Act 5:5, 10 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 5. Fell down, and gave up the ghost ] πεσωνεξεψυξε, Falling down, he expired, breathed his last : "Gave up the ghost" is a very improper translation here. , and . Two things may be remarked here: 1. That the sin of this person was of no ordinary magnitude, else God would not have visited it with so signal a punishment. 2. That Peter must have had the power to discern the state of the heart , else he had not known the perfidy of Ananias. This power, commonly called the discernment of spirits , the apostles had as a particular gift, not probably always but at select times , when God saw it necessary for the good of his Church.

‏ Acts 5:5

Verse 5. Fell down, and gave up the ghost] πεσωνεξεψυξε, Falling down, he expired, breathed his last: "Gave up the ghost" is a very improper translation here. See Clarke on Ge 25:8, and See Clarke on Mt 27:50. Two things may be remarked here: 1. That the sin of this person was of no ordinary magnitude, else God would not have visited it with so signal a punishment. 2. That Peter must have had the power to discern the state of the heart, else he had not known the perfidy of Ananias. This power, commonly called the discernment of spirits, the apostles had as a particular gift, not probably always but at select times, when God saw it necessary for the good of his Church.

‏ Acts 5:10

Verse 10. Yielded up the ghost] See Ac 5:5. It was not by Peter's words, nor through Peter's prayers, nor through shame, nor through remorse, that this guilty pair died, but by an immediate judgment of God. The question of the salvation of Ananias and Sapphira has not been a little agitated; and most seem inclined to hope that, though their sin was punished by this awful display of the Divine judgment, mercy was extended to their souls. For my own part, I think their sin was what the apostle, 1Jo 5:16, calls a sin unto death; a sin which must be punished with temporal death, or the death of the body, while mercy was extended to the soul. It was right in this infant state of the Church to show God's displeasure against deceit, fraud, and hypocrisy: had this guilty pair been permitted to live after they had done this evil, this long-suffering would have been infallibly abused by others; and, instead of leading them who had sinned to repentance, might have led them to hardness of heart by causing them to presume on the mercy of God. That hypocrisy may be afraid to show her face, God makes these two an example of his justice; but, because they had not the ordinary respite, we may presume that God extended mercy to them, though cut off almost in the act of sin. Their case, however, cannot become a precedent, allowing them to have received mercy; because those who have seen in this case the severity of God must expect much sorer punishment, if, with such an example before their eyes, they should presume on the mercy of their Maker: this would be doing evil that good might come, and the perdition of such would be just.