Intertextuality Pair

Acts 5:9 → Exodus 17:2

Allusion

Later text

Acts 5:9BSB

“How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Peter replied. “Look, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

Earlier text

Exodus 17:2BSB

So the people contended with Moses, "Give us water to drink." "Why do you contend with me?" Moses replied. "Why do you test the LORD?"
+ 2 more earlier texts

Earlier text

Deuteronomy 6:16BSB

Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.

Earlier text

Psalms 78:18BSB

They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.

Significance

Peter names Sapphira's collusion for what it is: "How could you agree to test (peirazō) the Spirit of the Lord?" The charge draws on Israel's wilderness sin — testing the LORD at Massah (Exod 17:2), forbidden in the Shema's own commentary (Deut 6:16), and remembered as the heart-sin that provoked God (Ps 78:18). To lie to the church is to presume upon God's patience, daring Him to overlook sin. The contrast is sharp: where faithless Israel tested God and was borne with in the wilderness, the Spirit-indwelt community is the very place of God's holy presence, so the sin is judged at once. Christ-terminus: the Spirit whom Ananias and Sapphira tested is the gift of the risen Christ poured out at Pentecost; the fear that falls on the church (v11) is reverence for the living Lord who dwells among His people, guarding the joy of His presence from the presumption that would cheapen it.

Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Analogy + Contrast

Have a suggestion, or spotted something to fix?
✦ The Hyperlinked Bible