While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.”
Parallel Translations
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While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.”
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Pertayned it not vnto the only and after it was solde was not the pryce in thyne awne power? How is it that thou hast conceaved this thinge in thyne herte? Thou hast not lyed vnto men but vnto God.
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Whiles it remained, appertained it not vnto thee? and after it was solde, was it not in thine owne power? howe is it that thou hast conceiued this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lyed vnto men, but vnto God.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Acts 5:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land?
- Joshua 7:25-26 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Yahweh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called “The valley of Achor” to this day.
- 2 Kings 5:25-27 But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you come from, Gehazi?” He said, “Your servant went nowhere.” He said to him, “Didn’t my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your offspring forever.” He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.
- 1 Chronicles 29:3 In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,
- 1 Thessalonians 4:8 Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.
- Luke 10:16 Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
- Exodus 35:21-22 They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought Yahweh’s offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and for all of its service, and for the holy garments. They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to Yahweh.
- Psalms 139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
- Isaiah 59:4 No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to iniquity.
- Ezekiel 38:10 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “It will happen in that day that things will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.
- Acts 5:9 But Peter asked her, “How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
- Acts 8:21-22 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn’t right before God. Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
- Exodus 16:8 Moses said, “Now Yahweh will give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.”
- Exodus 35:29 The children of Israel brought a free will offering to Yahweh; every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which Yahweh had commanded to be made by Moses.
- 1 Samuel 8:7 Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- 1 Chronicles 29:5 of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself today to Yahweh?”
- 1 Chronicles 29:9 Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to Yahweh; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
- 1 Chronicles 29:17 I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now I have seen with joy your people, who are present here, offer willingly to you.
- Psalms 7:14 Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood.
- Numbers 16:11 Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against Yahweh! What is Aaron that you complain against him?”
- Job 15:35 They conceive mischief, and produce iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:8 But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don’t eat, are we the worse; nor, if we eat, are we the better.
- 1 Corinthians 9:5-17 Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work? What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk? Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope. If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things? If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more? Nevertheless we didn’t use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar? Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News. But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me if I don’t preach the Good News. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
- Philemon 1:14 But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will.
- James 1:15 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. Did it not remaining. This amplifieth the offense…
4. Did it not remaining. This amplifieth the offense because he sinned, being enforced by no necessity. For seeing it is no just or lawful excuse to have been provoked by some other means, how much worse is it to run headlong unto wickedness willingly, and, as it were of set purpose to pull down God’s vengeance? We gather out of this, that no man was enforced to sell his goods or lands. For Peter saith, that Ananias had free liberty to keep both his land and his money; because in the second member, the field which was sold is taken for the price itself. Therefore he should nevertheless have been counted faithful, though he had kept that which was his own. Whereby it appeareth that they are men destitute of their right wits, who say that it is not lawful for the faithful to have anything of their own.
Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. Although the words be diversely construed, yet do I not doubt but that this confirmeth the former sentence. For hypocrites do so enwrap themselves in so many shifts, that they think they have nothing to do with God. And Peter speaketh thus expressly, because Ananias had deceived the Church. But he ought to have considered, that
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“where two or three be gathered together in the name of Christ, he is present there as the chief governor,” (Matthew 18:20;)
yea, he ought to have behaved himself no otherwise in that assembly, than if he should have seen God with his eyes. For seeing that God will reign in the Church, if we give him any reverence, we must reverence that rule and government religiously which he exerciseth by his Word. The apostles were indeed men, but not private men, because God had put them in his stead. Furthermore, we must note, that he saith that he lieth to God who doth lie to the Holy Ghost. For the divinity of the Holy Ghost is manifestly proved by this form of speech. In like sort Paul saith, “Ye are the temples of God, because his Spirit dwelleth in you,” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; and 6:19.)
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hereby is declared an advised and purposed deceit, and…
Hereby is declared an advised and purposed deceit, and the fault of the man in admitting the devil’s suggestions.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?…
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Ver. 4. Was it not thine own] Wicked men have a right to earthly things as their portion, Psa 17:14. God gave Tyre to Nebuchadnezzar.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? A…
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? A sufficient argument that there was no command (even then) to necessitate them to part with their estates, but only what the present and eminent necessity of the church did persuade them voluntarily unto. The doubling of this expostulation makes the conviction the more forcible.
In thine own power; as a steward under God, to do what thou wouldst with it according to his will; and none are, or can be, otherwise disposers of what they possess.
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Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? It seems hence, that it was a deliberate and propensed iniquity.
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God: in that lying unto God is so often charged, and no express mention is made of Ananias’s vow, some excuse him of sacrilege, and charge him the more deeply with ambition, covetousness, lying, and hypocrisy, to the apostles, whom he intended to deceive.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Whiles it remained, was it not thine own,.... Before…
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own,.... Before it was sold, it was his own proper estate; he had the sole propriety in it, and could have kept it, or disposed of it as he pleased: he was not obliged to sell it, he might have kept it as his own property; for selling of possessions at this time was a voluntary thing; it was what no man was forced to; it was a pure act of liberality, and what was not enjoined by the apostles; every man was left to his liberty.
And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? that is, the price for which it was sold: before he had declared that he sold it, in order to give the whole of it to the church, had brought it to the apostles as the whole; it was in his own power to dispose of, as he pleased, whether to give the whole, or a part of it, or it. He might have kept it all if he had thought fit, or have given what portion he pleased.
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Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? for though Satan had an hand in it, and greatly solicited him to it, and spirited him up to do it, yet in conjunction with his own heart; and perhaps it began there, which Satan helped forward. It was not so of Satan as to excuse the wickedness of his heart. It was owing partly to the sin of covetousness, which reigned in him, and partly to a desire of vain glory, and being thought a very religious man, that he acted such a part, and was so notoriously guilty of lying and hypocrisy.
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God; that is, not to men only, for he had lied to the apostles; but to God also, to the Holy Ghost, who is truly and properly God, of which this passage is a full proof; and it was owing to his omniscience, which is a peculiar attribute of deity, that this wicked man, and this fraud of his, were discovered.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain While it remained, did it not remain thine? -…
While it remained, did it not remain thine? - It is true, whosoever among the Christians (not one excepted) had houses or lands, sold them, and laid the price at the feet of the apostles. But it was in his own choice to be a Christian or not: and consequently either to sell his land, or keep it. And when it was sold, was it not in thy power? - For it does not appear that he professed himself a Christian when he sold it. Why hast thou conceived this thing in thy heart? - So profanely to dissemble on so solemn an occasion? Thou hast not lied to men only, but to God also. Hence the Godhead of the Holy Ghost evidently appears: since lying to him, ver. 3, is lying to God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Whiles it remained, was it not thine…
Verse 4. Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?] See Clarke on Ac 5:2, and See Clarke on Ac 2:44.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Whiles it remained - As long as it remained…
Whiles it remained - As long as it remained unsold. This place proves that there was no “obligation” imposed on the disciples to sell their property. They who did it, did it voluntarily; and it does not appear that it was done by all, or expected to be done by all.
And after it was sold ... - Even after the property was sold, and Ananias had the money, still there was no obligation on him to devote it in this way. He had the disposal of it still. The apostle mentions this to show him that his offence was especially aggravated. He was not “compelled” to sell his property - he had not even the poor pretence that he was “obliged” to dispose of it, and was “tempted” to withhold it for his own use. It was “all” his, and might have been retained if he had chosen.
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Thou hast not lied unto men - Unto people “only,” or, it is not your “main” and “chief” offence that you have attempted to deceive people. It is true that Ananias “had” attempted to deceive the apostles, and it is true, also, that this was a crime; but still, the principal magnitude of the offence was that he had attempted to deceive “God.” So small was his crime as committed against “men” that it was lost sight of by the apostles, and the great, crowning sin of attempting to deceive “God” was brought fully into view. Thus, David also saw his sin as committed against “God” to be so enormous that he lost sight of it as an offence to man, and said, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,” Psa 51:4.
But unto God - It has been “particularly” and “eminently” against God. This is true, because:
He had professedly “devoted” it to God. The act, therefore, had express and direct reference to him.
(2)It was an attempt to deceive him. It implied the belief of Ananias that God would not detect the crime, or see the motives of the heart.
(3)It is the prerogative of God to judge of sincerity and hypocrisy; and this was a case, therefore, which came under his special notice. Compare Psa 139:1-4. The word “God” here is evidently used in its plain and obvious sense as denoting the “supreme divinity,” and the use of the word here shows that the Holy Spirit is “divine.” The whole passage demonstrates, therefore, one of the important doctrines of the Christian religion, that the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son, and yet is divine.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Did it not remain to thee? That is, no…
Did it not remain to thee? That is, no one forced thee to make such a promise. --- And being sold, was it not in thy power, and at thy free disposal, before such a promise? but promises and vows must be kept. Thou hast not lied to men, but to God, by lying to the Holy Ghost. (Witham) --- Thou hast not lied to men, only and principally, but to God also; for he had also lied to Peter, and the other apostles. (Menochius) --- "If it displeased God," says St. Augustine, "to withdraw part of the money they had vowed to God, how is he angry, when chastity is vowed and not performed! ... let not such persons think to be condemned to corporal death, but to everlasting fire." (Serm. x. de diversis.) --- St. Gregory, on t his same subject, says: "Ananias had vowed money to God, which afterwards, overcome by diabolical persuasion, he withdrew; but with what death he was punished, thou knowest. See, then, what judgment thou art to expect, for withdrawing, not money, but thyself, from Almighty God." (lib. i. ep. 33.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain While it remained, was it not thine own? and…
While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?--from which we see how purely voluntary were all these sacrifices for the support of the infant community.
not lied to men but God--to men so entirely the instruments of the directing Spirit that the lie was rather told to Him: language clearly implying both the distinct personality and the proper divinity of the Holy Ghost.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Not thine own—He could have kept his own…
4. Not thine own—He could have kept his own and be held as maintaining his own right unquestioned.
Sold—These questions of Peter show that the bestowment of goods was perfectly voluntary and not a law, and that the crime was a free and deliberate act in its successive stages.
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Lied—His crime was a lie, and before God every liar is worthy of death. The wonder is not that a liar should be struck dead, but that liars should be allowed by God to live. It becomes modern sinners not to cavil at Ananias’ fate, but to wonder at the mercy of its not being their own.
Unto God—That is, unto God the Spirit. That Spirit, then, is a Divine Person. He is not merely an emanation from God, but he is God emanating from God—God in emanation, God going forth in his holiness and power. This is, therefore, an important text in explanation of the personality of the Spirit.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?]…
4. Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?] The verb in the original is repeated. Whiles it remained, did it not remain thine own? That is, there was no compulsion on him to sell it, the only thing expected from him being that, if he were moved to sell, he should honestly set forth what he had done. There seems to have been no necessity to give at all to the common fund unless a man felt that he could well afford to do so, nor to give all that he either had or realized by any sale, provided only he made honest declaration of what his gift really was. This is implied in the words which follow, which declare that the sum produced by any sale was at the seller’s disposal until he made it over to the common fund.
why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?] The original is a translation of a Hebrew expression which is repeated several times in the prophet Haggai (Act_1:5; Act_1:7, Act_2:18), and is rendered by the A. V. Consider. The force of the expression is “to lay anything (as a plan or a precept) deep in the heart,” and it implies long and deep deliberation on the part of this offender. It was not a case of yielding to a sudden temptation, but the plan had been accepted into the heart, and fostered there till there seemed to be a way of carrying it out. Satan had filled his heart, but he had made no effort to cast out the intruder.
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thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God] It is not intended to say that Ananias had not lied unto men at all, but that the gravity of his offence was that he thought to deceive God. In Act_5:3 it is said that the deception had been practised towards the Holy Ghost, and so we learn hence the Divinity of the third Person of the Trinity.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Whiles it remained . . .—Fresh circumstances are…
(4) Whiles it remained . . .—Fresh circumstances are pressed home, as depriving the act of every possible excuse. Ananias had not been bound by any rule of the Church to such a gift. At every stage he was free to act as he thought best; and had he brought part as part, or even brought nothing, he would have been free from any special blame. As it was, the attempt to obtain the reputation of saintliness without the reality of sacrifice, involved him in the guilt at once of sacrilege, though there had been no formal consecration, and of perjury, though there had been no formulated oath.
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.—The parallelism between this and “lying to the Holy Ghost” in Act_5:3 has often been used, and perfectly legitimately, as a proof that while the Apostles thought of the Spirit as sent by the Father, and therefore distinct in His personality, they yet did not shrink from speaking of Him as God, and so identifying Him with the Divine Essential Being.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Did it not remain for was it not, A.V.;…
Did it not remain for was it not, A.V.; thy for thine own, A.V.; how is it that thou hast for why hast thou, A.V.; thy heart for thine heart, A.V. Did it not remain , etc.? The exact meaning is Did it not remain to thee? i.e. unsold it was thine, and when sold the price of it was thine. There was no compulsion as regards giving it away. The act was one of deliberate hypocrisy an attempt to deceive God himself.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Act_5:4
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
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Lying unto God.
I. The sin. Men lie unto God--
1. When they use their profession as members of the Church for an instrument of self interest.
2. By making false pretences in their routine of worship.
3. By breaking their covenant of consecration.
4. By the offering of insincere prayers.
5. By self seeking in acts of Christian zeal.
II. The retribution--
1. Was the visitation of God.
2. Often comes in the form of a de-moralisation of soul, which renders recovery impossible at the last. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The permanence of a lie
A little boy to sell his paper told a lie. The matter came up in the Sunday school. Would you tell a lie for three cents? asked a teacher of one of the boys. No, maam, answered Dick, very decidedly. For ten cents? No, maam. For a dollar? No, maam. For a thousand dollars? Dick was staggered, A thousand dollars looked big--it would buy lots of things. While he was thinking another boy cries out No, maam, because when the thousand dollars are gone and the things you have got with them are gone too, the lie is there all the same. Ah, yes! That is so. A lie sticks. Everything else may go, but that will stay, and you will have to carry it round with you, whether you will or no--a hard and heavy load. (Biblical Museum.)
Self deception
A man never deceives himself so much as when he attempts to deceive God. (J. Caryl.)
The retribution of falsehood
George Eliot, in Romola, powerfully illustrates in that remarkable book the embarrassments involved in one cowardly departure from truth. In the chapter headed Titos Dilemma, the occasion arises for Tito to fabricate an ingenious lie. Many chapters on we find him experiencing the inexorable law of human souls that we prepare ourselves for sudden deeds by the reiterated choice of good or evil that gradually determines character, and it becomes a question whether all the resources of lying will save him from being crushed. At another time we read: Tito felt more and more confidence as he went on; the lie was not so difficult when it was once begun, and as the words fell easily from his lips, they gave him a sense of power such as men feel when they have begun a muscular feat successfully. The penalty is enforced a few pages later. But he had borrowed from the terrible usurer Falsehood, and the loan had mounted and mounted with the years, till he belonged to the usurer, body and soul.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 3
See notes on verse 3
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.