Lives of Scripture

Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, belonged to the early Jerusalem church during a period marked by remarkable generosity, when believers sold property and laid the proceeds at the apostles' feet to meet the needs of the poor among them (Acts 4:32-37). Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property too, but "kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge," while bringing only a portion and presenting it as the whole amount (5:1-2). Peter's confrontation makes clear the sin was never the withholding itself -- the property and its price had been entirely theirs to dispose of as they wished even after selling it -- but the deliberate deception involved in claiming full generosity while secretly keeping back part: "why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit... you have not lied to men, but to God" (5:3-4). At those words, Ananias fell down and died; the young men present wrapped him up and buried him, and "great fear came over all who heard of it" (5:5-6, 11). About three hours later, Sapphira arrived unaware of what had happened, was given the chance to tell the truth, repeated the same lie, and died the same way (5:7-10). The episode stands as an unusually severe and sobering act of divine judgment at the very founding of the church, underscoring how seriously God regards hypocrisy that dresses itself up as devotion.