Acts 5:3

"and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, then brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet."

Key Reflection

In Acts 5:3, Ananias and his wife Sapphira attempted to deceive both God and the early Christian community by keeping back a portion of the proceeds from the sale of property they had pledged to donate. Their act of partial honesty masked an underlying lie, highlighting the importance of complete devotion and transparency in matters of faith and community trust.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 3. But Peter said, etc. Peter could have known this only by revelation. It was the manifest design of Ananias to deceive; nor was there any way of detecting him but by its being revealed to him by the Spirit of God. As it was an instance of enormous wickedness, and as it was very important to detect and punish the crime, it was made known to Peter directly by God. Why hath Satan. Great deeds of wickedness in the Scripture are traced to the influence and temptation of Satan. Compare Lu 22:3; Joh 13:27. Especially is Satan called the father of lies, Joh 8:44,55. Comp. Ge 3:1-5.

Related Verses

More from Acts 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Go deeper with Bible.talk - your AI Bible study companion