Acts 5

Ananias and Sapphira lie to the church about their gift, and God’s judgment brings deep reverence to the whole community. The apostles keep healing and preaching, and the Sanhedrin arrests them. An angel frees them, and they answer the council boldly that they must obey God. Gamaliel’s advice spares their lives, and they leave rejoicing that they could suffer for Jesus’ name.

Acts 5:1-2

After the beautiful generosity of Barnabas, Ananias and Sapphira also sell land. Together they secretly keep back part of the money, yet present the rest as if it were the whole. Their sin was not keeping some of it. It was pretending to be more generous than they were.

BSA: kept back (“embezzled”): The word means to quietly skim something off for oneself, which shows that this was secret theft from what they had promised to God.

Greek: ἐνοσφίσατο (enosphisato, G3557) — “set apart for himself, pilfered.” This is a word for sneaky, small-scale taking, used of people who pocket what is not theirs. The offering was meant for God, and Ananias helped himself to part of it.

See also: Acts 4:36-37.

Acts 5:3

Peter sees through the act. Behind the deception he sees Satan, the great accuser, working on Ananias’ heart. Lying to the church was lying to the Holy Spirit, who lives among them. Sin begins inside, in what we allow our hearts to entertain.

BSA: Satan (“the adversary, accuser”): The name means opponent, and he is the one who tries to corrupt God’s new community from within. heart (“the seat of thoughts, feelings, and emotions”): The deed began in the inner life, where plans and desires are formed.

Acts 5:4

No one had forced Ananias to sell or to give. The land and the money were his to do with as he chose. His wrong was the lie, not the keeping. Peter also says that to lie to the Spirit is to lie to God, which treats the Spirit as God.

BSA: disposal (“in your power to use as you wished”): Giving was voluntary, so the sin lay entirely in the pretense.

See also: Acts 4:32.

Acts 5:5

Ananias falls down dead, and great fear comes over everyone who hears. This is a hard passage. It shows that God is holy and that he cares about truth within his people. The young church learns that God is not to be trifled with.

BSA: fear (“alarm, terror”): The people were shaken, not just startled, by seeing how seriously God takes honesty before him.

Acts 5:6

Younger men of the church quietly wrap the body and bury him. Burial followed quickly in that culture, often on the same day. There is no ceremony and no speech, which marks how solemn and sobering the moment was.

BSA: young men (“youthful ones”): These were the younger members who helped with practical tasks in the church.

Acts 5:7-8

Sapphira arrives about three hours later and has not been told what happened. Peter gives her the chance to tell the truth by asking about the price. She repeats the same lie, so she is not simply following her husband. She makes the choice herself.

BSA: price (“the sum of money, the value”): Peter’s question points to one exact amount, and she could have corrected the story there.

Acts 5:9

Peter says the two had agreed together to test the Spirit, to see how much they could get away with. The men who buried her husband are already at the door. Her death comes the same way as his. Sin shared by two is still sin chosen by each.

Greek: συνεφωνήθη (sunephōnēthē, G4856) — “was agreed together, was in harmony.” It is the root of our word symphony. Their plan was in perfect harmony, but it was harmony in the wrong direction.

See also: Deuteronomy 6:16.

Acts 5:10-11

Sapphira dies and is buried beside her husband. Then Luke uses the word church for the first time in Acts. The fear he describes is a deep reverence for a God who lives among his people and is holy.

BSA: church (“assembly, community of believers”): It names a gathered people who belong to God, not a building.

Greek: ἐκκλησίαν (ekklēsian, G1577) — “assembly, those called together.” The word was used for a public gathering of citizens. Here it names the people God has called out and gathered to himself.

Acts 5:12

In spite of the judgment, or because of it, God keeps working through the apostles. Many signs and wonders happen among the people. The believers meet together in unity in Solomon’s Colonnade, a roofed walkway along the east side of the temple area.

BSA: one accord (“united, in harmony”): The church was bound together by shared purpose and not just by being in the same place. Colonnade (“a covered walkway, portico”): It was a public, shaded place where crowds could gather and listen.

See also: Acts 2:46.

Acts 5:13-14

People respected the believers highly, yet no one dared to join them carelessly. The meaning of ’no one else’ is understood in different ways. Either way, joining the church now meant real commitment. Even so, more and more men and women were added to the Lord.

BSA: dared (“was bold enough, had the courage”): Following Jesus carried real cost and holy seriousness, so nobody joined lightly. brought (“added, joined”): People were being added to the Lord by his own working, not simply recruited by the apostles.

Acts 5:15-16

People carry the sick out into the streets so that Peter’s shadow might touch them as he passes. Crowds come from the towns around Jerusalem, and all who come are healed. Luke does not say the shadow itself healed anyone. He shows how great their hope was, and that God’s mercy was meeting every need.

Greek: ἐπισκιάσῃ (episkiasē, G1982) — “might overshadow.” It is the same word used when the power of the Most High ‘overshadowed’ Mary. It suggests that the power of God, not of Peter, rested on the people.

See also: Luke 1:35.

Acts 5:17-18

The high priest and his Sadducee circle are filled with jealousy. The apostles’ popularity threatens their position, and the apostles preach the resurrection, which Sadducees did not accept. So they arrest the apostles and put them in the public jail.

BSA: jealousy (“strong envy”): Their opposition came from wounded pride and fear of losing influence, not from careful concern for truth.

Acts 5:19-20

In the night an angel opens the jail doors and sends the apostles right back to the temple. They are to speak the whole message of this new life. The message is not just about escaping trouble. It is about the life that Jesus gives.

BSA: new life (“spiritual vitality”): The gospel is about a living reality, a fullness of life that begins now and does not end.

Greek: ζωῆς (zōēs, G2222) — “life.” This is the word for real, God-given life, not just staying alive. The angel calls the whole message by this word.

See also: John 6:68.

Acts 5:21

At daybreak the apostles are already teaching in the temple. Meanwhile the high priest calls the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of Israel, and sends for prisoners who are no longer there. The apostles obey the angel immediately and are found doing it.

BSA: Sanhedrin (“the council, the Jewish leadership”): This was the highest court of Israel, so the apostles were being brought before the nation’s top authority.

Acts 5:22-24

The officers report that the jail was locked and the guards were at their posts, yet the cells were empty. The captain and the chief priests are baffled. The leaders wanted to control the story, but God had quietly gone beyond their locked doors.

BSA: perplexed (“completely baffled”): They had no explanation and could not tell where this was heading.

See also: Psalm 2:1-4.

Acts 5:25-26

Someone then reports that the men are standing in the temple, teaching. The captain fetches them without force, because he fears the people might stone them. The leaders who hold power are afraid of the very crowd the apostles are blessing.

BSA: force (“violence, strength”): The officers treat the apostles gently only because they dread the crowd, not out of respect.

Acts 5:27-28

The high priest says he gave strict orders not to teach in this name. He avoids even saying the name of Jesus. He also complains that the apostles want to bring this man’s blood on the leaders. The apostles’ message about Jesus’ death was pointing straight at their guilt.

BSA: this name (“the authority, the person of Jesus”): In Scripture a name stands for the whole person and his authority. blood (“the life”): Jesus’ blood means the life that was taken, and the leaders feared being held responsible for it.

See also: Matthew 27:25.

Acts 5:29

Peter answers simply: they must obey God rather than men. The apostles respect authority, but when human orders directly contradict God’s command, God comes first. Their courage rests on being sent by Jesus.

BSA: obey (“submit to the authority of”): Obedience here is a matter of whose authority is final.

Greek: πειθαρχεῖν (peitharchein, G3980) — “to obey a ruler.” It means to be persuaded by, and to yield to, one in command. The apostles are saying that God’s rule is the one they answer to.

See also: Acts 4:19-20.

Acts 5:30-31

Peter says that the God of Israel’s fathers raised up Jesus, whom the leaders had killed by hanging him on a tree. God then exalted him to his right hand as Prince and Savior. The aim is to give Israel repentance and forgiveness, so even this indictment holds out mercy.

BSA: tree (“a cross, wooden stake”): It points to the cross, and to the old law that a hanged man was under God’s curse. Prince (“Ruler, Leader”): Jesus rules and also leads the way for his people. repentance (“a change of heart, turning away from sin”): It is a real turning, and Jesus gives it as a gift.

Greek: ἀρχηγόν (archēgon, G747) — “pioneer, founder, leader.” This word pictures someone who goes first and opens the way for others to follow. Jesus is both ruler and trailblazer.

See also: Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Hebrews 2:10.

Acts 5:32

The apostles are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit is also a witness. The Spirit has been given to those who obey God. The apostles saw it, and the Spirit confirms it in the believers’ lives and in the power at work among them.

BSA: witnesses (“as eyewitnesses, having personally seen”): The apostles testify to what they themselves saw of the risen Jesus.

Greek: μάρτυρες (martyres, G3144) — “witnesses.” This is the word from which we get martyr. A witness speaks to what he knows, even at great cost.

See also: John 15:26-27.

Acts 5:33

The council members are enraged and decide to put the apostles to death. The truth about Jesus and their own guilt strikes them like a blow, and instead of repenting, they turn to violence.

BSA: enraged (“filled with intense anger”): Their rage shows how deeply the message pressed on them.

Greek: διεπρίοντο (dieprionto, G1282) — “were sawn through.” It pictures being cut as with a saw. The same word is used of the leaders’ fury at Stephen in Acts 7, where the English says ‘cut to the heart’.

See also: Acts 7:54.

Acts 5:34-35

Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee and teacher of the law, has the apostles taken out of the room. He then urges the council to think carefully before acting. Paul later says he studied under him. In this case a measured voice stops a rash decision.

BSA: consider carefully (“take heed to yourselves, be cautious”): Gamaliel asks them to stop and weigh their action before it is too late.

See also: Acts 22:3.

Acts 5:36-37

Gamaliel offers two examples of past leaders who gathered followers and then failed: Theudas and Judas the Galilean, who rose up around the time of the census. Both ended badly, and their movements scattered. He is suggesting that this one might do the same.

BSA: census (“enrollment, counting of the people”): The census was a registration for taxation, and Judas stirred up resistance to it.

Acts 5:38-39

Gamaliel says to leave these men alone. If their work is merely human, it will fail. If it is from God, no one can stop it, and the council would find itself fighting God. Success or failure alone does not always prove what is from God, but here the argument is fitting, and it saved their lives.

BSA: fighting (“resisting or opposing”): Opposing God’s work is the most hopeless fight anyone can take on.

See also: Proverbs 21:30.

Acts 5:40

The council yields to Gamaliel, but it still has the apostles flogged and orders them again not to speak in the name of Jesus. Then it lets them go. The leaders will not fully accept the warning, but they do not carry out their plan to kill the apostles.

BSA: flogged (“beaten, scourged”): It was a painful and public punishment, meant to shame them into silence.

See also: Matthew 10:17.

Acts 5:41

The apostles leave the council rejoicing. They count it an honor to suffer disgrace for the Name. Their joy comes from knowing they belong to Jesus and share in what he went through.

BSA: counted worthy (“deemed entirely deserving”): They saw the suffering as an honor given to them, not a loss. the Name (“Jesus’ authority, character, reputation”): They were disgraced for the sake of Jesus himself and all that he is.

Greek: κατηξιώθησαν (katēxiōthēsan, G2661) — “were counted worthy.” The word is the opposite of what the world expected. Being dishonored for Jesus is treated as a mark of honor.

See also: Matthew 5:11-12; 1 Peter 4:14.

Acts 5:42

The apostles do not stop. Every day they teach in the temple and from house to house, announcing that Jesus is the Christ, God’s promised Messiah. The chapter ends with the gospel moving forward, openly in public and personally in homes.

BSA: good news (“the gospel, glad tidings”): The message is a joyful announcement that Jesus is the promised Savior.

Greek: εὐαγγελιζόμενοι (euangelizomenoi, G2097) — “announcing good news.” It is the verb form of ‘gospel’ and describes a herald with joyful news to deliver. The apostles saw themselves as carrying news, not just ideas.

See also: Acts 2:46.