Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 8:20

"But Peter said unto him, Thy silver perish with thee, because thou hast thought to obtain the gift of God with money." — Acts 8:20 (ASV)

Thy money perish with thee.—Literally, Your money be together with you, for perdition. The same word is used as in the “son of perdition” in John 17:12 and in Hebrews 10:39. The prominence of the word in 2 Peter 2:1–3, 2 Peter 3:7, and 2 Peter 3:16 is interesting in connection with the question as to the authorship of that Epistle. Another coincidence presents itself in the “gold that perisheth” of 1 Peter 1:7.

Because thou hast thought...—Better, because you thought. The speaker looks at the thought historically, as at the moment when it rose up in the sorcerer’s mind. The Greek verb has a transitive, not a passive sense: you thought to acquire the gift of God by money. Not so, Peter must have remembered, had he acquired that gift. The very word which he uses is that which our Lord had spoken to him and his brother Apostles, Freely (i.e., as a gift) ye have received (Matthew 10:8).