“Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.”
Peter said to her, 'How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also' - Peter's language ('test the Spirit,' peirazō to pneuma) echoes the wilderness temptation (Matt. 4), suggesting that the sin is not mere fraud but an assault on the Holy Spirit's lordship. The phrase 'Spirit of the Lord' (pneuma kyriou) at this point in Acts carries full trinitarian weight. Peter's announcement of her death before it occurs is prophetic utterance, speaking reality into being.
Church Fathers on Acts 5:9
Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Holy Ghost? Behold, the feet of them which have buried your husband are at the door, and shall carry you out. Then she fell down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost; and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the Church, and…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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