Acts 5:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He wished to save her, since the husband was the originator of the sin. Therefore, perhaps, he gives her time for self-defense and an opportunity for repentance. Thus he says: "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?" She said: "Yes, for so much." From this one could already understand that he knew what was hidden. Why does he ask you, without asking anyone else? Is it not, of course, because he knew? But extreme blindness did not allow her to escape condemnation. She answered with great boldness, thinking that she was speaking with a mere man. The significant thing is that they fell into sin by one design, or as though by a certain agreement.

"Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." Peter wished to save her, because her husband was the originator of the sin. Therefore he gives her time to justify herself and repent, saying, "Tell me whether for so much..."

But at this time there occurred the sorrowful event of the moral fall of one Christian couple. A certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold his real estate, as other Christians did, in order to entrust the proceeds to the apostles for the benefit of the whole Christian community. Yet they delivered to the apostles only a certain part of the price and kept the rest of the money for themselves. Before the apostles and the other believers, however, they presented themselves as people who had renounced all their property for the common benefit. In the deed of Ananias and Sapphira, hypocrisy was revealed in addition to love of money. If the first vice was especially dangerous for the unhappy slaves of it themselves, the latter could have affected the whole Christian community.

"For so much?" "Peter wished to save her, because her husband was the originator of the sin. Therefore he gives her time to justify herself and repent, saying, Tell me, whether for so much"; cf. Theophylact and Chrysostom. "Yes, for so much." The same lie, the same hypocrisy, and the same self-interest are present as in Ananias.

The burial of Ananias took place quickly, for the circumstances required it. The custom of the hot South did not hinder this, especially since burial there was incomparably simpler than among us. The deceased was only wrapped in cloths and carried to ready-made recesses or caves. Access to these was free and convenient for all who wished to see the deceased. Therefore, if Ananias' wife was not informed of his death, she could, upon learning of it, see the deceased at any time. This was probably with greater convenience than in the presence of the apostles, who were evidently then in a common prayer assembly. As for the performers of the burial, called young men, neoteroi, in contrast to elders or presbyters, these young people evidently usually fulfilled this duty.