Discovery BoxActs 5:4-9 
Context5:4 Before it was sold, 1 did it not 2 belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money 3 not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? 4 You have not lied to people 5 but to God!”
5:5 When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped 6 all who heard about it. 5:6 So the young men came, 7 wrapped him up, 8 carried him out, and buried 9 him. 5:7 After an interval of about three hours, 10 his wife came in, but she did not know 11 what had happened. 5:8 Peter said to her, “Tell me, were the two of you 12 paid this amount 13 for the land?” Sapphira 14 said, “Yes, that much.” 5:9 Peter then told her, “Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”
1 tn Grk “Remaining to you.”
2 tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).
3 tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.
5 tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.
6 tn Or “fear came on,” “fear seized”; Grk “fear happened to.”
7 tn Or “arose.”
8 tn The translation “wrapped up” for συνέστειλαν (sunesteilan) is suggested by L&N 79.119, but another interpretation is possible. The same verb could also be translated “removed” (see L&N 15.200), although that sense appears somewhat redundant and out of sequence with the following verb and participle (“carried him out and buried him”).
9 sn Buried. Same day burial was a custom in the Jewish world of the first century (cf. also Deut 21:23).
10 tn Grk “It happened that after an interval of about three hours.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
11 tn Grk “came in, not knowing.” The participle has been translated with concessive or adversative force: “although she did not know.” In English, the adversative conjunction (“but”) conveys this nuance more smoothly.
12 tn The words “the two of” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate that the verb (ἀπέδοσθε, apedosqe) is plural and thus refers to both Ananias and Sapphira.
13 tn Grk “so much,” “as much as this.”
14 tn Grk “She”; the referent (Sapphira) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
