Title. The title given in most of the Uncial MSS. is simply like the short English form, 1 Peter. Some of the Cursive, or later, MSS., give the variations, "The first Catholic (or general) Epistle of Peter," and "The Catholic Epistle of the Holy and Venerable (_pan-euphemos_) Apostle Peter.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Peter_ We note that the new name which his Lord had given him has replaced, in his own mind as in that of others, that of Simon Bar-jona (Matthew 16:17), by which he had once been known. So, in like manner, Paul takes the name of Saul, in the letters of that Apostle. Like him also, he describes him... [ Continue Reading ]
_elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father_ The word "elect" or CHOSEN belongs, as already stated, to 1 Peter 1:1, but the English sufficiently represents the meaning of the Greek. The word and the thought that the disciples of Christ are what they are by the election or choice of God,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ_ Here again we note the close correspondence with the opening words of two of St Paul's Epistles (2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3). It is, of course, possible that both have adopted what was a common inheritance from Jewish devout feeling, mod... [ Continue Reading ]
_to an inheritance incorruptible_ The clause is co-ordinate with the preceding and depends upon the word "begotten." The idea of the "inheritance" is again essentially Pauline (Acts 20:32; Galatians 3:18; Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 1:18 and elsewhere). The epithets attached to the word distinguish it... [ Continue Reading ]
_who are kept by the power of God through faith_ In the word for "kept," we have, as in 2 Corinthians 11:32 in its literal, and Philippians 4:7 in its figurative sense, the idea of being "guarded" as men are guarded in a camp or citadel. Of that guarding we have (1) the objective aspect, the "power... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherein ye greatly rejoice_ The English verb and adverb answer to the single Greek word which expresses, as in Matthew 5:12; Luke 1:47; Luke 10:21, the act of an exulting joy. The verb occurs three times in this Epistle, not at all in St Paul's, and may fairly be regarded as an echo from our Lord's... [ Continue Reading ]
_that the trial of your faith_ The use of the self-same phrase as in James 1:3 strengthens the conclusion suggested in the previous note as to St Peter's knowledge of this Epistle. TEST, perhaps even PROOF or PROBATION, would better express the force of the Greek word. Faith is not known to be what... [ Continue Reading ]
_whom having not seen, ye love_ Some of the better MSS. give WHOM NOT KNOWING YE LOVE, but the reading adopted in the English version rests on sufficient authority and gives a better meaning. The Apostle, in writing the words, could hardly intend to contrast, however real the contrast might be, his... [ Continue Reading ]
_receiving the end of your faith_ The question has been raised whether these words refer to the present or the future. It has been urged on the one hand that the word for "receiving" applied in 2 Corinthians 5:10, and perhaps in Hebrews 10:36; Ephesians 6:8, to the ultimate issue of God's judgment,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently_ The words require a slight correction before we proceed to explain them. The noun "prophets" is without the article and the verbs are in the aorist and not the perfect. We translate accordingly, OF WHICH SALVATION PROPHETS ENQUI... [ Continue Reading ]
_searching what, or what manner of time_ The two words have each a distinct force, the first indicating the wish of men to fix the date of the coming of the Lord absolutely, the second to determine the note or character of the SEASON of its approach. Of that craving we find examples in the question... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us_ The better MSS. give "you" instead of "us," obviously with a better sense and in closer agreement with the "you" of the following clause. What is meant, still keeping to the line of interpretation here adopted, is that the prophets w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind_ The words were in any case a natural figure for prompt readiness for activity, but, coming from one who had been a personal disciple of the Lord Jesus, we cannot fail to trace in them an echo of His words as recorded in Luke 12:35, possibly also, looking to... [ Continue Reading ]
_as obedient children_ Literally, CHILDREN OF OBEDIENCE. The phrase is more or less a Hebraism, like "children of wrath," Ephesians 2:3, or the more closely parallel "children of disobedience" in Ephesians 5:6. The "cursed children," literally, CHILDREN OF A CURSE, of 2 Peter 2:14, furnishes another... [ Continue Reading ]
_be ye holy in all manner of conversation_ Better, IN EVERY FORM OF CONDUCT. The word "conversation," once used in its true meaning (_conversari_= living, moving to and fro, with others), has during the last hundred and fifty years settled down almost irrecoverably into a synonym for "talking." Swif... [ Continue Reading ]
_because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy_ Literally, YE SHALL BE HOLY, the future, as in the Ten Commandments, having the force of the imperative. The words, which occur frequently in the Levitical code (Leviticus 11:44; Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 20:26), were applied sometimes to the priest... [ Continue Reading ]
_And if ye call on the Father_ Better, as the Greek noun has no article, IF YE CALL UPON A FATHER, i.e. if you worship not an arbitrary Judge, but one of whom Fatherhood is the essential character. The sequel shews that this attribute of Fatherhood is not thought of as excluding the idea of judgment... [ Continue Reading ]
_as ye know that ye were not redeemed_ The idea of a ransom as a price paid for liberation from captivity or death, suggests the contrast between the silver and gold which were paid commonly for human ransoms, and the price which Christ had paid. In the word itself we have an echo of our Lord's teac... [ Continue Reading ]
_but with the precious blood of Christ_ The order of the Greek, and the absence of the article before "blood," somewhat modify the meaning. Better, WITH PRECIOUS BLOOD, AS OF A LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH AND WITHOUT SPOT, [even that] OF CHRIST. That blood, the life which it represented, poured out upon th... [ Continue Reading ]
_who verily was foreordained_ Literally, FOREKNOWN, but the foreknowledge of God implies the foreordaining. Here also we note the coincidence with St Peter's language in Acts 2:23; Acts 3:18. The Greek for "these last times" is literally THE END OF THE TIMES. The Apostle's language was determined pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_who by him do believe in God_ Literally, WHO THROUGH HIM ARE FAITHFUL (or BELIEVING) TOWARDS GOD; the adjective expressing a permanent attribute of character rather than the mere act which would be expressed by the participle in Greek, and the present indicative in English. _that raised him up from... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seeing ye have purified your souls_ It may be noted that the use of the Greek verb "purify," in this spiritual sense, is peculiar to St Peter, and to his friends St James (James 4:8) and St John (1 John 3:3). In John 11:55; Acts 21:24; Acts 21:26; Acts 24:18, it is found in its ceremonial significa... [ Continue Reading ]
_being born again_ Better, HAVING BEEN BEGOTTEN AGAIN, the verb being the same as that in 1 Peter 1:3. The "corruptible seed" is that which is the cause of man's natural birth, and the preposition which St Peter uses exactly expresses this thought of an originating cause. In the second clause, on th... [ Continue Reading ]
_For all flesh is as grass_ The words have a two-fold interest: (1) as a quotation from the portion of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 40:6-8) with which the Apostle must have been familiar in connexion with the ministry of the Baptist, and (2) as presenting another coincidence with the thoughts and langu... [ Continue Reading ]