Acts 5:1 and 2:
5:1But some adult-male, Ananias by-name, together with Sapphira his wife, sold an acquisition .2and put-apart-for-himself from the price, (his) wife also having known-together2 with (him), and having carried some part he put (it) beside the feet of the apostles.
God's Word now tells us of this man Ananias, who in conjunction with his wife Sapphira, sold something which he had acquired by purchase or otherwise. Then Ananias put apart (took, purloined, embezzled) for himself away from the price (the value or holding-worth that he got when he sold this acquisition) with his wife's knowledge (perception) throughout this process. She was fully conscious of what he was doing, just as he was. He then carried (brought) only the remaining portion of the whole-amount and put (placed, laid, set) this portion at the apostles' feet.
To put/place something beside the feet of another was a demonstration of willingness to give what one has over into another's authority and responsibility, expecting that the other will do what is appropriate in that situation (refer to also Matthew 15:30; Acts 4:35 and 37, and 7:58).
The name “Ananias” means “grace” and the name “Sapphira” means “beautiful” – quite contrary to their behavior here!
[Reference: Acts 4:34, 35 and 37; Romans chapter 13; Titus 2:9 and 10. Also, the Greek translation of the old covenant writings, the Septuagint, has in Joshua 7:1 the same verb as in Acts 5:2 translated “put apart for himself”; refer to Joshua 7:1-24.]
Verses 3 and 4:
.3But Peter said, "Ananias, because-of-what did satan fill your heart (for) you to lie-to the spirit, the holy (spirit), and to put-apart-for-yourself from the price of the property? .4(While it was) remaining it remained to you, and having been sold (the selling-price) began-to-be in your authority, didn't it? - (yes.) Why (is it) that you put this matter in your heart? You did not lie to men but to God."
Immediately Peter recognized that there was a problem and what the problem was. He was not fooled by the "looking-good" or "good-looking" action of Ananias! How is it that Peter was not tricked by the information he was getting from the five-senses of his flesh - for he could physically see Ananias giving this money but he did not physically see him putting-apart a certain amount for himself first before coming to where the apostles and other believers were - so how did Peter know?
Peter knew instantly because he received information from his holy spirit-life (refer to First Corinthians 12:4-14). By the freedom of his will he communicated with the holy spirit within him regarding this situation as it was happening, and he received information from God or the Lord Jesus Christ via his holy spirit which told Peter's mind what was going on both in the physical category and in the spirit category from God's viewpoint regarding this situation. Peter then relied on this information; he based his decisions on that supernaturally revealed information.
Peter addressed Ananias by name and said: “…on what account did satan fill your heart (actively make the center, core of your being, the seat of your whole personal self and living, full, filled) with/of his purpose which is that…
"Satan" is the name sometimes used to describe the devil because of his opposing and adversarial attributes and activities in certain situations being in total opposition to the only true God. Ananias had allowed satan to influence him so much that it filled his heart. Some Greek texts have the verb "tempted" or "hardened" instead of "filled" in verse 3.
Notice that Peter did not speak to any devil-spirit (demon). The information Peter received from his holy spirit was accurate - there was no devil-spirit present in Ananias because Ananias was a holy-person, a Christian; he had already received the gift of holy spirit which is the spirit of Christ within him and so he could not also have a devil-spirit within him! Satan did not fill Ananias’ heart with himself but he actively filled it with his purpose which Peter details in verse 3.
Peter explains to Ananias: “While the property remained it remained (stayed) to/for/with you (nobody took it away from you), and after it was sold (trafficked) it began to be in your authority (the word “your” is emphatic; what you received in exchange for it began to be within the sphere of YOUR authoritative-power, you had permitted rights regarding it, the selling price began to be in your power), didn’t it?” The construction of this sentence demands the answer of “yes” – yes, that’s right. Ananias had the property, then he had the money he got in exchange for it – he had all of it.
Ananias was the one who put this matter in his own heart. He made his own decision to carry out satan’s purposes detailed in verse 3; nobody forced him, not even satan. Ananias knew that these apostles had received holy spirit-life and he knew he was lying in his actions and words to it when he put-apart for himself from the price and brought only a certain portion of it and put it beside the feet of the apostles falsely communicating that he was freely giving them the whole price.
There is no record of any answer being spoken by Ananias to Peter’s question of “Why is it that you put this matter within your heart?”
Peter very plainly tells him exactly what he had done – the ‘big picture’: “You did not lie to men (mankind, the lie was not ultimately directed-to Peter and the rest of the apostles nor any of the holy-people) – but on the contrary, you lied to God (the indirect object of your falsifying was the only true God, the lie was ultimately directed-to God)." God is the One Who had given them their holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ and so any lies to the gift of holy spirit ultimately was a lie to God!
[Reference: Genesis chapter 3; Ecclesiastes 8:11; Matthew 4:1-11, 12:31; John 13:37; Acts 2:33, 4:34, 5:32, 10:44 and 47, 11:15, 15:8-10; I Corinthians 5:5, 7:5, 10:9; II Corinthians 2:11, chapters 8 and 9; Ephesians 4:25-30; I Timothy 1:20, 5:15; Hebrews 3:7-19. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
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