Acts 5:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 5:9
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
a (piece of) rock (larger than G3037 (λίθος)) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
said
ἔπωépō
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing)
unto
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
her
αὐτήν·autēn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
it
τίti
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
ye
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
together
συνεφωνήθηsunephōnēthē
G4856
to be harmonious · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
tempt
πειράσαιpeirasai
G3985
to test (objectively) · verb — aorist active infinitive
Spirit
πνεῦμαpneuma
G4151
a current of air · noun — accusative singular neuter
Lord
κυρίου;kuriou
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
behold
ἰδοὺidou
G2400
used as imperative lo! · interjection
feet
πόδεςpodes
G4228
a "foot" (figuratively or literally) · noun — nominative plural masculine
them
ὁho
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular masculine
buried
θαψάντωνthapsantōn
G2290
to celebrate funeral rites · verb — aorist active participle, genitive plural masculine
thy
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
husband
ἄνδραandra
G435
a man (properly as an individual male) · noun — accusative singular masculine
at
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
door
θύρᾳthura
G2374
a portal or entrance (the opening or the closure · noun — dative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
carry
ἐξοίσουσίνexoisousin
G1627
to bear out (literally or figuratively) · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person plural
thee
σέsé
G4571
thee
out
ἐκφέρωekphérō
G1627
to bear out (literally or figuratively)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Corinthians 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Psalms 95:8-11 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Acts 5:3-4 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Psalms 78:56 Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:
Psalms 78:18-20 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Psalms 78:40-41 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Acts 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Genesis 3:9-13 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
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…
How is it that ye have agreed together--(See on Act 5:2).
to tempt the Spirit--try whether they could escape detection by that omniscient Spirit of whose supernatural presence with the apostles they had had such full evidence.
feet of them that buried thy husband are at the door--How awfully graphic!
Adam Clarke on Acts 5:9
To tempt the Spirit of the Lord? - So the Holy Ghost, God, and the Spirit of the Lord, are the same person.
John Gill on Acts 5:9
Then Peter said unto her, how is it that ye have agreed together,.... For husband and wife to agree together in what is good, in things civil, honest, and lawful, and in religious matters, is very commendable; but to agree in a fraud, in a lie, is very dreadful:
to tempt the Spirit of the Lord; to try whether the apostles had the Spirit of the Lord, or not; and whether the Spirit of the Lord that was in them was omniscient and omnipotent, would take any notice of it, and inflict punishment for it:
behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door; which Peter knew either by hearing the sound of their feet, as Ahijah the prophet heard the sound of the feet of Jeroboam's…
The punishment by death from the wisest Peter against those who erred is not out of madness but out of teaching of prescient, letting go the many transgressions of mankind. For at that time they began sowing the seeds of the gospel, and knowing that darnels appeared besides naturally, they wisely plucked them out forthwith; it was taken care of by the future fire so as to burn lest they be gathered with the wheat.
"And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Holy Ghost? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then she fell down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost; and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the Church, and upon as many as heard these things." The aggravation of the sin was, that they committed it as with one soul, just as upon a settled compact between them. "How is it that ye have agreed together," he said, "to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door." First he makes her learn the sin, and then shows that she will justly suffer the same punishment with her husband, since she has committed the same wickedness: "And they shall carry thee out. And she fell down straightway at his feet," for she was standing near him, "and yielded up the ghost." So entirely by their own act had they invited upon themselves the vengeance! Who after that would not be struck with awe? who would not fear the Apostle? who would not marvel? who not be afraid? Peter all but pleads for himself, when at the point to inflict the punishment, and at the same time gives a lesson to the rest. For because the act would seem exceeding stern, therefore it is that he does so much in the case. In respect of the woman also the process of judgment was terrible. But see how many evils grow out of the sacrilege: covetousness, contempt of God, impiety; and upon these too he pleaded for himself before the assembly, in that he did not immediately proceed to punishment, but first exposed the sin.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ananias — A common Jewish name, the same as Hananiah. (1.) One of the members of the church at Jerusalem, who conspired with his wife Sapphira to deceive the brethren, and who fell down and immediately expired…
Judgments of God — (1.) The secret decisions of God’s will (Ps. 110:5; 36:6). (2.) The revelations of his will (Ex. 21:1; Deut. 6:20; Ps. 119:7-175). (3.) The infliction of punishment on the wicked (Ex. 6:6; 12:12;…
Sapphira — Beautiful, the wife of Ananias (q.v.). She was a partner in his guilt and also in his punishment (Acts 5:1-11).
Ananias · of — of
Burial · General references — General references
Communism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Holy Spirit, The Personality Of · He can be tempted — He can be tempted
Judgments · Upon individuals - Exemplified: Ananias, & c — Upon individuals - Exemplified: Ananias, & c
Offences Against The Holy Spirit · Exhibited in: Tempting him
John Calvin on Acts 5:7-11
Acts 5:7-11
7. And there was passed about the space of three hours, when his wife came in, ignorant of that which was done. 8. And Peter said unto her, Tell me, sold ye the field for so much? She answered, Surely, for so much. 9. And Peter said unto her, What is this that ye are agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those which have buried thy husband are at the door, which shall carry thee out. 10. And immediately she fell down at his feet, and gave up the ghost. Furthermore, when the young men came in, they found her dead, and when they had carried her out, they buried her beside her husband. 11. And there came great fear upon all the church, and upon all wh…
In lying about their property sale, Ananias was not just lying to others but to the Holy Spirit—that is, to God. His actions compromised the transparent sincerity, unity, and integrity of the church at its very foundation, and thus he fell under the direct judgment of God (cp. Lev 10:1-5; Josh 7:16-26).
Reproof · Of those who offend, a warning to others — Of those who offend, a warning to others
Sapphira · Falsehood and — Falsehood and
Titles And Names Of The Holy Spirit · Spirit of the Lord — Spirit of the Lord
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
