1 Peter 1:7

1 Peter 1:7. that the proof of your faith, etc. The statement now introduced connects itself closely with the conditional notice of suffering. It points them at once to the ultimate object of their possible subjection to many painful things now. If this subjection is only as God deems needful, it also looks to an end gracious enough to cast the light of comfort back into the dark and grievous present. In regard, however, both to the sense of particular words and to the mutual relations of the clauses, the verse is one of some difficulty. The term rendered ‘trial' in the A. V. is found nowhere else in the N. T. except in James 1:3. A cognate form, however, occurs more frequently, sometimes with a present reference and sometimes with a past (see Cremer, sub voce). so that it means both actively the process of putting to the proof (2 Corinthians 8:2), and passively the proof, the evidence itself (2 Corinthians 13:3), or the attestation, the approvedness resulting from the process (Romans 5:3-4; 2Co 2:9; 2 Corinthians 9:13; Philippians 2:22). If the present term, therefore, were strictly parallel to that, it might mean either the act of testing, as many take it to be in James 1:3; the medium of testing, as in the Classics (Plato, e.g., using it of the touchstone), and at least once in the Sept. (Proverbs 27:21); or the result of testing. Of these three senses the first would be analogous to what is expressed by another cognate term in Hebrews 3:9. It is inapposite here, however, because the act or process of testing cannot well be the thing that is to be to their praise at the last. The second, which is adopted by Steinmeyer, etc., would make the temptations themselves, as the criteria of faith, the thing that shall be to their praise. The third, therefore, is the natural sense here, the approvedness (Huther) of your faith. The idea is thus much the same as your proved faith, your faith as attested by probation. Mr. Hort, however, holds that the term can mean nothing else than the instrument of trial, and supposes that an early confusion may have crept into the text between this word and a very similar form, the neuter of an adjective, meaning ‘that which is approved,' which is supported by two of the better cursives.

more precious as surely it is than gold which perisheth, and yet is tried by fire. With the best editors the simple ‘more precious' is to be read for the ‘much more precious' of the A. V. Some make the clause dependent on the subsequent verb (so Steiger, de Wette, Huther, etc.). Thus it would form a part of the predicate, and the sense would be = that the approvedness of your faith may be found more precious than that of gold which perisheth and yet is tried by fire, unto your praise, etc. It is more consistent, however, with the position of the clause, the qualifying idea expressed by it, and the point of the comparison with gold, to take it as in apposition to the terms, ‘the approvedness of your faith.' The ‘of' inserted by the A. V. before ‘gold' must be omitted. What the original sets over against the proof of faith, or the approved faith, is the gold itself, and not its proof. The particle translated ‘though' by the A. V. means ‘but,' or ‘yet,' and expresses something which takes place in spite of something else. The participles rendered ‘which perisheth' and ‘is tried' are in the present tense, as denoting facts which hold good now and at any time, the sense being that it is of the nature of gold to perish, and it is the fact nevertheless that it is tested by fire. The comparison between the probation of character and the testing of metals, which occurs so often elsewhere (cf. Job 23:10; Proverbs 17:3; Proverbs 27:21; Psalms 66:10; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2-3; 1 Corinthians 3:13, etc.), has a limited application here. No direct comparison is instituted between the proving of faith and that of gold, nor between the worth of proved faith and the worth of proved gold. There is an indirect comparison between the perishable nature of gold and the opposite nature of faith, and the idea is that, if the former is proved by fire, although itself and the benefits of the process pass speedily away according to their kind, the latter, which, as tested, is seen to be a possession superior to the risks of decay and loss, and more precious than the most valued treasure, may well be subjected to similar action. The sentence, therefore, is introduced in order to remove the apparent strangeness, and to suggest the purifying intention, of the suffering which faith has to endure.

might be found unto praise and honour and glory. With the best editors (Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Westcott, and Hort) the order runs rather praise, and glory, and honour. This is the only instance in the N. T. in which the three terms come together, although the conjunction of honour and glory is common enough (Romans 2:7; Romans 2:10; 1 Timothy 1:17, etc.). Distinctions are drawn between the terms, and it is attempted to exhibit a climax in the order of the A. V., e.g., from judicial approval to the moral esteem following on that, and then to the reward or form of glory (Schott, etc.); or from the language of praise to the rank of honour and the feeling of admiration (Mason); or from the commendation of the Judge to the personal dignity of the subject, and thence to his admission to the Lord's own glory. But the descriptions are cumulative rather than ascensive, word being added to word in order to convey some faint conception of the gracious reward which is to be found (a strong term indicating the open discovery of something, the proving of an object to be something after scrutiny) at last to have been the end in view.

in the revelation of Jesus Christ; that is, in the time of His unveiling, the time of His return, when the hidden Christ, the righteous judgment of God (Romans 2:5), and the sons of God (Romans 8:19), shall all appear finally as they are.