Romanist commentator to the Rhemish Testament deduces a strong case here for the hierarchy: “To take from the Church, or from the governors thereof, things dedicated to their use and the service of God, or to lie unto God’s ministers, is so judged before God as if the lie were made and the fraud done to the Holy Ghost himself.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ’
Then Peter challenged her as to how she and her husband could have thought of testing the Spirit of the Lord out in this way, and informed her that those who had just buried her husband were at the door, and would carry her out as well. Once again the Spirit of the Lord is spoken of as a person.
We must not see Peter as the one who passes the judgment. He simply passes on God’s judgment. What happened was not Peter’s doing, it was God’s, a sacred if awful example, given as a warning to all.
‘You have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord.’ The key Old Testament texts which deal with putting God to the test are Exo 15:25; Exo 16:4; Exo 17:2 and Deu 16:6. Significantly they all deal with times when there was a need to satisfy physical requirements, and all refer to the fact that they were not prepared to trust God. That was why Jesus refused to put God to the test (Mat 4:7; Luk 4:12). He did trust God. So underlying the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was unbelief and an unwillingness to trust God. And this at a time when such trust was vital to the continuation of the newborn church.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 5:9-10 . Wherefore was it agreed by you (dative with the passive, see on Mat 5:21 ) to try the Spirit of the Lord (God, see Act 5:4-5 )? i.e. to venture the experiment, whether the , ruling in us apostles, was infallible (comp. Mal 3:15 ; Mat 4:7 ). The challenges by his action the divine experimental proof .
] a trait of vivid delineation (comp. Luk 1:79 ; Rom 3:15 ; Rom 10:15 ); the steps of those returning were just heard at the door (see on Joh 5:2 ; Act 3:10 ) outside (Act 5:10 ).
] beside her (just buried) husband .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
Ver. 9. To tempt the Spirit ] That is, to make trial of him whether he be omniscient and able to detect and punish your hypocrisy. No man is a gross hypocrite, but he is first an atheist.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9 .] To try the omniscience of the Spirit then visibly dwelling in the Apostles and the church, was, in the highest sense, to tempt the Spirit of God . It was a saying in their hearts ‘There is no Holy Spirit:’ and certainly approached very closely to a sin against the Holy Ghost. Peter characterizes the sin more solemnly this second time, because by the wife’s answer it was now proved to be no individual lie of a bad and covetous man, but a preconcerted scheme to deceive God.
] Not that Peter heard (Olsh.) the tread of the young men outside (they were probably barefooted), but it is an expression common in the poetical or lively description of the Hebrews, and indeed of all nations (see Isa 52:7 ; Nah 1:15 ; Rom 10:15 ; Eurip. Hippol. 656; Soph. d. Col. 890, al. freq.), making the member whereby the person acts, the actor. I take the words to mean, that the time was just at hand for their return: see Jas 5:9 . The space of three hours was not too long: they would have to carry the corpse to the burying-ground, at a considerable distance from the city (Lightf.), and when there, to dig a grave, and bury it.
] This word, spoken before her death, decisively proves that death to have been not a result merely of her detection, but a judicial infliction.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 5:9 . , Act 5:4 . : only here in the N.T. in the passive, for its use in the active, Act 15:15 . Blass maintains that this passive usage is Latin rather than Greek ( convenit inter aliquos ), and that it may have arisen from the intercourse between Greeks and Romans, see in loco , and Grammatik des N. G. , pp. 112, 235; in LXX only in the active. Cf. also Viteau, Le Grec du N. T. , p. 155 (1893). “The aggravation was that they committed the deed as with one soul, just as upon a settled compact between them,” Chrys., Hom. , xii.; cf. the plural . : the rendering “to tempt,” does not seem to express the idea so well as “to try,” to make trial whether the Holy Ghost would discover their deception, whether He knew all things: cf. Act 15:10 , and in LXX, Exo 17:2 ; Exo 17:7 , Psa 77 (78):41, 56, etc. (in Rev 2:2 the same verb as here = “try,” A. and R.V.). , see on Act 1:10 . , cf. Luk 1:79 , Rom 3:15 ; Rom 10:15 . A Hebraistic expression the whole description is full of dramatic intensity the returning steps of the are heard . But Alford thinks that they were probably bare-footed, and that the words mean that the time was just at hand for their return, cf. Jas 5:9 . , see on Act 5:6 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
unto. Greek. pros. App-104. How = Why.
have agreed together = were agreed together. Greek. sumphoneo. Here, Act 15:15, and four times in the Gospels. Compare Engl, “symphony”.
Spirit. App-101.
behold. App-133. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
husband. App-123.
at. App-104.
shall = they shall.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] To try the omniscience of the Spirit then visibly dwelling in the Apostles and the church, was, in the highest sense, to tempt the Spirit of God. It was a saying in their hearts There is no Holy Spirit: and certainly approached very closely to a sin against the Holy Ghost. Peter characterizes the sin more solemnly this second time, because by the wifes answer it was now proved to be no individual lie of a bad and covetous man, but a preconcerted scheme to deceive God.
] Not that Peter heard (Olsh.) the tread of the young men outside (they were probably barefooted), but it is an expression common in the poetical or lively description of the Hebrews, and indeed of all nations (see Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15; Rom 10:15; Eurip. Hippol. 656; Soph. d. Col. 890, al. freq.), making the member whereby the person acts, the actor. I take the words to mean, that the time was just at hand for their return: see Jam 5:9. The space of three hours was not too long: they would have to carry the corpse to the burying-ground, at a considerable distance from the city (Lightf.), and when there, to dig a grave, and bury it.
] This word, spoken before her death, decisively proves that death to have been not a result merely of her detection, but a judicial infliction.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
How: Gen 3:9-13, Luk 16:2, Rom 3:19
have: Act 23:20-22, Deu 13:6-8, Pro 11:21, Pro 16:5, Psa 50:18, Mic 7:3
to tempt: Act 5:3, Act 5:4, Exo 17:2, Exo 17:7, Num 14:22, Psa 78:18-20, Psa 78:40, Psa 78:41, Psa 78:56, Psa 95:8-11, Mat 4:7, 1Co 10:9
the feet: Act 5:6, 2Ki 6:32, Rom 10:15
Reciprocal: Gen 4:10 – crieth Gen 20:13 – This Lev 10:4 – carry Jos 7:11 – dissembled 1Sa 28:19 – and to morrow 1Ki 14:6 – why feignest 2Ki 2:24 – cursed them 2Ki 5:26 – he said Psa 139:7 – General Ecc 8:3 – stand Isa 7:12 – tempt Eze 38:10 – that at Mal 3:15 – they that tempt Mat 9:4 – Wherefore Mat 22:18 – Why Mar 8:11 – tempting Mar 12:15 – Why Act 5:2 – his Gal 5:12 – cut
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9
Act 5:9. It is always bad for men to commit wrong when they act individually, but worse when they conspire with others in the act. The daughters of Zelophehad made this point in their plea for their fathers’ estate (Num 27:1-7), and the Lord accepted their reasoning. Peter charged Ananias and his wife with agreeing together in their covetous lie. He accused them of trying to tempt the Spirit of the Lord, and such a sin was condemned even in the Old Testament (Deu 6:16). The text does not inform us directly as to any instructions previously given to these burial servants. However, the necessary inference is that they were told to “stand by” and complete their task when it was ready for them. In compliance with such an understanding, they were at that very moment at the door, waiting to perform their duty in the sad affair.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 5:9. How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? This evidently in the apostles mind is a serious aggravation of their guilt. They had agreed together to do this thing. It was no sin committed hastily, but one thought over and planneda preconcerted scheme to deceive that loving Master whom they professed to serve as their God. It was as though they wished to test the omniscience of the Holy Spirit. Could, then, that God who ruled so visibly in His chosen servants be tricked?
Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door. Behold. The voice and gesture calling attention to the sound of the entering in at the door of the room or hall where they were sitting, of the young men who had just returned, having completed their sad office. The apostles words told the whole story to the unhappy woman. In a moment she saw the Spirit who ruled in that Church could not be mocked. It was all real and true.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 8
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to {e} tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband [are] at the {f} door, and shall carry thee out.
(e) Look how often men do things with an evil conscience; and so they pronounce sentence against themselves, and as much as in them lies, they provoke God to anger, as they do this on purpose, in order to test whether he is just and almighty or not.
(f) Are at hand.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Peter’s "why" question to her means virtually the same thing as his "why" question to Ananias (Act 5:3). Putting God to the test means seeing how far one can go in disobeying God-in this case lying to Him-before He will judge (cf. Deu 6:16; Mat 4:7). This is very risky business.
Some readers of Acts have criticized Peter for dealing with Sapphira and Ananias so harshly. Nevertheless the text clearly indicates that in these matters Peter was under the Holy Spirit’s control (Act 4:31) even as Ananias and Sapphira were under Satan’s control (Act 5:3). Peter had been God’s agent of blessing in providing healing to people (Act 3:6), but he was also God’s instrument to bring judgment on others, as Jesus Christ had done.
"Peter was severe, and the fate of the two delinquents shocking, but the strictures of Christ on hypocrisy must be borne in mind (Mt. xxiii). . . . The old ’leaven of the Pharisees’ was at work, and for the first time in the community of the saints two persons set out deliberately to deceive their leaders and their friends, to build a reputation for sanctity and sacrifice to which they had no right, and to menace, in so doing, all love, all trust, all sincerity. And not only was the sin against human brotherhood, but against the Spirit of God, so recently and powerfully manifest in the Church." [Note: Blaiklock, p. 69.]