Acts 8:20 Meaning But Peter Said to Him

Lobha: Greed One of the three roots of unwholesome action. Simon has just watched hands laid on people and the Spirit come, and he wants that power in his own hands the way a shopkeeper wants a better stall. Greed is indifferent to its object; it will look at the holiest thing in the room and see stock to acquire.

Micchā-diṭṭhi: Wrong view A mistaken grasp of how things come about. Silver buys bread, cloth, and land, and Simon's error is assuming the same counter runs all the way up, that anything has a price once you name the sum. Peter's anger lands on the assumption rather than the amount, because a man who believes the Spirit can be purchased will misjudge everything else he meets.

Cetanā: Intention The willing behind a deed, where its weight is measured. "You thought you could obtain" reaches past the coins to the movement that opened the purse; the money is only that movement made visible. Set down the same handful of silver in plain generosity and the deed becomes something else entirely, though the metal is unchanged.

Dhammadāna: The gift of the teaching Among all gifts, this one is held highest. A gift stops being a gift the moment a price is attached, so the offer destroys the very thing Simon is bidding for. Through the apostles' hands the Spirit is passed on freely, the way a teacher hands over what they know and has no way to bill for the moment it lands.

Anicca: Impermanence All conditioned things wear out. Coins tarnish, purses empty, and buried treasure gets dug up by someone else, so "may your silver perish with you" points at a fate already underway. Peter binds the man to his money because Simon has already bound himself there, and whoever stakes his life on silver goes down at the same rate it does.