Acts 5:2

Kept back. Gr. nosphizo, in the form here used, “set apart for himself.” In Titus 2:10 this verb is translated “purloining.” It is used in the LXX (Joshua 7:1) for the sin of Achan. The mere retention by Ananias of part of the selling price of the land was not in itself a sin. Actually, he was under no compulsion to give anything. He had professed a willingness to give, but he was not obliged to give any fixed amount. The money was his own, to give in whole or in part. But the part was brought as though it were the whole. This was the deception. It was an acted lie.

The approval with which Luke tells the story of the self-sacrifice of Barnabas must have reflected the approval of the church. Ananias apparently thought that he could gain the same approval, but with less sacrifice on his part. The desire to please was strong enough to gain a partial victory over greed. But greed was strong enough to triumph over honesty. The impulse to sell came from the Spirit of God; the impulse to retain part of the price was evil. The act was an attempt to serve both God and mammon. The sin was in some respects like that of Gehazi (see on 2 Kings 5:20-27), but seen against the background of the miracles of Pentecost and the extraordinary progress of the church under the Spirit’s guidance, it was more heinous and was visited with severer punishment.

His wife. Sapphira was evidently a willing accomplice. Theirs was a planned offense.