Acts 8:20

Acts 8:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
• New International Version (NIV)Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
• English Standard Version (ESV)But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
• New King James Version (NKJV)But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!

Context of Acts 8:20

18Simon saw that God gave the Holy Spirit to people when the apostles put their hands on them. So he said to Peter and John, ‘Here is some money for you. 19Please give me this same power. I want to put my hands on other people, so that they will receive the Holy Spirit.’ Peter answered Simon, ‘I pray that God will destroy you and your money! You think that you can buy this gift with your money! It is very wrong for you to think that. It is God who gives that gift. 21You cannot do the work which we are doing. God knows that you are not thinking the right things. 22You must turn away from those very bad thoughts. Turn to the Lord and pray that he will forgive you. Then perhaps he will forgive you for these bad thoughts.

Acts 8:20 word by word

Πέτρος δὲ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν· τὸ ἀργύριόν σου σὺν σοὶ εἴη εἰς ἀπώλειαν, ὅτι τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐνόμισας διὰ χρημάτων κτᾶσθαι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• PeterΠέτροςPetros · PeterG4074
• saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• Thyσύsu · youG4771
• moneyὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• moneyἀργύριονargurion · moneyG694
• ·εἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• ·εἰςeis · towardG1519
• perishἀπώλειαapōleia · destructionG684
• withσύνsun · withG4862
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• thou hast thoughtνομίζωnomizō · to thinkG3543
• thatδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• the giftδωρεάdōrea · free giftG1431
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• may be purchasedκτάομαιktaomai · to possesG2932
• with moneyχρῆμαchrēma · moneyG5536

Cross-references for Acts 8:20

• Acts 1:18Judas received some money for the bad thing that he did. He bought a field with that money. But he fell down in that field and he died. His body broke open and the inside parts of his body poured out.
• Deuteronomy 7:26Do not bring anything that God hates into your house. If you do that, God will be ready to destroy you as well as the thing itself. God has said that he hates things like that, so you must hate them too.
• Joshua 7:24Then Joshua and all the people took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver coins, the coat, and the heavy piece of gold. They also took his sons, his daughters, and his cows, sheep and donkeys. They took all his things to Achor valley.
• 2 Kings 5:26But Elisha said to him, ‘My spirit was with you when you went out. It was there when the man came down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept gifts of money, clothes, olive trees, vineyards, sheep, cows or servants.
• Daniel 5:17Then Daniel answered the king, ‘You can keep your gifts for yourself. You can make someone else important. But I will read the words for the king, and I will tell him what they mean.
• Habakkuk 2:9It will be very bad for anyone who cheats other people so that he can make his family rich. He thinks that his riches will make him safe. He thinks that he is too high up for any trouble to reach him.
• Zechariah 5:4The Lord Almighty says, “I will cause bad things to happen in the house of the man that robs anyone. I will cause bad things to happen in the house of the man that speaks false words. It is as if the words on the paper will destroy the houses of those bad people.” ’
• Matthew 27:3Judas heard that the Jewish leaders wanted the Roman rulers to kill Jesus. Judas was the man who had helped Jesus' enemies to take hold of him. Now he was very sorry about what he had done. So he took back the 30 silver coins to the leaders of the priests and the important Jews.
• 1 Timothy 6:9But some people want to have lots of money. This causes them to do wrong things. They cannot get free from their bad ways, like an animal in a trap. They want many things for themselves. Their foolish thoughts hurt them and finally destroy their lives.
• James 5:3You have stored silver and gold coins to spend for yourselves. But dirt has spoiled those coins. That dirt will show that you are guilty. It will become like fire that is burning your bodies. In the last days of this world you have stored all this money for yourselves.
• 2 Peter 2:14All the time, they are looking for women who will have sex with them. They never stop doing wicked things. They teach people who have weak minds to believe wrong things. They just want more and more things to make themselves happy. God will certainly punish these people, because they are so bad.
• Revelation 18:15The traders had become rich because of the city. But now they will stand a long way from the city because they are afraid. They do not want to suffer in the same way themselves. They will weep and they will be very sad.
• Acts 8:22You must turn away from those very bad thoughts. Turn to the Lord and pray that he will forgive you. Then perhaps he will forgive you for these bad thoughts.
• Deuteronomy 15:9Be careful not to think this wicked thought: ‘The seventh year will happen soon. That is the year when I must forgive people's debts. So I will not lend money to people at this time.’ Do not be cruel like that to another Israelite who is poor. Do not refuse to lend him anything. He might complain about you to the Lord. Then the Lord would say that you are guilty of a sin.
• 2 Kings 5:15Then Naaman and all his servants went back to see Elisha, the man of God. Naaman stood in front of him and he said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in the whole world except the one in Israel. Please accept a gift from me, your servant.’
• Proverbs 15:26The Lord hates the thoughts of wicked people. But kind words please him.

Commentaries on Acts 8:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Thy money perish with thee - This is an awful declaration; and imports thus much, that if he did not repent, he and his ill-gotten goods would perish together; his money should be dissipated, and his soul go into perdition. That the gift of God may be purchased - Peter takes care to inform not only Simon, but all to whom these presents may come, that the Spirit of God is the gift of God alone, and consequently cannot be purchased with money; for what…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Thy money perish with thee - This is expressive of the horror and indignation of Peter at the base offer of Simon. It is not to be understood as an imprecation on Simon. The main idea is the apostle‘s contempt for the “money,” as if he regarded it as of no value. “Let your money go to destruction. We abhor your impious offer. We can freely see “any” amount of money destroyed before we will be tempted to sell the gift of the Holy Spirit. But there was here…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-25Verses 14-25 The Holy Ghost was as yet fallen upon none of these coverts, in the extraordinary powers conveyed by the descent of the Spirit upon the day of Pentecost. We may take encouragement from this example, in praying to God to give the renewing graces of the Holy Ghost to all for whose spiritual welfare we are concerned; for that includes all blessings. No man can give the Holy Spirit by the laying on of his hands; but we should use our best…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-24Simon the sorcerer performed magic and amazed the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great. Simon tried to buy spiritual power. The later corrupt practice of buying and selling positions of leadership in the church was called simony. This term refers to the corrupt practice of buying and selling church leadership positions (see 1 Timothy 6:9–10). Peter strongly criticized Simon's evil intentions and actions.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2418-24. offered them money--Hence the term simony, to denote trafficking in sacred things, but chiefly the purchase of ecclesiastical offices.Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 8:20

• Covetousness
• Holy Spirit
• Hypocrisy
• Integrity
• Minister, Christian
• Miracles
• Money
• Peter
• Reproof
• Samaria
• Simon

In the dictionaries

• God
• Peter
• Peter, Simon Peter, Cephas
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Believe
• Bitterness
• Consent
• Devout
• Gift
• Havock

Commentaries on Acts 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings