Atos 5

BLIVRE · Chapter 5/28

1E um certo homem, de nome Ananias, com Safira, sua mulher, vendeu uma propriedade de terra.

2E escondeu [parte] do valor, sabendo também a mulher dele; e trazendo uma certa parte, depositou [-a] junto aos pés dos apóstolos.

3E Pedro disse: Ananias, por que Satanás encheu teu coração, para que mentisses ao Espírito Santo, e escondesses [parte] do valor da propriedade?

4[Se] mantivesses [tua propriedade] , ela não seria mantida contigo? E, tendo sido vendida, [o dinheiro da venda] não estava em teu poder? Por que decidiste [isto] em teu coração? Não mentiste aos seres humanos, mas sim a Deus.

5E Ananias, ao ouvir estas palavras, caiu e deixou de respirar. E veio um grande temor sobre todos os que ouviram isso.

6E os rapazes, tendo se levantado, levaram-no fora, e [o] sepultaram.

7E passando o intervalo de cerca de três horas, entrou também sua mulher, não sabendo o que tinha acontecido.

8E Pedro disse a ela: Dize-me, vendestes por [aquele] tanto aquela propriedade?E ela disse: Sim, por [aquele] tanto.

9E Pedro lhe disse: Por que vós fizestes acordo para tentar ao Espírito do Senhor? Eis que [estão] à porta os pés daqueles que sepultaram a teu marido, e eles também [te] levarão.

10E imediatamente ela caiu junto aos pés deles, e deixou de respirar. E os rapazes, ao entrarem, encontraram-na morta; e levando- [a] fora, sepultaram-na junto ao marido dela.

11E veio um grande temor em toda a igreja, e em todos que ouviram estas coisas.

12E pelas mãos dos apóstolos foram feitos muitos sinais e milagres entre o povo. E estavam todos em concordância no pórtico de Salomão.

13Mas dos outros, ninguém ousava se juntar a eles; porém o povo os estimava grandemente.

14E cada vez mais os que criam no Senhor se aumentavam, multidões tanto de homens como de mulheres.

15De maneira que traziam os enfermos às ruas, e os botavam em camas e macas, para que, vindo Pedro, pelo menos a sombra dele cobrisse a alguns deles.

16E também das cidades vizinhas vinha uma multidão a Jerusalém, trazendo enfermos, e atormentados por espíritos imundos, os quais todos eram curados.

17E levantando-se o sumo sacerdote, e todos os que estavam com ele (que eram do grupo sectário dos saduceus), eles se encheram de inveja.

18E puseram suas mãos nos apóstolos, e os colocaram na prisão pública.

19Mas um anjo do Senhor, durante a noite, abriu as portas da prisão; e levando-os para fora, disse:

20Ide; ficai em pé, e falai no Templo ao povo todas as palavras desta vida.

21E eles, ouvindo [isto] , entraram de manhã cedo no templo, e ensinavam. Mas vindo o sumo sacerdote, e os que estavam com ele, chamaram ao supremo conselho, e a todos os anciãos dos filhos de Israel, e mandaram à prisão, para que os trouxessem.

22Mas quando os oficiais vieram, não os acharam na prisão; e voltando, anunciaram,

23Dizendo: Nós achamos a prisão fechada, em toda segurança, e com os guardas que estavam fora junto às portas; mas quando [as] abrimos, a ninguém achamos dentro.

24Quando o [sumo] sacerdote, o chefe da guarda do Templo, e os chefes dos sacerdotes ouviram estas palavras, eles duvidaram deles quanto o que aquilo viria a ser.

25E vindo alguém, anunciou-lhes, dizendo: Eis que os homens que vós pusestes na prisão estão no Templo, e ensinam ao povo.

26Então foi o chefe da guarda do Templo com os oficiais, e os trouxe, [mas] não com violência, porque temiam ao povo, para que não fossem apedrejados.

27E quando os trouxeram, apresentaram-nos ao supremo conselho. E o sumo sacerdote perguntou a eles, dizendo:

28Não vos ordenamos expressamente para não ensinardes [mais] neste nome? E eis que vós enchestes a Jerusalém com vossa doutrina, e quereis trazer sobre nós o sangue deste homem!

29E Pedro, respondendo com os apóstolos, disseram: Maior obrigação é obedecer a Deus do que às pessoas.

30O Deus de nossos Pais ressuscitou a Jesus, ao qual vós matastes, pendurando [-o] no madeiro.

31A este Deus exaltou com sua [mão] direita [por] Príncipe e Salvador, para dar a Israel arrependimento e perdão de pecados.

32E nós somos testemunhas dele quanto a estas palavras, e também o Espírito Santo, o qual Deus tem dado a aqueles que lhe obedecem.

33E eles, ouvindo [isso] , enfureceram-se grandemente, e planejaram matá-los.

34Mas, levantando-se no supremo conselho um certo fariseu, de nome Gamaliel, instrutor da Lei, bem honrado por todo o povo, ele mandou levarem aos apóstolos para fora por um pouco [de tempo] .

35E lhes disse: Homens israelitas, olhai por vós mesmos, quanto ao que haveis de fazer a estes homens;

36Porque antes destes dias se levantou Teudas, dizendo ser alguém; ao qual se ajuntaram cerca de quatrocentos homens; ao qual foi morto, e todos os que acreditavam [nele] foram dispersos, e reduzidos a nada.

37Depois deste se levantou Judas, o galileu, nos dias do censo; e perverteu muito do povo atrás dele; e este também pereceu, e todos os que acreditavam nele foram dispersos.

38E agora, eu vos digo, afastai-vos destes homens, e deixai-os; porque se este conselho ou esta obra for humana, ela se desfará.

39Mas se é de Deus, vós não a podereis desfazer; para que não venhais a ser achados de também lutardes contra Deus.

40E concordaram com ele. E chamando aos apóstolos, tendo [os] açoitado, mandaram [-lhes] que não [mais] falassem no nome de Jesus; e os deixaram ir.

41Então eles saíram da presença do supremo conselho, alegres por terem sido considerados dignos de serem humilhados por causa do nome dele.

42E todos os dias no Templo, e pelas casas, não paravam de ensinar e de anunciar a Jesus Cristo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Ananias and Sapphira lie about a donation and suddenly die before the community. The apostles continue healing multitudes, are arrested, freed by an angel, and defended by the respected teacher Gamaliel.

Explanation

The episode of Ananias and Sapphira is one of the harshest in the New Testament: the sin wasn't keeping back part of the money (that was allowed), but lying by pretending total generosity before God and the community. It's a warning about the seriousness of integrity in the life of the young church. Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee, advises caution with practical reasoning: if the movement is of human origin, it will fall apart on its own; if it's from God, no one can stop it — a principle that still helps distinguish passing fads from genuine movements today.

Fun facts

  • Gamaliel was one of the most respected rabbis of his time, grandson of the famous Hillel, and would later be cited as the teacher of the apostle Paul himself (Acts 22:3).
  • Theudas and Judas the Galilean, mentioned by Gamaliel, are also cited by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus as leaders of real revolts against Rome in the first century, confirming the historical backdrop of the account.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Atos 5:1Ananias and Sapphira appear right after the example of Barnabas, who had sold a piece of land and handed over everything to the apostles; the couple follows the same gesture, but in a different way, as seen next.
  2. Atos 5:2Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land and handed over only part of the money, pretending it was the whole amount. The problem was not keeping part for themselves, since the money was theirs to do with as they pleased—it was lying by pretending they had given all of it.
  3. Atos 5:3Saying that Satan filled Ananias’ heart is an expression describing someone giving in to a strong temptation—in this case, wanting to appear generous without really paying the price; it is not a statement about possession in the modern sense.
  4. Atos 5:4Peter makes clear that the problem was never keeping part of the money: before selling, the property was theirs, and after it was sold, the money was still theirs to do with as they pleased. The sin was lying by pretending they had donated the entire amount.
  5. Atos 5:5The sudden death of Ananias, and later of Sapphira, is one of the harshest episodes in the book. The text links the lie to the Holy Spirit with an immediate consequence, but does not explain the mechanism, only records the fear this produced in the community.
  6. Atos 5:6Ananias’ burial happens right away, carried out by young men from the community itself, without the usual time for mourning or notifying the family—a detail that shows the shock and urgency of the scene.
  7. Atos 5:7Sapphira comes in about three hours later, not knowing that her husband had already died and been buried while she was out.
  8. Atos 5:8Peter gives Sapphira the chance to tell the truth, asking her directly whether that was the full amount for which they had sold the property.
  9. Atos 5:9Peter realizes the couple had agreed on the lie together, and announces that the same young men who buried Ananias are ready at the door to carry her out as well.
  10. Atos 5:10Sapphira dies just as suddenly as her husband and is buried beside him, closing out the harshest episode in the early part of the book of Acts.
  11. Atos 5:11The fear that takes hold of the church after this episode helps explain why no one else tried to deceive the community by treating it lightly.
  12. Atos 5:12Solomon’s porch is the same place from chapter 3, a fixed meeting spot for Christians within the temple. It shows that at this early stage they still saw themselves as part of ordinary Jewish religious life, not as a separate group.
  13. Atos 5:13Despite the popular respect for the apostles, no outsider dared to join the group on their own, a mix of admiration and caution after the episode with Ananias and Sapphira.
  14. Atos 5:14Even with that fear, the number of believers kept growing, including both men and women, a detail Luke records more than once in Acts.
  15. Atos 5:15The text records the popular belief that even Peter’s shadow had healing power, without confirming or denying that it actually worked that way. It is similar to a later episode in which cloths touched by Paul heal people.
  16. Atos 5:16The apostles’ fame was no longer limited to Jerusalem: people from neighboring towns brought the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, and the text states that all of them were healed.
  17. Atos 5:17The high priest and the Sadducees, the religious group that had already arrested the apostles before, act out of envy at their growing success and popularity among the people.
  18. Atos 5:18The apostles are arrested again, this time placed in the common public prison, not just held for a day as the first time.
  19. Atos 5:19An angel opens the prison doors during the night and personally sets them free, a miracle that contrasts with the human attempt to silence their preaching.
  20. Atos 5:20The angel’s instruction is clear: go back to the temple and keep preaching openly, the most public and closely watched place possible—the opposite of hiding.
  21. Atos 5:21The apostles obey right away, going to teach early in the morning, while the religious authorities gather without knowing the prison was already empty.
  22. Atos 5:22The officers sent to fetch the apostles come back empty-handed, finding the jail with no one inside.
  23. Atos 5:23The guards’ report is the strangest detail: the prison was locked and normally guarded from outside, but inside there was no one, reinforcing the miraculous nature of the escape.
  24. Atos 5:24The authorities are left not understanding what is happening, already worried about the consequences of having lost prisoners in such an inexplicable way.
  25. Atos 5:25The confusion grows when someone arrives to report that the very men who had been imprisoned are, in fact, teaching openly in the temple.
  26. Atos 5:26The captain of the temple has to fetch the apostles carefully, without violence, fearing that the people, who admired them, might react by stoning the soldiers themselves.
  27. Atos 5:27Brought back before the council, the apostles face the high priest for the second time, the same kind of formal interrogation as before.
  28. Atos 5:28The high priest complains that the earlier ban was completely ignored, and further accuses the apostles of wanting to bring Jesus’ blood upon the council.
  29. Atos 5:29The apostles’ answer sums up the chapter’s central conflict: when a human authority’s order contradicts what they understand to be God’s command, they choose to obey God.
  30. Atos 5:30Peter repeats the direct accusation against the council, saying that it was God who raised up the very man they killed by “hanging him on a tree,” an expression for crucifixion.
  31. Atos 5:31Peter describes Jesus as exalted by God to be “a Prince and a Saviour,” with the specific role of bringing Israel the chance of repentance and forgiveness of sins.
  32. Atos 5:32Peter presents two witnesses of the resurrection: the apostles themselves, who saw the events, and the Holy Spirit, given by God to those who obey Him.
  33. Atos 5:33The council’s reaction is one of extreme fury, to the point of planning to kill the apostles right there, before the intervention that follows.
  34. Atos 5:34“Gamaliel” was a respected Pharisee and, according to Jewish tradition, Paul’s own teacher. His pragmatic advice to wait and see saved the apostles’ lives at that moment.
  35. Atos 5:35Gamaliel asks the council to think calmly before acting against the apostles, avoiding a hasty decision made only out of the anger of the moment.
  36. Atos 5:36Gamaliel cites the example of Theudas, a leader who gathered about four hundred followers by claiming to be somebody important, but who was killed, and whose movement fell apart on its own afterward.
  37. Atos 5:37The reference to Judas the Galilean recalls an armed Jewish revolt against a Roman census, years before. Gamaliel cites him and another failed leader as examples of movements that died out on their own when they were merely human affairs.
  38. Atos 5:38Gamaliel’s practical advice is simple: do not interfere; if the apostles’ movement is merely of human origin, it will fall apart on its own, as happened with Theudas and Judas.
  39. Atos 5:39But if it is of God, Gamaliel warns, nothing the council does will be able to stop it, and they risk ending up fighting against God Himself without realizing it.
  40. Atos 5:40The council partially accepts Gamaliel’s advice: it does not kill the apostles, but still has them beaten before releasing them, repeating the order not to speak in the name of Jesus.
  41. Atos 5:41Instead of leaving humiliated, the apostles leave rejoicing, regarding the physical punishment as an honor for suffering something in the name of Jesus.
  42. Atos 5:42Despite the official ban, the apostles keep preaching every day, both in the temple and from house to house, not stopping because of the threat.

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