(an uh ni' uhss) Greek form of the Hebrew name Hananiah, which means “Yahweh has dealt graciously.” 1. Husband of Sapphira (Acts 5:1-6 ). They sold private property, the proceeds of which they were to give to the common fund of the early Jerusalem church (Acts 4:32-34 ). They did not give all the proceeds from the sale, as they claimed, and both were struck dead for having lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3 ,Acts 5:3,5:10 ). 2 . A disciple who lived in the city of Damascus (Acts 9:10-19 ). In response to a vision he received from the Lord, this Ananias visited Saul (Paul) three days after Saul had his Damascus road experience. Ananias laid his hands on Saul, after which Saul received both the Holy Spirit and his sight. Acts 9:18 may imply that Ananias was the one who baptized Saul. 3. The Jewish high priest Ananias from A.D. 47 to 58 ( Acts 23:2 ; Acts 24:1 ). As high priest, he was president of the Jewish court known as the Sanhedrin which tried Paul in Jerusalem (Acts 23:1 ). As was typical of high priests who belonged to the aristocratic Jewish group known as the Sadducees, he was quite concerned to appease Roman authorities and representatives. This desire may have prompted Ananias to take such a personal interest in the case of Paul (Acts 24:1-2 ), since some Roman authorities suspected the apostle of sedition against Rome (Acts 21:38 ). Because of Ananias' pro-Roman sentiments, he was assassinated by anti-Roman Jewish revolutionaries at the outbreak of the first great Jewish revolt against Rome in the year A.D. 66. See Sadducees ; Sanhedrin .

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 .

A common Jewish name, the same as Hananiah. One of the members of the church at Jerusalem, who conspired with his wife Sapphira to deceive the brethren, and who fell down and immediately expired after he had uttered the falsehood (Acts 5:5 ). By common agreement the members of the early Christian community devoted their property to the work of furthering the gospel and of assisting the poor and needy. The proceeds of the possessions they sold were placed at the disposal of the apostles (Acts 4:36,37 ). Ananias might have kept his property had he so chosen; but he professed agreement with the brethren in the common purpose, and had of his own accord devoted it all, as he said, to these sacred ends. Yet he retained a part of it for his own ends, and thus lied in declaring that he had given it all. "The offence of Ananias and Sapphira showed contempt of God, vanity and ambition in the offenders, and utter disregard of the corruption which they were bringing into the society. Such sin, committed in despite of the light which they possessed, called for a special mark of divine indignation." A Christian at Damascus (Acts 9:10 ). He became Paul's instructor; but when or by what means he himself became a Christian we have no information. He was "a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt" at Damascus (22:12). 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.

Or Ananiah

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.

(1) Member of the first Christian community. With his wife he was miraculously punished by Peter with sudden death, for hypocrisy and falsehood (Acts 5). (2) Disciple at Damascus, figuring in the baptism and conversion of Paul (Acts 9). (3) Son of Nedebaios and high priest about A.D. 47-59. He was acquitted by Claudius of Rome from an accusation of permitting violence, and murdered at the beginning of the Jewish war (Acts 23; 24).

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.

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.

(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. ^[1] 27ff.; C. v. Weizsäcker, Apostol. Age, i. ^[2] 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 ^[3], ch. xxix., ed. Wallis Budge), or, according to another (see Acta Sanctorum, Jan. 25 ^[4]), 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. ^[5] ) of Acts 4:6, Luke 3:2, or John 18:13. He was the son of Nedebaeus, and is regarded by Schürer (GJV ^[6] 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 ^[6] 4 ii. ^[8] 256, 272, 274. W. F. Boyd.

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 .

THEMISTOCLES tossed all night and could not sleep because of the laurels of Miltiades. And Ananias was like Themistocles because of the praises poured upon Barnabas by Peter, and by all the apostles, and by all the poor. Ananias and Sapphira could not take rest till they, like Barnabas, had sold their possession, and laid the price of it at Peter's feet. 'Lay it at Peter's feet,' said Sapphira to her hesitating husband, 'and say that you are very sorry that the land did not sell for far more. And after I have made my purchases, I will come to the Lord's Supper with you. Keep a place for me at the Table, and I will join you there in good time in breaking of bread and in prayers.' And Ananias did as Sapphira had instigated him to do. Only, Ananias was not at all happy in his approach to Peter's feet that day. Somehow or other, Ananias could not summon up that gladness and that singleness of heart with which all the other contributors came up that day. With all he could do there was a certain awkwardness and stumblingness of manner that Ananias, somehow or other, could not shake off all that day. You who are collectors for churches and charities are well accustomed to all Ananias's looks and ways of speaking that day. You often hear from us the very same explanations and apologies and self-defences. 'There had been a great fall in the rent of land in Judea of late. And thus the old estate had not nearly yielded its upset and expected price. But what it had yielded, Peter was welcome to it.' Everything fell to Peter in those days. The offices and services of the early Church had not as yet been divided up and specialised into the apostleship, and the eldership, and the deaconship, and, till that was done, Peter had to be everything himself. Peter was premier apostle, ruling elder, leading deacon, and all. It was like those country congregations where the minister has to do everything himself, till he has neither time nor strength nor spirit left to give himself continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. But Peter was a perfect Samson in the Israel of that day. He was a minister of immense capacity, gigantic energy, endless resource, and overpowering authority. And thus it was that it had fallen to Peter to sit over against the treasury, and to enter the Pentecostal contributions that day. And it struck Ananias like a thunderbolt, when Peter, instead of smiling upon him and praising him, denounced and sentenced him so sternly. "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?" And the young men arose, and wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And then, three hours after, just as Peter was shutting up his books to go to dispense the Lord's Supper, at that moment Sapphira appeared. 'You sold your farm for so much, your husband tells me?' 'Yes, my lord, for so much.' And the young men came in and found her dead, and they buried Ananias and Sapphira in Aceldama, next back-breadth to Judas Iscariot, the proprietor of the place. That the prophecy of Isaiah might be fulfilled: "They shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." And that the prophecy of Daniel also might be fulfilled: "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." What a world this is we live in! What a red-hot furnace of sin and of sanctification is this world! How we all tempt and try and test and stumble one another in everything we say and do! Barnabas cannot sell his estate in Cyprus and lay the price of it at Peter's feet, but by doing so he must immediately become the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira. But for the Pentecostal love, and but for Barnabas's baptism into that love, Ananias and Sapphira would have lived to see their children's children and peace upon Israel. They would have sat down together at the Lord's Table till Peter preached their funeral sermon and held them up as two pattern proprietors of houses and lands. But Barnabas and his renowned name became such a snare to Ananias and Sapphira that they were buried on the same day and in the same grave. Ama nesciri has been the motto of more than one of the great saints. Seek obscurity, that is. Subscribe anonymously, that is. Do not let your collectors and the advertising people print your name or your amount, that is. Say, A Friend. Say, A Well-wisher. Put a star, put a cross, put anything but your name, not even your initials. Or, if you are a popular author, say, and not a landowner in these days; publish your books without your name. Employ another name. You may miss something that is very sweet to you by doing that; but it will be made up to you afterwards when all your royalties come in, and all your last day reviews. Think of Ananias and Sapphira when all men praise your generosity, or your Shakesperian genius, or your enormous emoluments. Be sure of this, that all Peter's praises of Barnabas did not refresh Barnabas's heart half so much as they caused that sinful sleeplessness, and all its consequences, to Ananias and Sapphira. "Satan hath filled thine heart, Ananias." That was a terrible salutation for a man to be met with who had just sold a possession and laid such a large part of the price at the apostle's feet. But Peter knew all Satan's processes. Peter knew by experience what he was speaking about. And that is the reason why Peter speaks with such assurance and severity and indignation and judgment. And had Ananias at that moment gone out and wept bitterly, we would have been drawing far other lessons tonight out of that terrible Communion morning. Do you know the premonition, the sensation, the smell, so to say, when Satan approaches you to fill your heart? And what do you say to him? What do you do to him? Do you set a chair for him? Do you lay a cover and set glasses for him? Do you share your pillow with him? "Ah! you are there again, my man!" So an old saint in the congregation salutes Satan as often as her practised nostrils catch the beginning of his brimstone on her stairhead. "But you are too late this time. I am engaged today. There is Some One with me. And you had better flee at once. Come sooner next time!" Luther threw his ink-bottle. What do you throw? What do you do? Or is Satan in on you, and are you in his hands and at his service, in money matters, and what not, before you know where you are? "Ah, sir, you are there again, are you? But my heart is as full today as it can hold of Another," calls out my stairhead friend by reason of her exercised senses. The stroke was sudden, and, as we say, severe. But even at this distance of time and place we can see some good and sufficient reasons for the severity of the stroke. Pæna duorum doctrina multorum, is the epigrammatic comment of an old writer. On two hands that sore stroke would tell for long. On the one hand, on those who were tempted to join the Christian community in order to share in the Pentecostal charity. For, then as now, a crowd of impostors would dog the steps of the open-hearted and open-handed church. On the other hand, we all give very much as others have given before us. We measure our givings, not by our duty nor by our ability, but by what others have done, and by what is expected of us. We wish to impress you. We wish to have your approval. We say with Ananias: 'This is all I can spare; indeed, this is all I possess.' Our sin, and our danger of death in our giving, be not so much in that we have given less than we could have given, but in that we have not told the truth. "Yea, for so much," we say, till the feet of the young men are almost at our door. The stroke was sudden and severe to the onlookers, but it was not at all so sudden or so severe to Ananias and Sapphira themselves. It was not so unexpected and without warning to them. There were many provocations and aggravations on their part of which we are quite ignorant. Ananias may at one time have been a poor man's son, and when he came up to Jerusalem in his youth to push his fortune, he may have knelt down on the side or Olivet and said, 'Thy vows are upon me, O God. And if Thou wilt give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, and a wife and children in Jerusalem, then the Lord shall be my God, and the God of my household.' Or, again, in some time of adversity he may have said, "The pains of hell gat hold upon me; but I will pay that which my mouth spake when I was in trouble." Or, again, in those sweet but soul-deceiving days when they were bridegroom and bride together; in those Beulah days-"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Like David, we will walk with a perfect heart in all our household affairs at home." Ah, yes; God was no doubt quite sufficiently justified to Ananias and Sapphira themselves, when He judged them so swiftly that day. At the same time, Jeremy Taylor, who has given immense learning and intellect to all such cases, says that God sometimes accepts a temporal death in room of an eternal. And that, to some persons, a sudden death stands instead of a long and an explicit repentance. While Augustine, I see, and some other great authorities, are bold to class the awful case of Ananias and Sapphira under that scripture of the apostle where he assures us that some church members are delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Let us join with Augustine and Taylor in their burial-service over Ananias and Sapphira in the trembling hope that they were struck down in a sanctifying discipline, rather than in an everlasting condemnation. And that they so died that we might learn of them so to live as not to die. Let us hope that both husband and wife had the root of the matter in them all the time; and that we shall see them also saved in that day, in spite of Satan and all his fatal entrances into their hearts. The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? And now to come home to ourselves. As you all know, we have an institution in full operation in the Free Church of Scotland which is based and built up and worked out on exactly Pentecostal and Barnabas principles. Dr. Chalmers's conception of the Sustentation Fund was derived and developed from the spirit and the example of the Apostolic Church of Jerusalem. The same Pentecostal spirit was poured out at the Disruption of the Established and Endowed Church of Scotland, to support the Free Church of Scotland under her injuries and her impoverishments for Christ's sake, and for the sake of His people. And thus it was that the ministers and deacons' courts of the Free Church were then, and are still, all of one mind and spirit, and have all things in common. And that same Pentecostal spirit breathes and burns, and that same Apostolic institution still stands and extends and expands, to this day. And still the Prophetic and Apostolic benediction is pronounced over the Free Church and her liberal-hearted people-"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, saith the Lord of Hosts, and prove Me now herewith, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it," "Prove Me now herewith," said the Lord. And He has promised that when we prove Him with our tithes, all manner of prosperity will follow our practice of that Scriptural rule and pattern. And the rule is not a Scriptural one only. Somehow or other, the tithe, the tenth part, fills all classical literature, as well as the whole of Holy Scripture. And yet, with all that before our eyes, as plain as plain can be, here we are, at this time of day, blundering about and telling lies, many of us, like Ananias and Sapphira, without any method, or principle, or rule in our givings, any more than if Scripture had never spoken on this matter, or as if a rule of love and common-sense had never been laid down. Till we waken up, and take the Patriarchal, and Mosaic, and Prophetic, and Apostolic, and even Pagan way of taxing our income, and laying aside a definite and a liberal part of it for church and charity, we need never expect to inherit the promises, or to enter into that liberty of heart and hand which awaits us and our children. It is surely time that we had found out some better way than our present haphazard way of dealing with this great and pressing matter. For everything comes on us in this city. All Scotland, all Ireland, and many parts even of rich England; France, Switzerland, Italy; churches, manses, missions-everything comes on Edinburgh, and on a limited field of Edinburgh. When some great financial genius, say, like Dr. Chalmers, arises in the Church to expound and enforce this disastrously neglected law of God, a new day will dawn on our whole religious and charitable exchequer. Then the Christian child will be brought up to tithe his pocket-money of sixpence a week for Jesus his Saviour's sake. And his father his pound a week, or his ten pounds, or his hundred, or his thousand. And, then, all we shall have to do, without straining our hearts or souring our tempers, will be calmly, and at our leisure, to exercise our best discretion as to the proportion and the destination of the stewardship-money we have had intrusted to us. And, when that Apostolic day dawns, our successors in the churches and charities of the land will look back with amazement at our poverty-stricken ways of collecting church money, leaning on State endowments, and all such like un-Pentecostal expedients. And all because our eyes had, somehow, not been opened to Scriptural wisdom, and to Scriptural love, and to Scriptural liberality, in this whole matter of our Lord's money.

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.

Ananias (ăn-a-nî'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.