1 Peter 5:3

1 Peter 5:3. nor yet as lording it; or, in the character of those who lord it. The expression is again a very strong one. An uncommon compound form of the verb ‘to rule' is chosen, which conveys the idea of high-handed rule, or a rule which is detrimental to the interests of the flock. Bengel notices how, as the elders in course of time assumed lordship, the Latin word Senior, elder, became the Italian Signore, Lord, Sir. Rule and office are recognised in the N. T. Church, and those who guide its affairs receive a variety of names (comp. Luke 22:26; Romans 12:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12, etc.). But they are never described as being lords over the flock (Luke 22:25). If lordship, therefore, is nowhere recognised, much more is oppressive rule, or ‘overruling' as the margin of the A. V. gives it, repudiated.

over the congregations. The Greek noun used here is that (cleros) from which our English word clergy comes. It means a lot, then what is apportioned by lot, and so anything, such as an office, a heritage, or a possession, which is assigned to one. Strange meanings have been given it here, e.g. church property, the possessions of worldly rulers, the province of the Roman proconsul, etc. Some eminent Roman Catholic interpreters have held it = the clergy; and both Wycliffe and the Rhemish Version actually render it ‘the clergy,' apparently making a simple transference of the term used in the Vulgate. It has been also taken to mean estates, as if the idea were, ‘do not rule haughtily as men do who exercise rule over estates belonging to themselves' (Hofmann). But while the word has that sense in Classical Greek, it does not seem to have it in Biblical Greek. In the Old Testament it is one of the terms by which Israel is designated God's heritage or inheritance (Deuteronomy 9:29, etc.). Hence it is supposed that the term is chosen here, in order to express the fact that the Church of Christ is now that heritage of God which Israel originally was designed to be. So the A. V., following the Genevan, translates it ‘ God's heritage.' The plural form is then explained to be due to the circumstance that the one flock or Church of Christ is conceived as distributed among the various churches in which these elders laboured. And the point of the phrase lies then in the idea that these churches were God's possession, and not at the disposal of the elders. It is most natural, however, to take the word as practically equivalent to ‘congregations.' These were the lots, or charges, assigned to the elders. So the word ‘charge' has come to mean a congregation in ecclesiastical phraseology. Tyndale and Cranmer are not far astray in rendering it ‘parishes.' The R. V. comes short only in translating the plural noun as a singular ‘over the charge allotted to you.' The use of the terra is due perhaps to the pastoral imagery which underlies the whole paragraph. The whole pastoral wealth of a great proprietor would make one flock, over which there would be a Chief Shepherd. But the flock would be broken up into various contingents, pasturing in different localities. Each of these would be a cleros, or lot, over which would be a shepherd responsible to the Chief Shepherd (see Dr. John Brown in loc.).

but becoming examples of the flock. Peter uses three different terms for the idea of a model or pattern. In chap. 1 Peter 2:11 the word is one which means literally a writing-copy. In the Second Epistle, chap. 1 Peter 2:6, we have another (occurring also in John 13:15; Hebrews 4:11; Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 9:23; James 5:10) which is used particularly of the sculptor or painter's model. In the present passage the word (the same as in 1 Corinthians 10:6; Philippians 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; 1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7; Hebrews 8:5) is the term type, which has a wide range of application, from a mere mark or footprint up to the living likeness of the father which appears in the child. It is the word which Thomas uses when he speaks of the ‘print' of the nails (John 20:25). The elders, therefore, were themselves to be what those under their charge should be. The secret of their rule was to lie not in a lordly spirit, but in the persuasion of a consistent life. The things which they are cautioned against in these two verses are the three vices which, as Calvin observes, and as Church history too plainly shows, are wont to be most injurious to the Church.