Ananias

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Gr.  Ἀνανίας; Heb.  חָנָן ‘Jahweh is gracious’)

A very common name in later Jewish times, corresponding to Hananiah or Hanani of the OT. We find it occurring frequently in the post-exilic writings and particularly in the Apocrypha. In the history of the Apostolic Church, we meet with three persons bearing this name.

1. An early convert to Christianity, best known as the husband of Sapphira ( Acts 5:1-5). Along with his wife, Ananias was carried into the early Church on the wave of enthusiasm which began on the day of Pentecost, but they were utterly devoid of any understanding or appreciation of the new religion they professed. In this period of early zeal many of the Christians sold their lands and handed the proceeds to the community of believers (cf. Barnabas, Community of Goods). Ananias and his wife, wishing to share in the approbation accorded to such acts of generosity, sold their land and handed part of the price to the community, pretending that they had sacrificed all. When St. Peter rebuked the male offender for his duplicity, Ananias fell down dead, and was carried out for burial; his wife also came in and was overtaken by the same fate. The narrative does not indicate that the two were punished because they had in any way violated a rule of communism which they had professed to accept. The words of St. Peter, ‘Whiles it remained, did it not remain thine own, and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?’ ( Acts 5:4) at once dispose of any view of the incident which would regard communism as compulsory in the early Church. The sin for which Ananias and Sapphira were punished is described as ‘lying unto God’ ( Acts 5:4). It was, says Knowling, ‘much more than mere hypocrisy, much more than fraud, pride or greed-hateful as these sins are-the power and presence of the Holy Spirit had been manifested in the Church, and Ananias had sinned not only against human brotherhood, but against the Divine light and leading which had made that brotherhood possible.… The action of Ananias and Sapphira was hypocrisy of the worst kind,’ an attempt to deceive not only men but God Himself. Most critics admit the historicity of the incident ( e.g. Baur, Weizsäcker, Holtzmann, Spitta), while it is undoubted that in the narrative the cause of death is traced to the will and intention of St. Peter, and cannot be regarded as a chance occurrence or the effect of a sudden shock brought about by the discovery of their guilt. Much has been written on the need in the infant Church of such a solemn warning against a type of hypocrisy which, had it become prevalent, would have rendered the existence of the Christian community impossible.

Literature.-F. C. Baur, Paulus , Leipzig, 1866, i. 28ff.; A. Neander, Planting of Christianity , ed. Bohn, i. [1880] 27ff.; C. v. Weizsäcker, Apostol. Age , i. [1894] 24; R. J. Knowling, Expositor’s Greek Testament   , ‘Acts,’ 1900, in loco  ; Comm. or Meyer, ZeIler, Holtzmann, Spitta.

2. A Christian disciple who dwelt in Damascus, and to whom Christ appeared in a vision telling him to go to Saul of Tarsus, who was praying and had Seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him that he might receive his sight ( Acts 9:10-17). On hearing this command, Ananias, Knowing the reputation of Saul as a persecutor, expressed reluctance, but was assured that the persecutor was a chosen messenger of Christ to bear His name to the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. Thus encouraged, Ananias went and laid his hands on Saul, who received his sight and was baptized. In his speech before the multitude at Jerusalem ( Acts 22:12-16) St. Paul describes Ananias as ‘devout according to the law,’ and as one ‘to whom witness was borne by all that dwelt’ at Damascus.

Later tradition has much to say regarding Ananias. He is represented as one of the ‘Seventy,’ and it is possible he may have been a personal disciple of Jesus. He is also described as bishop of Damascus, and reported to have met a violent death, slain by the sword of Pôl, the general of Aretas, according to one authority ( Book of the Bee , by Solomon of Basra [1222], ch. xxix., ed. Wallis Budge), or, according to another (see Acta Sanctorum , Jan. 25 [new ed. p. 227]), stoned to death after undergoing torture at the hand of Lucian, prefect of Damascus. His name stands in the Roman and Armenian Martyrologies, and he is commemorated in the Abyssinian Calendar.

3. The high priest who accused St. Paul before Claudius Lysias in Jerusalem ( Acts 23:1 ff.), and who afterwards appeared among the Apostle’s enemies before Felix at Caesarea ( Acts 24:1 ff.). He is not to be identified or confused with Annas ( q.v. [Note: quod vide, which see.]   ) of  Acts 4:6,  Luke 3:2, or  John 18:13. He was the son of Nedebaeus, and is regarded by Schürer ( GJV    [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]  4 ii. 272) as the twenty-first high priest in the Roman-Herodian period. He retained his office, to which he had been appointed by Herod of Chalcis, for about twelve years (a.d. 47-59). During the time of his administration, bitter quarrels broke out between the Jews and the Samaritans, which led to a massacre of some Galilaeans by Samaritans and to the plundering of Samaritan villages by Jews. Ananias was summoned to Rome and tried for complicity in these disturbance, but, at the instigation of Agrippa the younger, was restored to office. He ruled in Jerusalem with all the arbitrariness of an Oriental despot, and his violence and rapacity are noted by Josephus ( Ant . xx. ix. 2), while his personal wealth made him a man of consideration even after he was deprived of his office. He did not scruple to make frequent use of assassins to carry out his policy in Jerusalem, and his Roman sympathies made him an object of intense hatred to the national party. When the war broke out in a.d. 66, he was dragged from his place of concealment in an aqueduct and murdered by the assassins whom he had used as tools in the days of his power (Josephus, Bellum Judaicum (Josephus)   ii. xvii. 9).

Literature.-Josephus, Ant . xx. ix. 2, Bellum Judaicum (Josephus)   ii. xvii. 9; E. Schürer, GJV    [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]  4 ii. [1907] 256, 272, 274.

W. F. Boyd.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

was the son of Nebedaeus, high priest of the Jews. According to Josephus, he succeeded Joseph, the son of Camith, in the forty-seventh year of the Christian aera; and was himself succeeded by Ishmael, the son of Tabaeus, in the year 63. Quadratus, governor of Syria, coming into Judaea, on the rumours which prevailed among the Samaritans and Jews, sent the high priest Ananias to Rome, to vindicate his conduct to the emperor. The high priest justified himself, was acquitted, and returned. St. Paul being apprehended at Jerusalem by the tribune of the Roman troops that guarded the temple, declared to him that he was a citizen of Rome. This obliged the officer to treat him with some regard. As he was ignorant of what the Jews accused him, the next day he convened the priests, and placed St. Paul in the midst of them, that he might justify himself. St. Paul began as follows: "Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." He had scarcely spoken this, when the high priest, Ananias, commanded those who were near him to smite him on the face. The Apostle immediately replied, "God shall judge thee, thou whited wall; for, sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?" They that stood by said, "Revilest thou God's high priest?" And Paul answered, "I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people."  Acts 22:23-24;  Acts 23:1-5; by which words many suppose that the Apostle spake in bitter irony; or at least that he considered Ananias as a usurper of the office of the priesthood.

After this, the assembly being divided in opinion, St. Paul was sent by the tribune to Caesarea, that Felix, governor of the province, might take cognizance of the affair. When it was known that the Apostle had arrived at Caesarea, Ananias the high priest, and other Jews, went thither to accuse him; but the affair was adjourned, and St. Paul continued two years in prison in that city, Acts 24.

The Apostle's prediction that God would smite Ananias, was thus accomplished: Albinus, governor of Judaea, being come into that country, Ananias found means to gain him by presents; and Ananias, by reason of this patronage, was considered as the first man of his nation. However, there were in his party some violent persons, who plundered the country, and seized the tithes of the priests; and this they did with impunity, on account of the great credit of Ananias. At the same time, several companies of assassins infested Judaea, and committed great ravages. When any of their companions fell into the hands of the governors of the province, and were about to be executed, they failed not to seize some domestic or relation of the high priest Ananias, that he might procure the liberty of their associates, in exchange for those whom they detained. Having taken Eleazer, one of Ananias's sons, they did not release him till ten of their companions were liberated. By this means their number considerably increased, and the country was exposed to their ravages. At length, Eleazer, the son of Ananias, heading a party of mutineers, seized the temple, and forbade any sacrifices for the emperor. Being joined by the assassins, he pulled down the house of his father Ananias, with his brother, hid him self in the aqueducts belonging to the royal palace, but was soon discovered, and both of them were killed. Thus God smote this whited wall, in the very beginning of the Jewish wars.

2. ANANIAS, one of the first Christians of Jerusalem, who being converted, with his wife Sapphira, sold his estate; (as did the other Christians at Jerusalem, under a temporary regulation that they were to have all things in common;) but privately reserved a part of the purchase money to himself. Having brought the remainder to St. Peter, as the whole price of the inheritance sold, the Apostle, to whom the Holy Ghost had revealed this falsehood, rebuked him severely, as having lied not unto men but unto God, Acts 5. At that instant, Ananias, being struck dead, fell down at the Apostle's feet; and in the course of three hours after, his wife suffered a similar punishment. This happened, A.D. 33, or 34. It is evident, that in this and similar events, the spectators and civil magistrates must have been convinced that some extraordinary power was exerted; for if Peter had himself slain Ananias, he would have been amenable to the laws as a murderer. But, if by forewarning him that he should immediately die, and the prediction came to pass, it is evident that the power which attended this word of Peter was not from Peter, but from God. This was made the more certain by the death of two persons, in the same manner, and under the same circumstances, which could not be attributed to accident.

3. ANANIAS, a disciple of Christ, at Damascus, whom the Lord directed to visit Paul, then lately converted. Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and how he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon thy name." But the Lord said unto him, "Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me." Ananias, therefore, went to the house in which God had revealed unto him that Paul was, and putting his hands on him, said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared unto thee in the way, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost,"   Acts 9:10-12 , &c. We are not informed of any other circumstance of the life of Ananias.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 1. High priest ( Acts 23:2, etc.;  Acts 24:1). Son of Zebedaeus, succeeded Joseph, son of Camydus, and was followed by Ismael, son of Phabi Herod, king of Chalcis A.D. 48, appointed him. The prefect Ummidius Quadratus in A.D. 52 sent him to be tried before the emperor Claudius on the charge of oppressing the Samaritans. Cumanus the procurator, his adversary, was not successful but was banished; so that Ananias seems not to have lost office then, but lost it before Felix left the province; and was at last assassinated by the Sicarii (zealot assassins and robbers) early in the last Jewish war. Violent tempered to such a degree that he caused Paul to be smitten on the mouth for saying, "I have lived in all good conscience before God"; himself on the contrary "a whited wall." Compare  Matthew 23:27.

 2. A disciple at Jerusalem, Sapphira's husband (Acts 5). Having sold his property for the good of the church professedly, he kept back part of the price, and handed the rest to the apostles. Peter stigmatized the act as "lying to the Holy Spirit," who was in the apostles, and whom notwithstanding he thought he could elude. Ananias instantly fell down and expired. That this was no mere natural effect of excitement appears from the sentence expressly pronounced by Peter on Sapphira, and immediately executed by God, whose instrument of justice Peter was. The judgment had the salutary effect designed, of guarding the church in its infancy from the adhesion of hypocrites; for "great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard it; and of the rest durst no man join himself to them, but the people magnified them."

Ananias was sincere up to a certain point, for he had cast in his lot with the despised "Nazarenes," but he wished to gain a high name in the church by seeming to have given his all, while he really gave but a part. He was not obliged to throw his property into a common Christian fund (as Peter's words show, "after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?") It was a compromise between love of Christian applause and worldliness; "Satan filled his heart" as "Satan entered into Judas" ( Luke 22:3).

At the beginning of the course of the New Testament church an awful example was given to guard her in guileless sincerity from the world's corruption's; just as at the beginning of the course of the Old Testament church, Israel, a similar example was given in Achan's case, to warn her that she was to be a holy people, separate from and witnessing against the world's pollution's by lust (Joshua 7). The common fund which the first disciples voluntarily brought was a kind of firstfruits to the Lord in entering on possession of the spiritual Canaan, as Jericho's spoil was a firstfruit to Jehovah of the earthly Canaan. The need there was for such a prescient warning appears from the last protest of the same apostle Peter in his 2nd Epistle, against the growing covetousness and lust within the church.

 3. A Jew Christian at Damascus, "a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there" ( Acts 9:10, etc.,  Acts 22:12, etc.). By the Lord's direction in a vision, he sought out Saul in his blindness and foodlessness for three days after Jesus' appearing to him; putting hands on Saul, Ananias was the Lord's instrument of restoring his sight, and conveying to him the Holy Spirit, that he might be "a chosen vessel to bear Jesus' name before the Gentiles, and kings and Israel, as a witness unto all men of what he had seen and heard, suffering as well as doing great things for His name's sake. Ananias told him, "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." How striking that Ananias, whom Saul would have seized for prison and death, should be the instrument of giving him light and life. Tradition makes Ananias subsequently bishop of Damascus and a martyr.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ANANIAS . This name occurs several times in the Apocrypha: in   Esther 9:21  Esther 9:21;   Esther 9:29  Esther 9:29; 1Es 9:43; 1Es 9:48 (representing ‘Hanani’ and ‘Hananiah’ of   Ezra 10:20;   Ezra 10:28 , ‘Anaiah’ and ‘Hanan’ of   Nehemiah 8:4;   Nehemiah 8:7 ) and in Tob 5:12 f., Jdt 8:1 . It is the name of three persons in NT. 1 . The husband of Sapphira, who in the voluntary communism of the early Church sold ‘a possession’ and kept part of the price for himself, pretending that he had given the whole (  Acts 5:1 ff.). The sudden death of husband and wife, predicted by St. Peter, was the signal proof of God’s anger on this Judas-like hypocrisy. 2 . A ‘devout man according to the law’ at Damascus, a disciple who instructed and baptized Saul of Tarsus after his conversion, restoring to him his sight by imposition of hands; he had been warned by the Lord in a vision (  Acts 9:10 ff;   Acts 22:12 ff.). 3 . The high priest at the time when St. Paul was arrested at Jerusalem (  Acts 23:2 ff.), a Sadducee, son of Nedebæus, and a rapacious oppressor. He had been in trouble at Rome, but was acquitted, and was now at the height of his power. He pressed the prosecution against St. Paul at Cæsarea (  Acts 24:1 ff.). In the Jewish war he was murdered by his countrymen in Jerusalem, out of revenge for his pro-Roman tendencies.

A. J. Maclean.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The high priest before whom Paul was brought in the procuratorship of Felix ( Acts 23:2,5,24 ). He was so enraged at Paul's noble declaration, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day," that he commanded one of his attendants to smite him on the mouth. Smarting under this unprovoked insult, Paul quickly replied, "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall." Being reminded that Ananias was the high priest, to whose office all respect was to be paid, he answered, "I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest" ( Acts 23:5 ). This expression has occasioned some difficulty, as it is scarcely probable that Paul should have been ignorant of so public a fact. The expression may mean (a) that Paul had at the moment overlooked the honour due to the high priest; or (b), as others think, that Paul spoke ironically, as if he had said, "The high priest breaking the law! God's high priest a tyrant and a lawbreaker! I see a man in white robes, and have heard his voice, but surely it cannot, it ought not to be, the voice of the high priest." (See Dr. Lindsay on Acts, In loco .) (c) Others think that from defect of sight Paul could not observe that the speaker was the high priest. In all this, however, it may be explained, Paul, with all his excellency, comes short of the example of his divine Master, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again.

 Copyright StatementThese dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

 Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. Entry for 'Ananias'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/a/ananias.html. 1897.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. High priest before whom Paul appeared, and who commanded him to be smitten on the mouth, to whom Paul said, "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall."  Acts 23:2,3;  Acts 24:1 . He was elevated to the office by Herod king of Chalcis A.D. 48. He was sent to Rome to answer a charge of oppression, but returned. He was deposed before Felix left the province. When Menahem besieged Jerusalem Ananias took refuge in an aqueduct, but was dragged forth and killed by the daggers of the assassins.

2. Husband of Sapphira, who with her had agreed to sell their possession, keep back part of the money, and present the remainder to the church as though it were the whole. He was charged with lying to the Holy Spirit, and fell down dead. His wife, saying the same thing, also met with a like punishment. The solemn judgement upon them evinced the fact that the Holy Spirit was really a divine person in the assembly, whose presence must in no way be ignored. "Great fear came upon all the church."  Acts 5:1-11 .

3. Disciple at Damascus, who, being instructed by the Lord, found out Saul and laid his hands upon him that he might receive sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ananias had naturally hesitated because of the character of the man he was to visit; but the Lord revealed to him that the persecuting Saul was a chosen vessel to Him to bear His name.  Acts 9:10-17;  Acts 22:12 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

 Ananias ( ăn-a-n î'as),  whom Jehovah covers, i.e., protects. 1. A high priest in  Acts 23:2-5;  Acts 24:1. He was the son of Nebedaeus, succeeded Joseph son of Camydus, and preceded Ismael son of Phabi. He was nominated to the office by Herod king of Chalcis in a.d. 48; was deposed shortly before Felix left the province, and assassinated by the sicarii at the beginning of the last Jewish war. 2. A false disciple at Jerusalem, husband of Sapphira.  Acts 5:1-11. Having sold his goods for the benefit of the church, he kept back a part of the price, bringing to the apostles the remainder, as if it were the whole, his wife also being privy to the scheme. Peter denounced the fraud, and Ananias fell down and expired. 3. A Jewish disciple at Damascus,  Acts 9:10-17, of high repute,  Acts 22:12, who sought out Saul during the period of blindness and dejection which, followed his conversion, and announced to him his future commission as a preacher of the gospel. Tradition makes him to have been afterwards bishop of Damascus, and to have died by martyrdom.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. A Jew of Jerusalem, the husband of Sapphira, who attempted to join the Christians, and pretended to give them the entire price of his lands, but died instantly on being convicted of falsehood by Peter,  Acts 5:1-10 .

2. A Christian of Damascus, who restored the sight of Paul, after his vision of the Savior,  Acts 9:10-17;  22:12 .

3. A high priest of the Jews, the son of Nebedaeus. He was sent as a prisoner to Rome by Quadratus, the governor of Syria, and Jonathon was appointed in his place; but being discharged by the emperor Claudius, he returned to Palestine, and Jonathon being murdered through the treachery of Felix, Ananias appears to have performed the functions of the high priest as a substitute, until Ishmael was appointed by Agrippa. It was he before whom with the Sanhedrin Paul was summoned, under Felix, and who ordered an attendant to smite Paul on the mouth. The apostle's prophetic denunciation in reply seems to have been fulfilled when, in the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem, the assassins burned the house of Ananias, and afterwards discovered his place of retreat in an aqueduct, and slew him,  Acts 23:1;  24:1 .

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Acts 5:1 (a) This name means "graciously given of the Lord." The man in this passage proved to be one who lied to GOD. He had received many blessings from GOD and much prosperity, but he was not honest in his heart. He saw that Barnabas was highly esteemed because of his unselfish gift to the disciples. He wanted this same praise without paying the same price. The world speaks of the "Ananias Club." This Ananias represents those people who are known as proverbial liars, and whose word is always questioned.

 Acts 9:10 (a) This man is a different Ananias. He was a good man who was ready to do GOD's will, He is a type of that servant of GOD who is ready to do that which he dreads naturally, and is willing to go on a moment's notice on any errand that GOD may request. This is a good "Ananias Club" to join.

 Acts 24:1 (a) This Ananias is still a third man, not the same one as the other two. He was a high priest of Israel, and is a type of one who gains great ascendancy in a religious organization, but is an enemy of grace, is opposed to JESUS as Lord, and seeks to turn men's hearts away from the Truth into a false religion.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

 Anani'as.  (whom Jehovah has graciously given).

1. A high priest in  Acts 23:2-5;  Acts 24:1. He was the son of Nebedaeus. He was nominated to the office by Herod, king of Chalcis, in A.D. 48; was deposed shortly before Felix left the province and assassinated by the Sicarii at the beginning of the last Jewish war.

2. A disciple at Jerusalem, husband of Sapphira,  Acts 5:1-11, having sold his goods for the benefit of the church, he kept back a part of the price, bringing to the apostles, the remainder as if it was the whole, his wife being privy to the scheme. St. Peter denounced the fraud, and Ananias fell down and expired.

3. A Jewish disciple at Damascus,  Acts 9:10-17, of high repute,  Acts 22:12, who sought out Saul during the period of blindness which followed his conversion, and announced to him, his future commission as a preacher of the gospel. Tradition makes him to have been afterwarded bishop of Damascus, and to have died by martyrdom.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Acts 5:1-6 Acts 4:32-34 Acts 5:3 5:10 2 Acts 9:10-19 Acts 9:18  Acts 23:2 Acts 24:1 Acts 23:1 Acts 24:1-2 Acts 21:38SadduceesSanhedrin

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ananias,1

Anani´as (same name as Hananiah, whom Jehovah hath graciously given), son of Nebedaeus, was made high-priest in the time of the procurator Tiberius Alexander, about A.D. 47, by Herod, king of Chalcis, who for this purpose removed Joseph, son of Camydus, from the high-priesthood. He held the office with credit, until Agrippa gave it to Ismael, the son of Tabi, who succeeded a short time before the departure of the procurator Felix, and occupied the station also under his successor Festus. Ananias, after retiring from his high-priesthood, 'increased in glory every day,' and obtained favor with the citizens, and with Albinus, the Roman procurator, by a lavish use of the great wealth he had hoarded. His prosperity met with a dark and painful termination. The assassins, who played so fearful a part in the Jewish war, set fire to his house in the commencement of it, and compelled him to seek refuge by concealment; but being discovered in an aqueduct, he was captured and slain.

It was this Ananias before whom Paul was brought, in the procuratorship of Felix (Acts 23). After this hearing Paul was sent to Caesarea, whither Ananias repaired, in order to lay a formal charge against him before Felix, who postponed the matter, detaining the apostle meanwhile, and placing him under the supervision of a Roman centurion (Acts 24).

Ananias, 2

Ananias, a Christian belonging to the infant church at Jerusalem, who, conspiring with his wife Sapphira to deceive and defraud the brethren, was overtaken by sudden death, and immediately buried. The Christian community at Jerusalem appear to have entered into a solemn agreement, that each and all should devote their property to the great work of furthering the Gospel and giving succor to the needy. Accordingly they proceeded to sell their possessions and brought the proceeds into the common stock of the church. Thus Barnabas ( Acts 4:36-37) 'having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.' The apostles then had the general disposal, if they had not also the immediate distribution, of the common funds. The contributions, therefore, were designed for the sacred purposes of religion ( Acts 5:1-11).

As all the members of the Jerusalem church had thus agreed to hold their property in common, for the furtherance of the holy work in which, they were engaged, if any one of them withheld a part, and offered the remainder as a whole, he committed two offences—he defrauded the church, and was guilty of falsehood: and as his act related not to secular but to religious affairs, and had an injurious bearing, both as an example, and as a positive transgression against the Gospel while it was yet struggling into existence, Ananias lied not unto man, but unto God, and was guilty of a sin of the deepest dye. Had Ananias chosen to keep his property for his own worldly purposes, he was at liberty, as Peter intimates, so to do; but he had in fact alienated it to pious purposes, and it was therefore no longer his own. Yet he wished to deal with it in part as if it were so, showing at the same time that he was conscious of his misdeed, by presenting the residue to the common treasury as if it had been his entire property. He wished to satisfy his selfish cravings, and at the same time to enjoy the reputation of being purely disinterested, like the rest of the church. He attempted to serve God and Mammon.

With strange inconsistency on the part of those who deny miracles altogether, unbelievers have accused Peter of cruelly smiting Ananias and his wife with instant death. The sacred narrative, however, ascribes to Peter nothing more than a spirited exposure of their aggravated offence. Their death, the reader is left to infer was by the hand of God; nor is any ground afforded in; the narrative ( Acts 5:1-11) for holding that Peter was in any way employed as an immediate instrument of the miracle.

Ananias, 3

Ananias, a Christian of Damascus ( Acts 9:10;  Acts 22:12), held in high repute, to whom the Lord appeared in a vision, and bade him proceed to 'the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth.' Ananias had difficulty in giving credence to the message, remembering how much evil Paul had done to the saints at Jerusalem, and knowing that he had come to Damascus with authority to lay waste the church of Christ there. Receiving, however, an assurance that the persecutor had been converted, and called to the work of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, Ananias went to Paul, and, putting his hands on him, bade him receive his sight, when immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and, recovering the sight which he had lost when the Lord appeared to him on his way to Damascus, Paul, the new convert, arose, and was baptized, and preached Jesus Christ.

Tradition represents Ananias as the first that published the Gospel in Damascus, over which place he was subsequently made bishop; but having roused, by his zeal, the hatred of the Jews, he was seized by them, scourged, and finally stoned to death in his own church.