What Does Acts 5:8 Mean?
And Peter answered her, Tell me, did you sell the ground for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.THE KEY
The Greek uses the same verb for Peter’s “Tell me” and the introduction to her reply: his question draws out the words that confirm their shared account.
THE MEANING
A concealed agreement enters the open through her spoken answer: she gives the shared account her own voice. The verse shows how an answer can expose participation in a claim, not just name a price.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A false account does not become true when another person confirms it; repetition makes the agreement clearer, not the claim truer.
THE ROOT
Εἰπέ
eipe
GROWS FROM
λέγω (legō; with the aorist form εἶπον, eipon)
say, tell, state
“tell / said” in this verse is eipe. Peter’s command and the introduction to her reply both come from λέγω, framing the question and answer as one speaking exchange. English uses “tell” and “said,” while Greek repeats the same verb family and draws attention to her confirmation.
ALSO GROWS
logos: word, message, account
λόγος
The same word family links a spoken statement with the word or account it conveys.
dialegomai: converse, discuss
διαλέγομαι
This compound carries the same speaking root into an exchange between people, like the question and answer here.
ἀπέδοσθε
apedosthe
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι (didōmi), in ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi)
give, hand over, transfer
The Greek verb translated “sold” is built on δίδωμι, “give,” and can describe handing something over or transferring it. Peter asks for the amount of that transfer; her reply makes the claimed figure part of the account she confirms.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: give
δίδωμι
This is the base verb inside ἀποδίδωμι, showing the transfer contained in the act of selling.
paradidōmi: hand over, deliver
παραδίδωμι
This related compound makes the handover sense plain: a sale involves something being given over.
metadidōmi: share, impart
μεταδίδωμι
This related compound carries the same giving root into sharing something with another.
THE PATTERN
A spoken agreement can expose concealment; repeating a claim does not make it true.
But Peter said, Ananias, why has the Adversary filled your heart to lie to the Set-Apart Breath, and to draw aside from the price of the ground?The lip of truth stands firm for the ages, but a lying tongue lasts only for a blink.Therefore, taking off lying, speak truth, each one with his neighbor, for we are limbs of one another.THE THREAD
Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have sounded together to test the breath of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.The Greek uses λέγω again for Peter’s “said,” the same verb family framing his “Tell me” and her reply in verse 8. His next words name the agreement behind the answer, making the exchange itself reveal what the figure concealed.
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