Acts 5

— to lie to the Holy Ghost.] To endeavour to impose on us, to whom the Holy Ghost has given the power of discerning spirits, (1 Cor. xii. 10,) and detecting the most secret evil intentions of the mind. Bp. Mann.

Acts 5:3

3, 4. — to the Holy Ghost, — unto God.] It is seen that, in this passage, lying to the Holy Ghost is stated to be the same thing as lying to God; a clear proof that the Holy Ghost is truly God, of the same substance with the Father and the Son. Bp. Burnett.

Acts 5:4

4. Whiles it remained, &c.] Whilst it remained unsoild. Dr. Whitby. The obvious sense of St. Peter’s words is, that Ananias might, if he had pleased, have kept to himself either his estate or his money; for none compelled him to sell it at all; and, after it was sold, if he was disposed to keep the price to himself, none compelled him to deposit it in the Apostles’ hands. But, when he professed to bring the whole into the publick stock of the Church, then to keep back part by a frauduent lie, was evidently a crying sin. Dr. S. Clarke. The sin of Ananias was a lying to, or breaking promise with, God; for, having vowed or promised to Him in his heart the whole price of the field, he brought Him but a part of it. And, as the vow and promise which he broke was not such as men could witness or notice, but such as his own heart and conscience only was privy to; hence it is said to have been made under the privity of the Holy Ghost; and he, in the breach of it, is said to have lied unto Him, because that which none but the inward man knoweth, and is yet only in the purpose of the heart, is under His privity. Jos. Mede. — thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.] Thou hast lied not only unto men, but likewise and especially unto God, the Searcher of hearts, and the Avenger of all wickedness. Bp. Mann. Among the many aggravations of Ananias’s crime, the most striking is the presumptuousness of attempting to deceive those persons whom he believed and knew to be inspired by the Spirit of God. By imposing upon the Apostles, he attempted, as far as in him lay, to deceive the Holy Ghost; and an attempt to deceive the Holy Ghost was an attempt to deceive God Himself. Dr. S. Clarke.

Acts 5:6

6. — wound him up.] In linen clothes for his burial. See John xi. 44; xix. 40; xx. 6, 7. Bp. Pearce. 8. — for so much? This he said, specifying the sum which Ananias had brought. Abp. Newcome. 9. — to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? To try whether the Spirit of the Lord in us was able to detect your fraud. Dr. Whitby.

Acts 5:10

10. Then fell she down straightway] The action committed by Ananias and Sapphira was vain-glorious, covetous, fraudulent, impious, and greatly aggravated in those who had probably shared the gifts of the Spirit, (chap. iv. 31,) and seen miracles wrought by the Apostles, chap. ii. 43; iii. 6; iv. 33. Their punishment displayed the knowledge, power, and divine mission of those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and deterred interested persons from joining the Chritians, in order to partake of their goods and alms. Abp. Newcome. It was in order to deter hypocrites and liars from joining the infant Church from mercenary motives, for the purpose of being maintained out of the common stock, that the Holy Spirit, as the Protector of the Church, took cognizance of their complicated crime, by means of that faculty of discerning spirits, with which He endued St. Peter, and Himself punished both the offenders, on the spot, with death. Dr. Hales. It has sometimes been objected by unbelievers, that Ananias and Sapphira were treated with great cruelty and injustice. But such objection can only arise from a want of considering the great heinousness of their guilt, and the necessity which existed of such an example of punishment. These two persons, although they had seen the wonderful effects of the effusion of the Holy Ghost on the disciples, yet imagined that they were able to deceive the Apostles and that Holy Spirit The apostles work many miracles. They are imprisoned. Anno DOMINI 23. the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Acts 5:13

13. And of the rest durst no man &c.] Of those who were unconverted, none durst hypocritically join himself to them for the purpose of receiving their alms; but, on the contrary, “the people magnified them;” that is, instead of attempting to deceive them by false pretences, or at all mingling with them, held them in high honour, and kept at an awful distance from them. Abp. Newcome.

Acts 5:15

15. Insomuch that &c.] This verse depends on, and is connected with, the first part of the twelfth; the intermediate words being rightly made a parenthesis in our English translation. Bp. Pearce.

—that at the least the shadow of Peter &c.] It is left here wholly uncertain whether it was the faith of believers, or the superstition of the Jews, which had such expectation from the shadow of St. Peter, and whether any cures were really wrought in this manner, or not. Dr. Whitby.

Perhaps those who brought out their sick did not know the persons of the other Apostles, besides St. Peter. They had heard him speaking, and seen him acting, while the rest were silent and sat still. That which these believers here do, does not so much argue that he was pre-eminent above the rest of the Apostles, as that he was more known than the rest. Dr. Lightfoot.

17.—(which is the sect of the Sadducees.) It may seem remarkable, that, as St. Luke here intimates, the high priest was a Sadducee, which is a character one would not expect to meet with in that station. The circumstance, however, remarkable as it is, is not without other examples. Josephus mentions two instances of a high priest belonging to that sect. Archdeacon Paley.

Acts 5:20

20.—all the words of this life.] Of this life, which I have commissioned you to preach, and which the Sadducees deny. Dr. Whitby. “Of this life;” that is, of this life eternal, lately revealed through Jesus Christ, whose ministers ye are. Dr. Stack.

These words are fully explained by St. Peter’s expression to Christ, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life,” John vi. 68. Dr. Hammond.

Acts 5:21

21.—and all the senate of the children of Israel.] That is, all the elders of the city of Jerusalem, and those of other cities, who had come up to the feast. Grotius.

They support their witness with great freedom. Anno DOMINI 31. but when we had opened, we found no man within.

Acts 5:23

23.—we found no man within.] How unsuccessful are the projects of the wisest statesmen, when God frowns upon them! How little do any counsels against Heaven prosper! In vain is it to shut the doors, where God is resolved to open them; the firmest bars, the strongest chains, cannot hold, where once God has designed and decreed our liberty. Dr. Cave.

Acts 5:24

24.—they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.] They were perplexed with amazement and doubts concerning these things, and debated among themselves what would be the consequence of them. Bp. Mann.

Acts 5:28

28.—to bring this man’s blood upon us.] To lay the blood of this man (of Jesus) to our charge, and thus to raise the people against us, as against murderers. Dr. Hammond.

Acts 5:30

30—32. The God of our fathers &c.] St. Peter here repeats a summary of the doctrine they preached; namely, that the God of Israel, whom they all acknowledged, has raised the very Jesus whom they had crucified, and exalted Him to the highest degree of heavenly glory, as the Messiah and Saviour of mankind; that He had now offered to them and to the whole world pardon and happiness, on the condition of repentance and a sincere profession of His religion: that they, His Apostles, were eyewitnesses, both of His resurrection and ascension, and had sufficiently confirmed them by the powers of the Holy Ghost. Pyle.

Acts 5:31

31.—to be a Prince and a Saviour, &c.] To be the Prince “of life,” chap. iii. 15, and “of salvation,” Heb. ii. 10. He is said to be exalted to give repentance and remission of sins, by affording the knowledge of that remission of sins which is promised to the penitent, and of those motives which should induce them to repent. Dr. Whitby.

up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Acts 5:33

33.—they were cut to the heart.] At this indeed we need not be surprised: for what is so cutting as a true charge of guilt; and what so bitter as to have such a charge brought, when persons cannot answer it? Dr. S. Clarke.

Acts 5:34

34.—a Pharisee, named Gamaliel.] Gamaliel was the tutor of St. Paul, chap. xxii. 3, and was called Rabban Gamaliel, a title of the highest eminency, and given, as the Jews say, only to seven persons; which sufficiently shews the reputation he had among the people. Dr. Whitby.

Acts 5:36

36.—before these days rose up Theudas, &c.] It has sometimes been made an objection to the accuracy of St. Luke here, that an impostor of the name of Theudas is mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus as having appeared in Judea in the fourth year of the emperor Claudius, many years after the speech here made by Gamaliel. But such an objection can be considered of no real weight. Probably there were two impostors of this name, who appeared at these different periods; in support of which opinion it is to be observed, that the circumstances mentioned by the two authors considerably differ. It is certain also that Theudas was a name at that time common among the Jews; and Josephus himself informs us, that many insurrections took place in these times, several of which he evidently passes over. Thus there can be little doubt that different persons are intended by St. Luke and Josephus. But we should bear in mind, that, even if there was a real discrepancy between these two writers, there could not be the least doubt that we ought to prefer the authority of an inspired writer to that of Josephus, in matters to which he was not an eyewitness. Biscoe.

—boasting himself to be somebody.] Setting himself up for the king of the Jews. Bp. Pearce.

Anno DOMINI 33. The Third Year before the Account called Anno Domini. Or, believed. Z Gamaliel’s advice to the council. THE ACTS. The apostles rejoice in their sufferings. Anno DOMINI 33.

Acts 5:37

37.—Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing,] “The taxing,” during which Judas of Galilee stirred up the people to an insurrection, was ten years subsequent to that mentioned at Luke ii. 1, 2, when our Saviour was born. The pretence of this Judas of Galilee for rising in arms, and encouraging his followers to insurrection, was, as Josephus relates, that it was a mark of slavery in them to pay tribute to the Romans, and to acknowledge any mortals for their masters, when God alone was their master. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 5:38

38.—if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: &c.] The miraculous propagation and final establishment of Christianity, the triumphs it has obtained over obstacles the most formidable, and the effects it has produced by instruments in appearance the most inadequate, have been frequently urged as decisive proofs of its divinity and truth. In support of this argument, the famous maxim of Gamaliel, in his advice to the Jewish council, is sometimes adduced. But with whatever propriety the text may be applied to the particular case of Christianity, the general principle is not to be admitted without many exact and interesting distinctions. Success alone is no certain criterion of the truth and divinity of any religious system; no absolute proof of the concurrence and approbation of Heaven. It appears, as well from experience that error often does, as from the nature and constitution of man that it sometimes must, prevail in the world; and consequently that the establishment of any religious system, when considered by itself, determines nothing with regard to the truth of its doctrines, or the supernout authority of its sanctions. What is uncommon must not be confounded with what is supernatural; what can be accounted for by human means must not be hastily and indiscriminately ascribed to Divine. Success, which is not only compatible with the existence of a revelation immediately proceeding from God, but even inseparable from it in our ideas, must not be insisted on as directly and properly demonstrative of the source whence any religion flowed. But when the advocate for Christianity argues in its behalf, that so many thousands were on a sudden converted to the faith, that the religion of Christ so widely and so auspiciously spread its influence over a large portion of the habitable world, the force of this argument is derived, not from the mere prevalence of Christianity, but from its prevalence under

those peculiar circumstances, in which the Gospel, at its first preaching, appears to have been placed. Dr. White.

Acts 5:40

40. And to him they agreed:] The decided countenance given by the respectable and dignified Gamaliel to the rising sect of Christians, partly we may suppose from conviction, since he was the son of the pious old Simeon, who took Christ in his arms, when an infant, and hailed Him by inspiration as the promised Saviour, Luke ii. 25—32, and partly from opposition to the ruling sect of the Sadducees, produced a considerable revolution in the minds of the upper ranks. And to this we may in good measure ascribe the great progress the new religion made among the priests, of whom a great crowd submitted to the faith soon after, chap. vi. 7; also among the Pharisees, whom we find among the Judaising teachers of the church, chap. xv. 5, and who further supported St. Paul (the pupil of Gamaliel) against the Sadducees in council, and upon the very plea urged by Gamaliel on the occasion. “If a spirit or angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God,” chap. xxii. 3; xxiii. 9. Dr. Hales.

Acts 5:41

41.—rejoicing that they were counted worthy &c.] Although scourging was a servile and ignominious punishment, they were so far from being ashamed of it, that they rejoiced and blessed God for the honour of suffering in so glorious a cause. Pyle.

Chap. VI. ver. 1.—in those days,] In the days of which St. Luke had been speaking in the foregoing chapter. Bp. Pearce.

—of the Grecians against the Hebrews,] By “the Hebrews” are here meant, those Jews converted to Christianity, who were natives of Judas. By “the Grecians” are meant, those Jews converted to Christianity, who belonged to other countries, and for whose use the Scriptures were translated from the Hebrew into the Greek language, at that time the most general in the world. Bp. Mann.

As an intercourse was maintained between these Grecian Jews and their mother country, they were indulged with synagogues and other advantages at Jerusalem. The supposed partiality of the natives (who were much more numerous) to their own widows, gave rise to the present complaint. Dr. Stack.

—in the daily ministration.] Of provisions made