Who was Ananias?

There are three people named Ananias in The Bible.

1. A member of the early Christian congregation of Jerusalem, who lied to the apostles. Following Pentecost of 33 C.E., some Christians needed physical assistance, so a fund was set up to help. Other Christians could sell fields and houses and donate money to this fund . (Acts 4:34-37) Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold a field and kept some of the proceeds for themselves, which was fine, but then, to gain more glory for themselves, they pretended to give ALL the proceeds to the help fund. Peter knew what they did , exposed them as 'playing false to the holy spirit and to God,' and they both died. Acts 5:1-10

2. A Christian disciple of Damascus and a man "reverent according to the Law" who was sent to Saul (Paul) after his conversion. Saul had been blinded on the road, when Jesus appeared to him, so Ananias was sent to find him, recover his sight, give him the commission to be God's witness, and arrange for his baptism.

Acts 9:10-18; 22:12-16.

3. Ananias, known for his greed and cruelty,was the son of Nedebaeus, and was appointed High Priest by King Herod, brother of Herod Agrippa I, from about 48 to 58 C.E. In 56 CE, he presiding at Paul's trial before the Sanhedrin, and ordered Paul to be struck in the face. Paul reacted to this by predicting that God would repay such wrong action, and he referred to Ananias as a "whitewashed wall." Following the Sanhedrin trial, Ananias, traveled to Caesarea to press charges against Paul before Governor Felix. (Acts 23:2-5, Acts 24:1)