Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 5:10
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.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The same sins meet with the same punishment; God is no respecter of persons, Jew or Gentile, male or female.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. buried her by her husbandThelater Jews buried before sunset of the day of death.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Immediately (). Hence her death was regarded as supernatural like that of Ananias.
By her husband ( ). Face to face to her husband.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Then fell she down straightway,” (epesen de parachrema) “Then she fell down at once (instantly),” before them, the apostles, at Peter’s feet in particular, as Ananias had done in his death, Act 5:5. There is a “sin unto death,” a deliberate, presumptuous sin that leads to instant death, 1Jn 5:16. Both Ananias and Sapphira committed it.
2) “At his feet,” (pros tous podas autou) “Toward his feet,” in particular, as he had questioned both her and her husband, Ananias; Act 5:1-9. Tho three hours had passed since Ananias lied, then died at Peter’s feet, it appears that his wife fell doomed at the very same place.
3) “And yielded up the ghost: (kai eksepsuksen) “And she expired,” or died at once, atthat place and moment, in a similar or identical manner to that of Ananias; Tho God mingles demonstrations of justice and mercy upon willful liars, all impenitent liars will have to confess their lying, be chastened as children of God for it, or die and be cast into hell as impenitent unbelievers, 1Jn 1:8-9; Rev 21:8.
4) “And the young men came in,” (eiselthontes de hoi neaniskoi) “Then the (same) young men came in,” those who had buried her husband, Act 5:6; Act 5:9.
5) “And found her dead,” (heuron auten nekran) “And found her (to be) dead,” found her corpse-body, dead body, as one who had joined her husband in committing -sin unto death,” Act 5:5; Herod committed it, Act 12:21-23; Nebuchadnezzar did it, Dan 5:22-23; Dan 5:30.
6) “And, carrying her forth,” (kai eksenegkantes) “And carrying her (out) forth,” from the feet of Peter and the apostles, taking her unclean body out of the place where Peter and the apostles received alms and charity gifts from the brethren, Act 4:35; Act 4:37; Act 5:2.
7) “Buried her by her husband,” (ethapsan pros ton andra autes) “They buried her to, at, or beside her husband; to await the resurrection and final hour of judgement, when every work with every secret thing shall be brought into judgement, Ecc 12:13-14; Mat 12:36; Rom 2:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up her breath, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.’
Thus Sapphira too fell dead, and the young men came in and took her body and buried her with her husband. They would meet God together. What their fate would be was in His hands. Note that it is not said that they wrapped her body in a shroud. Under Jewish practise they could, as men, do that for a man but not for a woman. It would not have been seemly for men to beshroud a woman. However, it is probable that women were called in to perform the duty before she was buried.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10. ] , when they came in : not implying that they immediately entered, but leaving room for some interval of time: see above.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 5:10 . , 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 . , by, beside her husband = 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 terno,” 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, Zckler, 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.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
straightway. Greek. parachrema. See note on Act 3:7.
at. Greek. para, as in Act 5:2, but the texts read pros.
yielded up the ghost. Same as in Act 5:5.
young men. App-108.
dead. App-139.
by. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
10.] , when they came in: not implying that they immediately entered, but leaving room for some interval of time: see above.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 5:10. , found her) after their return from burying Ananias.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
fell: Act 5:5
Reciprocal: Gen 25:8 – gave Exo 19:22 – break Exo 30:20 – die not Lev 10:2 – they died Lev 10:4 – carry 1Sa 28:19 – and to morrow 1Ki 14:6 – why feignest 2Ki 5:27 – leprosy Job 14:10 – man Ecc 7:17 – why Eze 11:13 – when Act 9:4 – he fell
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0
Act 5:10. Yielded up the ghost means her spirit left her body as was done in the case of her husband. This gives us another instance that proves there is something in a human being besides his body and that they separate when death occurs. This woman’s body was buried in the same tomb as that of her husband.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 5:10. And the young men came in, and found her dead. The death of the wife was instantaneous, and took place exactly as the words of Peter had foretold. She lay dead in the midst of the assembly, and the young men who had just returned from the grave of Ananias laid her in that same sad evening by his side.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 8