Matthew Henry on Acts 5:1-11
The chapter begins with a melancholy but, which puts a stop to the pleasant and agreeable prospect of things which we had in the foregoing chapters; as every man, so every church, in its best state has its but. 1. The disciples were very holy, and heavenly, and seemed to be all exceedingly good; but there were hypocrites among them, whose hearts were not right in the sight of God, who, when they were baptized, and took upon them the form of godliness, denied the power of godliness, and stopped short of that. There is a mixture of bad with good in the best societies on this side heaven; tares will grow among the wheat until the harvest. 2. It was the praise of the disciples that they came up…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on Acts 5:2
Kept back part of the price - Ananias and Sapphira were evidently persons who professed faith in Christ with the rest of the disciples. While all were making sacrifices for the present necessity, they came forward among the rest, pretending to bring all the money they had got for a possession, κτημα, (of what kind we know not), which they had sold. A part of this price, however, they kept back, not being willing to trust entirely to the bounty of Providence, as the others did; thinking probably, that, as the whole was their own, they had a right to do with it as they pleased. And so they had: they were under no necessity to sell their possession; but the act of selling it for the ostensible…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Acts 5:2
And kept back part of the price,.... At which the possession was sold; he reserved it for his own use, after he had given out that he sold it for the service of the church:
his wife also being privy to it; to this private reserve:
and brought a certain part; whether the greater part, or an equal part, half of it, or a lesser part; some little part of it, so the phrase seems to signify, is not certain:
and laid it at the apostles' feet; as the rest did, thereby to make a show of charity, and cover the deceit.
John Calvin
