Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

1 Peter 2:2

ὡς, inasmuch as you are newborn babes: cf. ἀναγεγεννημένοι (1 Peter 1:23). The development of the metaphor rests upon the saying, unless ye be turned and become as the children (ὡς τὰ παιδία) ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3). βρέφη (only here in metaphorical sense) is substituted for παιδία (preserved by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:20) as = babes at the breast. A παιδίον might have lost its traditional innocence but not a βρέφος (= either child unborn as Luke 1:41, or suckling in classical Greek). For the origin of the metaphor, which appears also in the saying of R. Jose, “the proselyte is a child just born,” compare Isaiah 28:9, Whom will he teach knowledge?.… Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts, which the Targum renders, To whom was the law given?.… Was it not to the house of Israel which is beloved beyond all peoples? τὸ … γάλα. The quotation of 1 Peter 2:3 suggests that the milk is Christ; compare St. Paul's explanation of the tradition of the Rock which followed the Israelites in the desert (1 Corinthians 10:4) and the living water of John 4:14. Milk is the proper food for babes; compare Isaiah 55:1, buy … milk (LXX, στέαρ) without money (cf. 1 Peter 1:18). This milk is guileless (cf. δόλον of 1 Peter 2:1) pure or unadulterated (cf. μηδὲ δολοῦντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, 2 Corinthians 4:2). The interpretation of λογικόν (pertaining to λόγος) is doubtful. But the use of λόγος just above (1 Peter 1:23) probably indicates the sense which St. Peter put upon the adjective he borrowed (?) from Romans 12:1, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν. There and elsewhere λ. = rationabilis, spiritual; here belonging to contained in the Word of God, delivered by prophet or by evangelist. St. Paul in his use of λ. and of the metaphor of milk (solid food, 1 Corinthians 3:1 ff.) follows Philo and the Stoics. ἵνα … σωτηρίαν, that fed thereon ye may grow up (cf. Ephesians 4:14 f.) unto salvation; cf. James 1:21, “receive the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls”.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

1 Peter 2:2

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