1 Peter 5:12

1 Peter 5:12. By Silvanus. In all probability this is the well-known friend and fellow-labourer of Paul, known as Silas in the Book of Acts, but as Silvanus in the Pauline Epistles (1Th 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:19). He is noticed first (Acts 15:22) as one of the ‘chief men among the brethren' in the Church of Jerusalem, sent as such along with Paul, Barnabas, and Judas Barnabas with the letter from the convention of apostles and elders to Antioch; next as a prophet exhorting ‘the brethren with many words' (Acts 15:32); then, on his return from Antioch, as chosen by Paul to be his companion on his second missionary journey (Acts 15:40, Acts 17:40); next, as left behind with Timothy at Beroea, while Paul went on to Athens (Acts 17:14); and, finally, as again with Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:5). From Acts 17:15 we gather that along with Timothy he received instructions to join Paul at Athens. But we have no information either as to the carrying out of these instructions, or as to the way in which he became associated with Peter. It is possible that he went with Timothy from Athens to Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 3:2). As a missionary of the Cross he was most familiar with the Asiatic churches, and knew well the territories now addressed by Peter. The ‘ by Silvanus' does not necessarily imply that he acted as Peter's amanuensis. As in the subscriptions to some of the Pauline Epistles (Romans and Corinthians), and as in the longer form ‘by the hand of' (Acts 15:23, where the A. V. translates it simply ‘ by them'), the phrase may designate the bearer of the Epistle.

the faithful brother, as I account him. The A.V. is at fault here both in giving ‘a faithful brother,' and in rendering ‘as I suppose, ' The verb indicates not a mere supposition in the ordinary sense of the word, but (as in Romans 3:28; Romans 6:11; Romans 8:18; Romans 11:19) a settled persuasion, an assured judgment. Some indeed attach this ‘as I suppose' to the next clause, as if it expressed Peter's opinion of the.brevity of his own letter. It belongs, however, to ‘the present clause, and expresses Peter's view of what he had himself found Silvanus to be. This comrade of Paul was a suitable messenger, both because he was known to the churches addressed, and because he had been to Peter as faithful a brother as he had been to Paul. The ‘unto you' is so connected by the A. V. as to denote the persons to whom Silvanus proved himself faithful. It belongs, however, rather to the verb, and indicates the persons to whom the Epistle was addressed.

I wrote unto you. Where we in English would say ‘I write' or ‘I have written,' regarding the yet unfinished letter as still in the writer's hands, the Greeks might say ‘I wrote,' the letter which was being finished being regarded from the view-point of the recipient who was to read it as a completed thing. So here, although Peter says, literally, ‘I wrote' (not ‘I have written,' as in A. V.), he refers to the present Epistle, and not, as some have supposed, to the Second Epistle, or to another which is now lost. For similar instances see Galatians 6:11; Philemon 1:19; Philemon 1:21; Hebrews 13:22; and possibly, although not quite so certainly, 1 John 2:14; 1 John 2:21; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 5:15. briefly; literally, ‘through few (words),' a formula analogous to that in Hebrews 13:22. As compared with Epistles like those to the Romans, Corinthians, and Hebrews ', this Epistle would not be considered a ‘brief' one. But in view of the weight and variety of topics touched on, and as compared with what could be conveyed by oral discourse, it might well seem to the writer that all that he had been able to say, in the letter which he was now closing, was a very limited statement indeed. At most points, too, the Epistle is remarkable for its conciseness and condensation. exhorting: on the force of this verb see on chap. 1 Peter 2:11.

and testifying: the verb used here is a compound form of the usual verb. This is its only occurrence in the N. T. Some hold that it should be rendered ‘giving additional testimony,' as if Peter meant that what he had done was simply to add his own testimony to what the readers had already been instructed in by Paul and Silas. The compound verb, however, gives the same idea, only with greater strength, as the simple verb. The two participles are not to be taken to refer (as they are understood by de Wette, etc.) to separate portions of the Epistle. We cannot say that so much of it is exhortation, and so much of it testimony. It is throughout an Epistle of the twofold character expressed by these terms, its exhortations rise upon the solid basis of its testimony to the grace of God, and its testimony is determined with a view to the practical statement of duty.

that this is the true grace of God. The ‘grace of God' here means much the same as ‘this grace' in Romans 5:1. What is in view, therefore, is not the ‘ state of grace,' as contrasted with the state of nature. Neither is it the pure preaching of the gospel as contrasted with a false gospel or erroneous doctrinal teaching. It is the gift of grace whereof God had made them possessors through the preaching of the Gospel. Peter affirms, therefore, that what they had come to know and enjoy through the Gospel was no imaginary or supposititious thing, but real grace, God's own grace, which they might rely on without hesitation in spite of all their sufferings, and by which they ought firmly to abide. He regards the readers as already in that grace. But by whose means they had first been introduced to it, he does not specify. So far, however, as they had been introduced by Paul into ‘this grace' of which Peter had been writing, Peter sets the seal of his own testimony to that form of the Gospel which Paul had made known to them, and by which they had become what they now were.

in which stand; or, as the R. V. amplifies it, stand ye fast therein. Thus we must read, on the authority of the best documents and editors, instead of the ‘wherein ye stand' of the A. V. The charge, too, is of the form (literally = into which stand ye) which recognizes the entrance into the grace, and enjoins its sedulous retention. It is therefore ‘a short and earnest exhortation, containing in it in fact the pith of what has been said by way of exhortation in the whole Epistle' (Alford).