Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ANANIAS

(Gk. Hananías)

1. A member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem, the husband of Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10). Ananias and his wife held back some of the proceeds of the sale of their land, giving to the community only a portion. Peter interprets this as lying to the apostolic leadership, the Holy Spirit, and God. Consequently, both Ananias and Sapphira died, apparently as enactment of God’s judgment. The exact nature of their sin is not made clear (e.g., the text does not say whether they explicitly claimed to be giving the entire proceeds of the sale). Confirmation from 1 Cor. 5:1-8 that such serious pronouncements were occasionally made against sinful community members allows for the possibility that the Ananias story is rooted in early Jerusalem community traditions and may have a historical kernel.

2. A disciple in Damascus who played a role in the call/conversion of Saul/Paul (Acts 9:10-18; 22:12-16). Ananias receives a vision to go to Saul, now blind in Damascus, and lay hands on him that he might receive his sight. Ananias protests, given Saul’s reputation as a persecutor of the Church. Through the recounting of the vision to Ananias, the reader learns that Saul is to be God’s instrument to bring God’s name before Jews and Gentiles (Acts 9:15). Paul’s account of this event, through his speech of Acts 22, , essentially complements Acts 9. It seems unlikely that Luke would have made up this character, given the negative association of the name with other characters in Acts.

3. The 21st Jewish high priest, appointed by Herod Agrippa II, and ruling ca. 47-58 c.e. He was killed by Jewish rebels in 66 for pro-Roman leanings. Ananias appears in Acts as the priest before whom Paul was brought (Acts 23:2-5) and who personally supervised the case against Paul before the Roman governor Felix (24:1).

Bibliography. G. Lüdemann, Early Christianity According to the Traditions in Acts (Minneapolis, 1989).

J. Bradley Chance

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ANANIAS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)