INTRODUCTION TO I PETER 5 In this chapter the apostle first exhorts pastors and members of churches to their respective duties as such; and then to those which were common to them all, as Christians; and closes the epistle with prayers for them, salutations of them, and with his apostolic benedicti... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ELDERS WHICH ARE AMONG YOU I EXHORT,.... The apostle returns to particular exhortations, after having finished his general ones, and which chiefly concern patient suffering for Christ; and having particularly exhorted subjects to behave aright to civil magistrates, servants to their masters, and... [ Continue Reading ]
FEED THE FLOCK OF GOD WHICH IS AMONG YOU,.... Some read, "as much as in you is"; that is, to the utmost of your power, according to your abilities, referring to the manner of feeding the flock, doing it in the best way they are capable of; but the phrase is rather descriptive of the flock to be fed,... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER AS BEING LORDS OVER GOD'S HERITAGE,.... Or "clergy"; meaning not ecclesiastical persons, as presbyters, and deacons, who are supposed to be under the government of bishops, though not to be governed with tyranny, and in a haughty, imperious, and arrogant manner; to which sense the Arabic ver... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE CHIEF SHEPHERD SHALL APPEAR,.... This is the encouraging motive and argument to engage the elders and pastors of churches to discharge their office faithfully, cheerfully, and in an humble manner: by "the chief Shepherd" is meant Christ, who may well be called so, since he is God's fell... [ Continue Reading ]
LIKEWISE YE YOUNGER,.... Not in office, as if inferior officers to bishops were here intended, who ought to be subject to them; for elders and pastors are the same with them, nor is there any other office but that of deacons; nor younger pastors and overseers, such an one as Timothy was; not but tha... [ Continue Reading ]
HUMBLE YOURSELVES THEREFORE,.... Or be ye humbled before God, and in his sight; quietly submit to his will; patiently bear every affliction without murmuring, repining, or replying against him; be still under the rod, and despise not the chastening of the Lord; mourn over sin as the cause, acknowled... [ Continue Reading ]
CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM,.... "Upon God": as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions read. The words are taken out of, or at least refer to Psalms 55:22, where, instead of "cast thy burden upon the Lord", the Septuagint have it, "cast thy care upon the Lord"; the care of the body, and of all the affa... [ Continue Reading ]
BE SOBER, BE VIGILANT,.... The apostle had exhorted to each of these before; see 1 Peter 1:13 but thought fit to repeat them; sobriety and watchfulness being exceeding necessary and useful in the Christian life; and the one cannot well be without the other: unless a man is sober in body and mind, he... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM RESIST,.... By no means give way to him, by indulging any sin, or yielding to any temptation, but oppose him, and stand against his wiles, his cunning and his power: STEADFAST IN THE FAITH; both in the doctrine of faith, which Satan endeavours to remove from, or cause to stagger in; and in the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE GOD OF ALL GRACE,.... Who has riches of grace, an immense plenty of it in himself, has treasured up a fulness of grace in his Son; is the author of all the blessings of grace, of electing, adopting, justifying, pardoning, and regenerating grace; and is the giver of the several graces of the... [ Continue Reading ]
TO HIM BE GLORY, AND DOMINION, FOR EVER AND EVER, AMEN. The Syriac version begins this doxology in the preceding verse, reading the words thus, "to the God of grace", and then putting what follows, "who hath called us", c. into a parenthesis, connects them with these, "be glory, and power, and honou... [ Continue Reading ]
BY SILVANUS, A FAITHFUL BROTHER UNTO YOU,.... Silvanus is the same with Silas, so often mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, as a companion of the Apostle Paul; whom Peter met with in his travels, and sent this letter by him, or used him as his amanuensis, or both: his character is, that he was "a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHURCH THAT IS AT BABYLON,.... The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, supply the word "church", as we do. Some, by "Babylon", understand Rome, which is so called, in a figurative sense, in the book of the Revelations: this is an ancient opinion; so Papias understood it, as e Eusebius re... [ Continue Reading ]
GREET YE ONE ANOTHER WITH A KISS OF CHARITY,.... The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions read, "with an holy kiss"; and so some copies, as in Romans 16:16 and elsewhere; Romans 16:16; and intends such a kiss, as is not only opposite to everything that is lascivious and impure, but is express... [ Continue Reading ]