Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Peter 1:6

ἐν ᾧ�. Dr Hort, recognizing the difficulty of connecting these words with καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ in the sense of “season of extremity,” would make ᾦ masculine—“In whom,” i.e. Christ. This would match the following phrase: εἰς ὂν πιστεύοντες�. But if καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ means the Messianic age in which the readers were living, ἐν ᾧ can be taken in its more obvious grammatical connexion and would mean “living in that age as you do.” Another interpretation would be to take ἐν ᾧ as neuter (cf. 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 4:4) = wherein, i.e. in the thought of your new birth and its privileges.

ἀγαλλιᾶσθε must be taken as present indicative (not imperative) in view of the ἀγαλλιᾶτε in 1 Peter 1:8. The active only occurs again in Luke 1:47 and in Revelation 19:7 (v. l.). Dr Hort suggests that the middle voice may here denote a state of exultation caused by God’s dealings, while the active regards exultation more as their own act. But a more usual distinction is that the middle denotes inward feeling and the active merely states a fact (e.g. ὑστερεῖν = to lack; ὑστερεῖσθαι = to feel a sense of want).

ὀλίγον may mean either for a little time or to a small degree, cf. 1 Peter 5:10, ὀλίγον παθόντας. The relative shortness of their sufferings is perhaps only one feature of their slightness as compared with the glory which is to follow.

ἄρτι = just for the moment.

εἰ δέον may mean, seeing that such sufferings are part of the appointed order of things, “These things must come to pass” (Mark 13:7, etc.), or it may imply some uncertainty whether some of the readers at least may escape persecution; cf. 1 Peter 3:17, εἰ θέλοι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ.

λυπηθέντες = ye have been put to grief. The word denotes not merely sufferings but the mental distress caused by them. The aorist participle does not necessarily mean that the grief is ended before the exultation can begin. Christian exultation does not preclude the presence of sorrow, cf. 2 Corinthians 6:10, “as sorrowful yet alway rejoicing.” Aorist participles coupled with an aorist frequently denote an action contemporaneous with that of the verb, e.g. προσευξάμενοι εἶπον, Acts 1:24, and there is no reason why this should not be the case when they are coupled with a present tense, although the present participle is generally employed, but the aorist may have a summarizing force describing what may be a long continued experience as a single whole which has to be completed.

ἐν ποικίλοις πειρασμοῖς = surrounded as you are by a variety of trials. The phrase, together with τὸ δοκίμιον ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως, is borrowed from James 1:2-3. (See Introduction, p. lv.)

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Peter 1:6

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