1 Peter 3:13 to 1 Peter 4:6. GOOD AND EVIL DOING IN RELATION TO SUFFERING AT THE HANDS OF HEATHEN, ILLUSTRATED BY THE SUFFERINGS OR CHRIST AND THEIR EFFECTS 1 Peter 3:17 to 1 Peter 4:6. _The blessedness of suffering in the flesh_ The interpretation suggested for this confessedly difficult passage... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓͂Ν sums up the various lessons drawn from the sufferings of Christ in the preceding 1 Peter 4 :1 Peter 3:18-22, that suffering in the flesh is (_a_) a termination of the regime of sin, (_b_) an opportunity for new and wider service in the spirit, (_c_) the prelude to future glory. ΠΑΘΌΝΤΟΣ ΣΑΡΚῚ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣ ΤῸ may be taken (_a_) with ὁπλίσασθε _in order that ye should no longer live_, etc. as R.V., or (_b_) as A.V. and R.V. marg. with πέπαυται _that he should no longer live_, etc. ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑΙΣ, the many variable lusts of men are contrasted with the single unvarying purpose of God. So Heracleon ap. O... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΡΚΕΤῸΣ ΓΆΡ. The γάρ explains ἐπίλοιπον, I say “what _remains_ of your life” _for_ the sinful past has been all too long. ΒΟΎΛΗΜΑ ΤΩ͂Ν ἘΘΝΩ͂Ν. The T.R. reads θέλημα as in the previous verse of the will of God. The distinction between βούλημα and θέλημα, like that between βούλεσθαι and θέλειν, is som... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ὯΙ, _wherein, in which respect_ ΞΕΝΊΖΟΝΤΑΙ. In the active the verb is used transitively of entertaining strangers, Acts 10:23; Acts 28:7; Hebrews 13:2, and once of “surprising doctrines,” Acts 17:20; cf. Polyb. 3. 114. 4; Joseph. _Ant._ 1. 1. 4. In the middle it generally means to lodge, Acts 10:... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἽ. For this abrupt and emphatic use of the relative, cf. Romans 3:8. ΔΊΔΟΝΑΙ or ἈΠΟΔΊΔΟΝΑΙ ΛΌΓΟΝ is used of rendering account in Matthew 12:36; Luke 16:2; Acts 19:40; Romans 14:12; Hebrews 4:13; Hebrews 13:17. ΤΩ͂Ι ἙΤΟΊΜΩΣ ΚΡΊΝΟΝΤΙ. The T.R. reads ἑτοίμως ἔχοντι κρῖναι for which phrase cf. A [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣ ΤΟΥ͂ΤΟ ΓΆΡ. εἰς τοῦτο does not refer to what precedes, viz. that the Gospel was preached to the dead in order that they might fairly be included in the judgment. That idea may perhaps be suggested by the γάρ. But wherever εἰς τοῦτο or διὰ τοῦτο in the N.T. is followed by ἵνα, ὅπως or an infiniti... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΆΝΤΩΝ ΔῈ ΤῸ ΤΈΛΟΣ ἬΓΓΙΚΕΝ. The mention of God’s readiness to judge both the quick and the dead leads St Peter to remind his readers _that the end of all things has drawn nearer_. Our Lord compared the coming of the Son of Man to the Flood, as coming unexpectedly upon those who were living in carele... [ Continue Reading ]
Having urged the necessity of terminating the regime of sin, St Peter next gives a summary of what life according to God in the Spirit should be. It is a life of sober-mindedness, of watchful prayer, of strenuous love, of faithful stewardship in administering God’s varied gifts of grace, so that in... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῊΝ … ἈΓΆΠΗΝ ἘΚΤΕΝΗ͂ ἜΧΟΝΤΕΣ. ἐκτενῆ is the predicate. It is assumed that they have love towards one another, but they are bidden to maintain it in a fervent, strenuous condition, cf. 1 Peter 1:22. ἙΑΥΤΟΎΣ. For ἀλλήλους as often in N.T. and also class. Greek. ἈΓΆΠΗ ΚΑΛΎΠΤΕΙ ΠΛΗ͂ΘΟΣ ἉΜΑΡΤΙΩ͂Ν. The w... [ Continue Reading ]
ΦΙΛΌΞΕΝΟΙ. The duty of hospitality to strangers, commended by our Lord, Matthew 25:35, is also enjoined in Romans 12:13 and Hebrews 13:2. In 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8 it is demanded as one of the special qualifications for an ἐπίσκοπος. In the primitive Church Christian travellers would be exposed... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΘῺΣ ἜΛΑΒΕΝ ΧΆΡΙΣΜΑ. The aorist most naturally refers to their conversion or their baptism but, if worldly goods to be used in hospitality are included as a χάρισμα, these would be possessed before conversion, and the aorist may refer to God’s endowment of His future stewards. ΔΙΑΚΟΝΟΥ͂ΝΤΕΣ. διακον... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἼ ΤΙΣ ΛΑΛΕΙ͂. In classical Greek λαλεῖν has generally a disparaging sense _to chatter_ but in the N.T. it means _to talk_, to utter one’s thoughts, and is frequently used of God. Where it is contrasted with λέγειν it denotes the sound, pronunciation or form of what is said while λέγειν refers to th... [ Continue Reading ]
12 FF. Having described two of the results of Christ’s sufferings in the flesh as being applicable also to His members, viz. (_a_) the termination of sin, (_b_) a life of service in the spirit, St Peter now begins the concluding section of his epistle with the third characteristic of suffering, that... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΘῸ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΕΙ͂ΤΕ = _in proportion as you have personal fellowship in the sufferings of the Christ_. Christians are regarded not merely as _suffering with_ (συμπάσχοντες) Christ, (Romans 8:17), but as members of His body they have a personal share in _His_ sufferings, cf. Philippians 3:10; Colossians... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸ ὈΝΕΙΔΊΖΕΣΘΕ ἘΝ ὈΝΌΜΑΤΙ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ͂, cf. Psalms 89:50-51 “Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants … wherewith they have reproached (ὠνείδισαν) the footsteps of thine anointed” (τοῦ χριστοῦ σου), cf. also Hebrews 11:26 τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τοῦ χριστοῦ as preferred by Moses to all the treasures of Egy... [ Continue Reading ]
The question whether the “suffering” referred to in this passage implies a legal persecution conducted by the state, and its consequent bearing upon the date of the Epistle has been fully discussed in the Introduction (p. xliii f.). It may therefore suffice here to give a brief summary of the conclu... [ Continue Reading ]
ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΌΣ. א reads Χρηστιανός here and in the two passages of Acts where the word occurs, while B reads Χρειστιανός. These variations may be merely errors of sound on the part of copyists, but Blass argues that Χρηστιανός was the original form of the nickname as used by heathen opponents of Christi... [ Continue Reading ]
ὍΤΙ [Ὁ] ΚΑΙΡῸΣ ΤΟΥ͂ ἌΡΞΑΣΘΑΙ ΤῸ ΚΡΊΜΑ�. The sufferings of Christians are the _initial_ stages in the judgment of the world. The process of judgment begins with God’s own house first. οἶκος might mean merely _household_ (cf. Hebrews 12:7, where chastisement is regarded as a proof of sonship), but it... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸ Ὁ ΔΊΚΑΙΟΣ ΜΌΛΙΣ ΣΏΖΕΤΑΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. The quotation is taken from the LXX. of Proverbs 11:31 where the Hebrew is “Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner.” The righteous is regarded as being “hardly saved” because of the painful nature of the “fier... [ Continue Reading ]
ὭΣΤΕ. The view of suffering inculcated in the preceding verses enables Christians to glorify God for permitting them to suffer in Christ’s name, and they can do this with perfect trust because they can _also_ (καί) feel that they are committing their souls (or lives) to the keeping of the God who ma... [ Continue Reading ]