1 Peter 5:12-14

Postscript in St. Peter's own handwriting, like Galatians 6:11-18 (ἴδετε πηλίκοις ὑμῖν γράμμασιν ἔγραψα τῇ ἐμεῇ χειρί); 2 Thessalonians 3:17 f. (ὁ ἀσπασμὸς τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου). διὰ Σιλουανοῦ, by the hand of my scribe S.; so Ignatius writes διὰ Βύρρου to the Philadelphians (11:2) and the Smyrnaeans (12:1), but wishes to keep him with himself (Ephesians 2:1). That S. was also the bearer of the Epistle is indicated by the recommendation which follows. There does not seem to be any good reason for refusing to identify this S. with the companion of St. Paul and Timothy who wrote with them to the Church of Thessalonica and preached with them at Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:19). τοῦ πιστοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ὡς λογίζομαι. One main object of the postscript is to supply S. with a brief commendation. He is presumably the appointed messenger who will supplement the letter with detailed application of its general teaching and information about the affairs of the writer. So St. Paul's Encyclical ends with that ye may know my circumstances how I fare Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord shall make known all things to you (Ephesians 6:21 f.). S. was known probably to some of the Churches as St. Paul's companion: in case he was unknown to any, St. Peter adds his own certificate. For this use of λογίζομαι compare 1 Corinthians 4:1, οὕτως ἡμᾶς λογιζέσθω ἄνθρωπος; 2 Corinthians 11:5, λογίζομαι γὰρ μηδὲν ὑστερηκέναι τῶν ὑπερλίαν ἀποστόλων. παρακαλῶν … θεοῦ, motive and subject of the Epistle. St. Peter Wrote exhorting as he said I exhort you (1 Peter 2:11; 1 Peter 5:1) and the general content of his exhortation may be given by the subordinate clause which follows: “That you stand in the grace, which I bear witness is truly God's grace”. The acquired sense of the verb comfort (LXX for נחם) is not directly contemplated. The Epistle is a λόγος παρακλήσεως in the sense of ὁ παρακαλῶν ἐν τῇ παρακλήσει, Romans 12:8. ἐπιμαρτυρῶν, testifying to … not … in addition. The verb does not occur elsewhere in O.T. (LXX has ἐπιμαρτύρομαι) or N.T.; but Hebrews 2:4 has the compound συνεπιμαρτυροῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ. ταύτην … θεοῦ, that this is true grace of God, i.e., the grace in the widest sense of the word which is theirs (1 Peter 1:10) which God gives to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). St. Peter was witness of the sufferings of Christ which they now share; he witnesses from his experience that the grace which they possess is truly God's grace, though sufferings are a passing incident of their sojourn nere. εἰς ἣν στῆτε, paraenetic summary of τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν εἰς τὴν χάριν ταύτην ἐν ᾗ ἑστήκαμεν (Romans 5:2), from which the easier reading ἐστήκατε is derived. ἡ … συνεκλεκτή. As the co-elder exhorts the elders so the co-elect (woman) greets the elect sojourners (1 Peter 1:1). The early addition of Church represents the natural interpretation of the word, which indeed expresses the latent significance of ἐκ - κλησία, the called out, compare St. Paul's use of ἡ ἐκλογή in Romans 11:7. In 1 Peter 5:1 ff. Peter addresses bodies rather than individuals and in 1 Peter 5:9 he uses a collective term embracing the whole of Christendom. Accordingly the woman in question is naturally taken to mean the Church and not any individual (see on Μᾶρκος). Compare the woman of Revelation 12:1 f. who is Israel a fragment which presupposes the mystical interpretation of Canticles (see Song of Solomon 6:10) and generally the conception of Israel as the bride of Jehovah, which St. Paul appropriated, as complement of the Parables of the Marriage Feast, etc., and applied to the Church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:2). So in Hermas' Visions the Church appears as a woman, ἐν Βαβυλῶνι, in Rome, according to the Apocalyptic Code, the use of which was not merely a safeguard but also a password. Compare Revelation 17:5, on the forehead of the woman was written a mystery, “Babylon the great”, Revelation 14:8; Revelation 16:19; Revelation 18:2; Apoc. Baruch, xi. 1 So Papias reports a tradition (“they say”) that Peter composed his first Epistle in Rome itself and signifies this by calling the city allegorically Babylon. The point of the allegory is that Rome was becoming the oppressor of the new (andold) Israel, not that it was the centre of the world (Oec.). Literal interpretations (i.) Babylon, (ii.) Babylon in Egypt are modern. Μᾶρκος ὁ υἱός μου. Oecumenius interprets son of spiritual relationship and adds noting that some have dared to say that M. was the fleshly son of St. Peter on the strength of the narrative of Acts 12 where 2 Peter is represented as rushing to the house of the mother of John M. as if he were returning to his own house and lawful spouse. So Bengel, “Cöelecta sic coniugem suam appellare videtur; cf. 1 Peter 3:7, Erat enim soror; 1 Corinthians 9:5, Et congruit mentio filii Marci”. But granting that Petronilla (?) was missionary and martyr and that Peter may well have had a son though Christian tradition is silent with regard to him what have they to do sending greetings to the Churches of Asia Minor in this Encyclical?

[155]. 2 Peter