5:5a

Ananias fell down and died: This probably indicates that Ananias died while standing then his body fell to the ground. Here are some other ways to translate this:

he fell down dead (Good News Translation)
-or-
he dropped dead (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
he suddenly died and his body fell to the ground

5:5b

great fear came over all who heard what had happened: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as came over indicates that these people became very fearful. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

great fear seized all who heard what had happened (New International Version)
-or-
all who heard about it were terrified (Good News Translation)

all who heard what had happened: The Greek is more literally “all the ones hearing.” There are two ways to interpret to whom this refers:

(1) It refers to those who heard the whole story of Ananias with Peter (5:2b–5a). It includes people who were there and other people who heard soon after. For example:

all who heard of it (Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

(2) It refers to hearing Ananias fall down dead (5:5a). It includes only the people who were there. For example:

everyone present (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible)

Interpretation (2) is possible, but it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because most scholars support it as well.

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