Textual evidence attests (cf. p. 10) the omission of these words.

 Gr. ekpsucho’, “to expire,” a term that is found in medical literature. Death was not a coincidence. There was a close connection between Peter’s denunciation of the sin and the death of the sinner. Any doubt on this point is removed by considering the death of Sapphira (vs. 7-10), which was foretold by Peter after his exposure of the deceit. Compare the judgment on Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:2), and on Achan (Joshua 7:20-26); see on 2 Chron. 22:8. Compare on Matt. 27:50.

This was a terrible judgment, but we need not wonder at it. Ananias and Sapphira were members of the infant church. They had drawn near to God. They had undoubtedly tasted some of the heavenly gifts of salvation. Perhaps they had received some of the gifts of the Spirit. But by a false spirit they had committed an act of sacrilege. If not strikingly and visibly met in these early days of the church, such acts of deception might have undermined the work of the apostles. God interposed here to save His church from greater dangers and evils. The experience holds a lesson for us: “If a man attend a convention or a religious service and sing with fervor, ‘My all is on the altar’ when it is not, he is committing the sin of Ananias and Sapphira.”—G. CAMPBELL MORGAN.

 Luke often associates miracles with fear in the hearts of the beholders (see Luke 1:12, 65; 5:26; 7:16; 8:37; Acts 2:43; 19:17). But here it is evidently more than the reverential awe of Acts 2:43. In a large company there could well have been other dishonest individuals, upon whom a sort of terror might well have fallen. To the rest must have come a deeper reverence for the God who would thus vindicate His own righteousness. The fear was immediate. It reached out among the believers before Sapphira had heard of her husband’s death. Fear of this sort would be a deterrent upon any who were not completely sincere in their profession of Christianity.