Person New Testament
Sapphira
Sapphira, along with her husband Ananias, lied to the apostles about the proceeds from a property sale and died as a result. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Acts 5:1.
Why it matters. Wife of Ananias, lied to the apostles, died
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Sapphira
Sapphira is mentioned in Act.5.1 as the wife of Ananias, a member of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. The couple sold a piece of property and conspired to keep back part of the proceeds for themselves while presenting the remainder to the apostles as if it were the full amount (Act.5.1-2). When Ananias presented the money to the apostles, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, confronted him about his deception, and Ananias fell down and died (Act.5.3-5). About three hours later, Sapphira came in, unaware of her husband's fate. Peter questioned her about the price of the land, and she also lied, confirming the amount that Ananias had presented (Act.5.7-8). Peter then rebuked her for testing the Spirit of the Lord and informed her that those who had buried her husband would also carry her out. Immediately, Sapphira fell down at Peter's feet and died (Act.5.9-10). The story of Ananias and Sapphira serves as a sobering example of the consequences of deception and the importance of honesty and integrity within the early church community.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Spouse
- Ananias
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Acts (1 verse)