UC-NRLF ^AMBKil^WUfSliK TESTAME FOR SGHOOLS AND COLLEGES Sr Sit GIFT OF JANE KoSATHER CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES General Editor : R. ST JOHN PARRY, D.D., FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, Manager Hontron: FETTER LANE, E.C. lEUinburgij : loo, PRINCES STREET ISerlin: A. ASHER AND CO. ILetpjig: F. A. BROCKHAUS i^eto gork: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS iSombaB anli dalrutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. tUtsxania: J. M. DENT AND SONS, Ltd. STofego: THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA A// rights reserved THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER Edited by THE REV. G. W. BLENKIN, M.A. Vicar of Hitchin, and Prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral Church, late Fellow of Trinity College WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTION Cambridge : at the University Press 1914 35-7 Camtiritrge : PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT. IHG, U>SrrVE;RSITY PRESS PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR rriHE General Editor does not hold himself respon- -*- sible, except in the most general sense, for the statements, opinions, and interpretations contained in the several volumes of this Series. He believes that the value of the Introduction and the Commentary in each case is largely dependent on the Editor being free as to his treatment of the questions which arise, provided that that treatment is in harmony with the character and scope of the Series. He has therefore contented himself with offering criticisms, urging the consideration of alternative interpretations, and the like; and as a rule he has left the adoption of these suggestions to the discretion of the Editor. The Greek Text adopted in this Series is that of Dr Westcott and Dr Hort with the omission of the marginal readings. For permission to use this Text the thanks of the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press and of the General Editor are due to Messrs Macmillan & Co. Trinity College, Cambridge. July 1914. M179238 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/firstepistlegeneOOblenrich PREFACE THE completion of this commentary has been un- avoidably delayed by the thronging duties of parochial work since my departure from Cambridge. In the Notes and Introduction I have relied chiefly upon the study of other New Testament Books and of the Septuagint with which the Epistle is saturated. The opinions adopted are in many cases based upon the views of other commentators too numerous to mention. I must, however, express my indebtedness to the commentary of Dr Hort upon the earlier portion of the Epistle, and to that of Dr Bigg upon the whole book, even where I fail to concur with his views. For the problems of date and authorship I have derived most help from the exhaustive articles of Dr Chase on S. Peter and 1 Peter in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, and not without full consideration have I ven- tured to differ from some of the conclusions of Professor Ramsay in The Church in the Roman Empire. My thanks are due to the Syndics of the University Press for their patient forbearance and to the General Editor for his great kindness in reading the proofs and for much valuable criticism. G. W. B. July 1914. CONTENTS I. Introduction Chapter I. The Life and Character of St Peter II. The Authorship of the Epistle ... III. The Canonicity of the Epistle ... IV. The Place of Writing V. The Date of the Epistle VI. Relations between 1 Peter and VII. other N.T. Books The Readers VIII. The Occasion and Purpose of the Epistle IX. Doctrine in 1 Peter X. The Greek Text and Versions ... XL Literature IL Text III. Notes ... IV. Indexes ... PAGE ix — Ixxxviii ix — xix XX — xxvii xxvii — xxix xxix — xxxiii xxxiii — liii liii — Ixix Ixix — Ixxv Ixxv — Ixxxi Ixxxi — Ixxxvi Ixxxvi — Ixxxvii Ixxxvii — Ixxxviii 1—8 9—128 129—132 INTRODUCTION 1. The Life and Character of St Peter Simon (or Symeon Acts xv. 14 ; 2 Pet. i. 1) was son of Jonas (Mt. xvi. 17) or John (Jn i. 42, xxi. 15 — 17) and brother of Andrew. His home was at Capernaum but he may have originally come from Bethsaida ( Ju i. 44). He was married at the time of his call (Mk i. 30) and in later years his wife accompanied him on his missionary travels (1 Cor. ix. 5). He and his brother were partners with James and John as fishermen. His calls, (a) To personal friendship with Jesus (Jn i. 41 — 42). Probably both he and Andrew had been disciples of the Baptist. Andrew having found the Messiah brings Simon to our Lord who at once recognizes in him latent possibilities which will develope into Rock-like strength of character. (6) Ris call to disdpleship (Mt. iv. 18—19; Mk i. 16—18) took place while he was fishing. He and Andrew are summoned to follow Jesus with a promise that they shall be "fishers of men." St Luke (v. 1 — 11), either following a different tradition or more probably describing a later repetition of the call to discipleship, records it after the healing of Simon's wife's mother and other miracles in Capernaum. Our Lord borrows Simon's boat from which to preach. An extraordinary draught of fishes convinces Simon that Jesus must possess more than human powers. He exclaims " Depart from me for I am a sinful man, Lord," but s assured "From henceforth thou shalt catch men." (c) The call to Apostleship was perhaps some six months later, when our Lord selected twelve to be His special companions to I PETER b X INTRODUCTION be trained as Messengers (Mk iii. 14). On their first Mission they were sent "two and two," and it is a plausible conjecture that St Peter's companion was St John. They had previously been partners, and together with Andrew, they formed the inner- most circle of the Twelve at the raising of Jairus' daughter (Mk V. 37), at the Transfiguration (Mk ix. 2), in Gethsemane (Mk xiv. 33). Peter and John "made ready the Passover" (Lk. xxii. 8). At the Last Supper Peter made signs to John (Ju xiii. 24). They alone entered the High Priest's palace at the Trial (Jn xviii. 15). They alone visited the Sepulchre on hearing of the empty tomb (Jn xx. 2 — 10). It was of St John's future that St Peter asked the Risen Lord (Jn xxi. 20). Peter and John together healed the cripple (Acts iii. 1 — 10), together they were arrested by the Sanhedrin (iii. 11), together they visited Samaiia (viii. 14). They with James the Lord's brother were regarded as "pillars" of the Church and supported St Paul's work among the Gentiles (Gal. ii. 9). St Peter's Character as pourtrayed in the Oospels is that of a warm-hearted, impulsive man ready to dare all and doubt nothing, but, until he had been "sifted as wheat," his confidence was partly self-confidence which failed in the hour of trial ; his im- pulsiveness led him at times to act and speak hastily. His impulsiveness in action may be seen in (a) his request to walk on the water (Mt. xiv. 28 ff.), (6) his proposal to make three tabernacles at the Trans- figuration (Mk ix. 5—6), (c) his conduct about the tribute money (Mt. xvii. 24 ff.), {d) drawing his sword to smite the High Priest's Servant (Jn xviii. 10), (e) entering the Palace at the Trial and then denying his Master (Mt. xxvi. 69 ff., etc.), (/) entering the sepulchre (Jn xx. 6), {g) jumping into the water to hasten to the Risen Lord (Jn xxi. 7 ff). His impulsiveness of speech led him at times to criticize or contradict his Master. "All men seek for Thee" (Mk i. 37). "This shall never be unto Thee" (Mt. xvi. 22). "Thou shalt never wash my feet"; LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ST PETER xi "Not mj feet only, but also my hands and my head" (Jn xiii. 8 ff.). "7et will I not deny Thee" (Mt. xxvi. 35, etc.). "Why cannot I follow Thee even now?" (Jn xiii. 37). The same impulsiveness led him to ask constant questions. "Why say the Scribes that Elias must first come?" (Mt. xvii. 10). "Speakest Thou this parable unto us or even unto all?" (Lk. xii. 41). "How oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?" (Mt. xviii. 21). "We have left all.. .what then shall we have ? " (Mt. xix. 27). " What shall be the sign of Thy Coming ? " (Mt. xxiv. 3; Mkxiii. 3). Who is to be the traitor? (Jn. xiii. 24). " Lord, whither goest Thou ?" ( Jn xiii. 36). " Lord, and what shall this man do?" (Jn xxi. 21). But that same impulsiveness made St Peter the spokesman of the rest in confessing Christ. "Of a truth Thou art the Son of God" (xMt. xiv. 33). "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Jn vi. 68—69). That confession may have been based upon impulse rather than settled conviction, and so was received without comment by our Lord — but when (Mt. xvi. 16) St Peter made the same confession in answer to a definite test of their faith our Lord bestowed a special blessing upon him. "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." The "rock" has been variously explained to mean (a) the truth just asserted by St Peter, (6) St Peter's faith, (c) St Peter's character as typical of the other Apostles, who with the prophets are described as the foundations upon which the Church is built (Eph. ii. 20; cf. Rev. xxi. 14). But if the words are understood in a more personal sense they may mean that St Peter is to support the first stones of the "ecclesia," the new Israel of God, as we find that he did in the earlier chapters of Acts. A Rabbinic legend, commenting on Numbers xxiii. 9 with Isaiah li. 1 — 2, uses similar language of Abraham : "As soon as God perceived that there would arise an Abraham He said 'Behold I have found the "petra" upon which to build and lay foundations'" (see Chase, Hastings' D. of B., iii. 795). St Peter is also made a "steward" of the kingdom to whom the keys are entrusted (cf. Isaiah xxii. 22) and the "scribe" who has authority to "bind or loose," declaring what God has pro- nounced to be obligatory or otherwise. But in Mt. xviii. 18 the 62 xii INTRODUCTION same power of "binding" or "loosing" is conferred upon all the Apostles. But with all his faults St Peter was specially dear to his Master, as may be seen from the prayer that his faith might not fail and the charge to strengthen his brethren (Lk. xxii. 32), the pitying glance in the hour of his shame (Lk. xxii. 61), the special message about the Resurrection (Mk xvi. 7). He was the first of the Twelve to see the Risen Lord (Lk. xxiv. 34; 1 Cor. xv. 5), and finally on the lake side St Peter greatly forgiven proved how greatly he loved, and was entrusted with a share in the Good Shepherd's own work and learned that he should glorify God by sharing his Master's fate in death (Jn xxi. 15 ff*.). In the Acts of the Apostles St Peter seems at once to take the lead among his brethren. He proposes the election of a new Apostle (i. 15 ff".) and was the spokesman on the Day of Pentecost. In the successive stages of the development of the Church traced by St Luke, {a) Jerusalem, (6) Judaea, (c) Samaria, {d) "unto the uttermost part of the earth " (i. 8), St Peter takes the initiative. He, with St John, performs the first miracle (iii. 1 — 8) and acts as spokesman when they are tried by the Sanhedrin (iii. 11 ff".). He asserts his primacy in the first visitation of judgment (v. 1 — 11). Although all the Apostles are described as working "signs and wonders," St Peter's personality seems to have created the greatest impression, so that his very shadow was thought to bring healing (v. 15). When the Apostles were imprisoned and miraculously released St Peter again acted as spokesman before the Sanhedrin (v. 29 ff".). The persecution which followed St Stephen's martyrdom scattered the Christians but thereby extended the Gospel to Samaria, and in that stage again St Peter with St John is sent by the Apostles to superintend this new development and set his seal upon the work begun by Philip (viii. 14 ff".). Again in the period of rest which followed St Paul's conversion St Peter undertakes a missionary tour "throughout all quarters" (ix. 32) and healed Aeneas at Lydda and Tabitha at Joppa (ix. 33—43). But the greatest conquest of all still awaited him. It was by his mouth that "God made choice among them that the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe" (Acts x., xv. 7). LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ST PETER xiii For that venture of faith, even in spite of his Master's world- wide commission, St Peter's impulsiveness was barely prepared. His old habit of contradiction is seen in his protest against "anything common or unclean" (x. 14). But no sooner did he learn that God was "no respecter of persons" than he boldly vindicated his action in baptizing Cornelius and his companions at Caesarea. The door was thus opened to the Gentiles and the final stage of world-wide development had begun. Here St Peter's primacy as a pioneer seems to have been completed. His courage and steadfastness had given solid support for laying the founda- tions of the Church, and from that time the work passed chiefly into other hands. These events probably took place very soon after St Paul's conversion (c. 34 or 35 a.d.), and apparently Jerusalem was for some years longer St Peter's headquarters. He was the only Apostle present, except James the Lord's brother, when St Paul visited Jerusalem three years after his conversion (Gal. i. 18). On that occasion the Christians were at first afraid to receive St Paul until Barnabas brought him to the Apostles and told the story of his conversion and subsequent work in Damascus (Acts ix. 26). Shortly before the death of Herod Agrippa in 44 a.d. St James was martyred and St Peter imprisoned. Being released by an angel he left Jerusalem and "departed to another place" (xii. 17). The tradition that he then went to Rome seems certainly in- consistent with the evidence of St Paul's Epistles. A very wide-spread tradition represents St Peter as the founder and organizer of the Church in Antioch, and he may probably have made Antioch a centre for mission work among the Syrian Jews as an "Apostle of the Circumcision" (Gal. ii. 7). We next hear of him at the Apostolic Conference at Jerusalem in A.D. 49 (or ?51). On that occasion St Paul had a private conference with St Peter, St John and James the Lord's Brother as the reputed "pillars" of the Church. It is possible that they may have suggested some compromise, such as the circumcision of Titus (Gal. ii. 3), as a concession to Jewish prejudices. But to this St Paul would not agree, regarding it as a breach of principle to circumcise a Gentile like Titus, despite his prominent position. Ultimately the three leaders fully accepted St Paul's xiv INTRODUCTION position, and at the public conference (Acts xv. 7 — 11) St Peter acted as spokesman. He reminded the Assembly that he himself had been selected to admit the first Gentile converts. By bestow- ing the gift of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his companions God had confirmed that new departure, and had placed Jews and Gentiles on the same level, purifying their hearts by the gift of faith instead of demanding the bodily purification of circum- cision. It would therefore be tempting God to impose upon Gentiles the yoke of the Law, which the Jews themselves had found insupportable. In fact the Jewish disciples themselves had learned to depend for salvation not upon the Law but upon faith in the free grace of the Lord Jesus. As a result of this speech St James, the Lord's brother, who presided at the Con- ference as the resident head of the Church in Jerusalem, proposed that Gentiles should not be required to adopt circumcision or observe the whole Law. It was however thought wise to impose certain restrictions upon them, by demanding that they should abstain from meats ofiered in sacrifice to idols, from fornication, and from blood or mpat containing blood. (On the meaning of these regulations, see Hort, Judaistic Christianity^ pp. 71 f.. Lake, Earlier Epp. of St Paul, pp. 48 IF.). It was probably soon after this Conference that St Peter himself came down to Antioch (Gal. ii. 11). Remembering perhaps the vision which had bidden him to "call no man common or unclean" and anxious to "give the right hand of fellowship" to St Paul's work, St Peter at first mixed freely with the Gentile Christians and shared their meals. Such a step was, not unnaturally perhaps, regarded with some appre- hension by the stricter Jewish Christians at Jerusalem. They had no doubt regarded it as an extremely liberal concession to exempt Gentiles from observing Jewish customs. But, if leading Jewish Christians, like St Peter, were now proposing to abandon their own customs and adopt those of Gentiles, they felt that unnecessary liberality was being shewn, which would inevitably distress or even alienate the Jewish majority in the Church, without conferring any real benefit upon the Gentile minority. James, the Lord's brother, would naturally be appealed to by his flock. On a previous occasion some of them had unwarrant- ably claimed his authority in endeavouring to impose the Law LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ST PETER xv upon Gentile Christians at Antioch and he had been obliged to repudiate their action (Acts xy. 24). But now he may have thought it wise to send a cautious warning to the more im- pulsive St Peter that his liberal policy was causing great offence to Jewish Christians. Thereupon St Peter and the other Jews, even including Barnabas, withdrew from eating with the Gentiles. Such vacillation seemed to St Paul to be a real breach of principle. He realized that Gentile Christians would inevitably feel that they were regarded as inferiors so long as they were uncircumcised, and would either become a separate Church or feel bound to observe the Law as necessary in order to obtain full recognition in the Church, even though it might not be essential for salvation. Thus St Peter's action was virtually reimposing the Law, and implied that those who had deliberately abandoned it were committing a transgression. Yet it was to seek justification in Christ that they had done so, and thus Christ would be the cause of their sin, which is impossible. There is no evidence to shew how St Peter received this protest. Probably he accepted the principle laid down by St Paul, but as his own mission was specially to "those of the circumcision" he would seldom have any cause to act upon it. Thus the Judaizing opponents of St Paul, exaggerating St Peter's position, set up a rival party at Corinth who claimed to be followers of Cephas. Silas at any rate, though himself one of the delegates from the Church at Jerusalem, must have cordially supported St Paul, otherwise he would not have been selected as the companion of his second Missionary journey. Barnabas must also have speedily repented of his temporary vacillation, as St Paul originally invited him to accompany him. But if, as is not improbable, St Mark was among the Jews who "withdrew" at Antioch, this may have confirmed an impression, produced by his previous withdrawal from the first Missionary journey, that St Mark was not yet in full sympathy with St Paul's attitude towards Gentiles. After this incident we have no knowledge of St Peter's move- ments for several years, except an incidental notice (1 Cor. ix. 5) that his wife accompanied him on his mission work. The existence of a Cephas party at Corinth affords no sufiicient grounds for supposing that St Peter himself visited Corinth, though it may have given rise to the tradition mentioned by xvi INTRODUCTION Dionysius Bp of Corinth (c. 170 a.d.) that St Peter and St Paul both worked in Corinth (Eus. H. E. ii. 25). The tradition that St Peter visited Pontus and other provinces of Asia Minor, mentioned by Origen (Eus. H. E. iii. 1), Epiphanius {Haer. xxvii. 6), the Syriac Doctrine of the Apostles and the Acts of Andrew, is probably only based upon the opening salutation in ] Pet. and is not supported by other references in the Epistle to the evangelization of those districts. Antioch in Syria is described as a special centre of St Peter's work. Thus Origen (in Lva;. Horn, vi.), possibly borrowing from a second century list of Antiochene Bishops, describes Ignatius as "the second Bishop of Antioch after the blessed Peter" (cf. Eus. H. E. iii. 36). Chrysostom and Theodoret also connect St Peter with Antioch, and later tradition describes him as having been Bishop of Antioch for seven years. The Clementine Romance, despite its Ebionite inventions about the supposed hostility of St Peter towards Pauline teaching, seems itself to have originated in Syria, and is probably correct in making that district one of the chief centres of St Peter's activity. Rome. St Peter's work and martyrdom in Rome are attested by evidence so early, so wide-spread and so unanimous that even the most determined opponent of Papal claims could not dispute it with any success. For a full discussion of the evidence Dr Chase's Article in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, and Lightfoot, Clement of Rom£, ii. pp. 481 fif. should be consulted. Clement of Rome (chapter 5) (c. 95 a.d.) seems to select the martyrdoms of SS. Peter and Paul because they took place in Rome. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 115 a.d.) {ad Rom. c. iv.) says "I do not command you as Peter and Paul" — again probably selecting the two Apostles who had worked in Rome. Papias of Hierapolis (c. 130 a.d.) (Eus. H. E. iii. 39, cf. ii. 15) probably described 1 Pet. as written from Rome (see p. xxviii). Dionysius of Corinth (c. 170 a.d.) (Eus. H. E. ii. 25) describes St Peter and St Paul as visiting Italy and suffering martyrdom. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 190 a.d.) {Haer. iii. 1) says "Matthew published a Gospel... while Peter and Paul were preaching and founding the Church in Rome." {Haer. iii. 3) "The Churches of LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ST PETER xvii Rome founded by the two most glorious Apostles Peter and Paul.... They entrusted the ministration of the bishop to Linus... after Linus Anencletus, after Anencletus in the third place from the Apostles Clement is elected bishop." Clement of Alexandria (c. 200 a.d.) (Eus. H. E. vi. 14) says "When Peter had preached the word publicly in Rome the bystanders... exhorted Mark to write out his statements." Tertullian of Carthage (c. 200 a.d.) is the earliest writer who describes the mode of St Peter's death and places it in the reign of Nero at Rome. He also {de Baptismo 4) speaks of those whom Peter baptized in the Tiber and {de Praescriptione 32) says that Clement was ordained by Peter. Gains the Roman presbyter (c. 200 — 220 a.d.) speaks of the tombs of St Peter and St Paul as still existing at the Vatican and the Ostian Way (Eus. H. E. ii. 25). Origen of Alexandria (c. 250 a.d.) (Eus. H.E. iii. 1) says that St Peter was crucified head downwards at Rome. This last detail is also found in the Gnostic Acts of Peter, which possibly originated in Asia Minor in the second century and contain also the "Domine quo vadis?" legend and the story of St Peter's conflict with Simon Magus in Rome. The Catholic Acts of Peter, which contain similar details, cannot in their extant form be earlier than the fifth century. The date and duration of St Peter's visit to Rome. Eusebius (IT. E. ii. 14) describes St Peter as coming to Rome in the reign of Claudius and there contending with Simon Magus, "the author of all heresy," and (ii. 17) he mentions a report that Philo in the reign of Claudius became acquainted at Rome with Peter who was preaching there. The Chronicon of Eusebius (? based upon Julian Africanus, c. 221 A.D.) in the Armenian version assigns St Peter's visit to Rome to the third year of Caius 39 — 40 a.d. and adds that he remained there as "antistes" of the Church twenty years, but in a later passage the martyrdom of Peter and Paul at Rome is placed in the 13th year of Nero, i.e. 67 — 68 a.d. Jerome places St Peter's arrival in the second year of Claudius 43 — 43 A.D. and says that he held the bishopric 25 years, placing the martyrdom of Peter and Paul in 68 a.d. X vii i I NT ROD UGTION The Liherian Catalogue of Roman Bishops (354 a.d.) describes St Peter as Bishop of Rome for 25 years but dates it 30—55 a.d., apparently assuming that he was made a Bishop by our Lord and that his see must have been Rome. The Liher Pontificalis has several contradictory notices : (a) that St Peter held the Bishopric of Antioch for 7 years, (6) that he entered Rome in the reign of Nero and held the Bishopric of Rome for 25 years, (c) that he was in the reigns of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius and Nero, {d) that he suflfered martyrdom together with St Paul in the 38th year after the Crucifixion, i.e. 67 a.d. It would seem therefore that there is no mention of St Peter as Bishop of Rome until the fourth century, and the earlier lists of Bishops all reckon Linus as the first bishop. The 25 years' episcopate may perhaps have been based upon a legend that our Lord ordered the Apostles to wait 12 years before going out into the world. This story was contained in the Preaching of Peter^ probably an early second century book, quoted by Clement of Alexandria {Strom, vi. 5), and also in the Gnostic Acts of Peter ^ which represented St Peter as coming to Rome when the 12 years had expired and there contending with Simon Magus. But the story is placed after St Paul's departure to Spain, which would imply a much later date. If however the Crucifixion is dated 30 A.D. 12 years would bring us to 42 a.d. and this would leave 25 years before the traditional date of St Peter's death. The evidence of the first three centuries suggests a compara- tively late date for St Peter's work in Rome, placing it after previous work in Antioch, Corinth or Asia Minor, coupling it with St Paul's work in Rome which certainly did not begin until about 59 A.D., and connecting it with the issue of Gospels by St Matthew and St Mark or with the Neronian persecution. This later date is far more consistent with the language of St Paul's Epistles. The Epistle to the Romans alike by its statements and its silence makes it incredible that St Peter was then in Rome or had previously worked there. The ignorance of Christianity professed by the Jews in Rome on St Paul's arrival (Acts xxviii. 22), even if it was wilfully exaggerated, is LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ST PETER xix hardly consistent with the view that St Peter had been working in Rome. In the Epistles of his first Roman Captivity St Paul mentions numerous fellow- workers, including St Mark and others "of the circumcision," but is absolutely silent about St Peter. Therefore it is most difficult to believe that St Peter worked in Rome earlier than 61 a.d. On the other hand there is considerable evidence that St Peter did work in Rome for a considerable time, and a fair amount of early evidence that St Peter arid St Paul worked together in Rome. It is therefore a very plausible conjecture of Dr Chase (Hastings' D. of B., iii. 778) that St Peter may have come to Rome on St Paul's invitation about the time of St Paul's release, and that they worked there together for a time before St Paul started on the Missionary work implied in the Pastoral Epistles, and that St Peter remained in Rome with St Mark, until he was summoned to Jerusalem in 63 or early in 64 to take part in the election of Symeon Bp of Jerusalem. Dr Chase suggests that St Peter re- turned to Rome and was one of the earliest victims of the Nero- nian persecution in 64 a.d. This would tally with his burial place being in the Vatican near the hideous scenes of Nero's gardens. If however the traditional date 67 or 68 a.d. is accepted for St Peter's martyrdom, we must assume that he was absent from Rome during the first fury of the persecution and returned or was brought to Rome only to be martyred at the end of Nero's reign, possibly after St Paul's death. The "first trial" and protracted remand of St Paul, i-eferred to in 2 Tim., and the invitation to Timothy to join him before winter and bring Mark with him seem hardly consistent with the view that the first fury of the Neronian persecution was then raging. The Mission work implied in the Pastoral Epistles also demands a longer period of liberty than would be the case if St Paul was executed in 64 a.d. It is therefore easier to date St Paul's martyrdom about 67 a.d., and if St Peter had already suffered we should have expected St Paul to refer to his death. For an account of the various apocryphal writings ascribed to St Peter and a discussion of the legends about his conflict with Simon Magus the Article " Simon Peter " in Hastings' B. of B. should be consulted. XX INTRODUCTION 2. Authorship. The chief arguments in favour of the Petrine authorship are : A. External. The Epistle is quoted as the work of St Peter by Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and other early writers (possibly including Papias), while the Second Epistle of St Peter, which is certainly very early even if not genuine, refers to a previous epistle bearing the name of St Peter which most probably means our Epistle. The attestation of the Epistle by so many witnesses widely separated in place and circumstances shews that it had a cir- culation and authority in the early Church such as it could hardly have acquired unless it was regarded as the work of some leading Apostle. B. Internal. (1) The Epistle itself claims to be written by Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ, and the opening salutation can only be rejected on one of two theories : (a) that it is an interpolation added in the second century to a document which was previously circulated anonymously. This view has been suggested by Harnack but it is most improbable. A treatise such as "Hebrews" or a homily such as 2 Clement might have been circulated anonymously, but 1 Peter reads distinctly like a letter, and as such must surely have had some writer's name attached to it from the first. Moreover if this letter was originally anonymous, it is difficult to account for its subsequent ascription to St Peter rather than to St Paul to whose writings it has a decided resemblance. (6) that the Epistle is a forgery. For this no adequate reason can be assigned, unless we are to adopt the theory of the Tiibingen school that St Peter and St Paul and their respective followers were diametrically opposed to one another and that this Epistle, as well as the Acts of the Apostles, was written by some well-meaning forger of the second century, who desired to promote the union of the two branches of the Church by attri- buting Pauline views to the leading Jewish Apostle St Peter. Apart from this theory, which is now discredited by nearly all A UTHORSHIP xxi critics, no adequate motive can be suggested for the supposed forgery in St Peter's name. TJie Epistle denounces no heresy, it supports no special system of doctrine or Church organization. It shews no traces of any legends or stories about St Peter's life. It is addressed to an enormous district, large parts of which are connected with no known Apostolic missionary work. Silvanus is elsewhere connected with St Paul rather than St Peter. Why, therefore, should any forger have selected his name as the amanuensis, or bearer, of the Epistle? On the other hand Silvanus (Silas) is described in Acts xv. 22 as one of the "chief men among the brethren" in Jerusalem and therefore was certainly well known to St Peter — and unless the writer of this Epistle was a man of recognized apostolic authority he would hardly have been likely to have commanded the services of one so influential as Silvanus as his subordinate. (2) Again in v. 13 the writer speaks of "Mark, my Son," and such a claim to parental relationship to St Mark not only indicates the writer's evident importance, but also agrees with the unanimous testimony of tradition that St Mark was in special attendance upon St Peter. (3) In V. 1 the writer describes himself as "a witness of the sufferings of Christ" and evidently implies that he is testifying what he himself heard and saw (cf. the graphic imperfects in which he describes our Lord's conduct during His trial and Passion, ii. 23). (4) There are also several coincidences of thought and language between this Epistle and the speeches of St Peter as recorded in Acts. In his speeches St Peter constantly emphasizes the fact that the Apostles are "witnesses" Acts i. 22, ii. 32, iii. 15, v. 32, x. 39, 41, cf. 1 Pet. V. 1, but in Acts the "witness" is of the resurrection whereas in the Epistle it is of the sufferings of Christ. Christ is spoken of as " the just " Acts iii. 14 ; 1 Pet. iii. 18. His sufferings are regarded as "foreordained" Acts ii. 23, iv. 28, 1 Pet. i. 20 ; and as having been foretold by the prophets Acts iii. 18 ; 1 Pet. i. 11. The same passage about the stone disallowed by the builders xxii I NT ROD UCTION becoming the headstone of the corner is quoted Acts iv. 11 ; 1 Pet. ii. 4, 7. The Cross is spoken of as "the tree" Acts v. 30, x. 39; 1 Pet. ii. 24 (elsewhere only Acts xiii. 29, and Gal. iii. 13 quoting from the O.T.). The descent into Hell is referred to Acts ii. 31 "That Christ's soul was not left in Hell," cf. 1 Pet. iii. 19. Christ is described as being raised from the dead by God Acts ii. 32, iii. 15, iv. 10, v. 30, x. 40; 1 Pet. i. 21. The judgment of "the quick and the dead" (a phrase which elsewhere occurs only in 2 Tim. iv. 1) is mentioned in Acts x. 42 and 1 Pet. iv. 5. The exaltation of the ascended Christ at the right hand of God is emphasized in Acts ii. 33 and 1 Pet. iii. 22. The transgression and fall of Judas to go to "his own place" is recognized as a fulfilment of Scripture Acts i. 16, 25, and may suggest the same idea of an underlying purpose of God with regard to the consequences of man's guilt as is implied in 1 Pet. ii. 8 "them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto they were appointed." The importance of Baptism is emphasized in Acts ii. 38, X. 47, 48; cf. 1 Pet. iii. 21. God is described as "no respecter of persons" Acts x. 34; 1 Pet. i. 17. His choice of the Gentiles to be His "people" is referred to by St James as having been shewn by St Peter in Acts XV. 14, and Gentiles are certainly included in the "people of God" in 1 Pet. ii. 9, 10 — and the "purification of their hearts by faith" Acts xv. 9 may be compared with 1 Pet. i. 22 "seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth." The chief arguments which have been urged against the Petrine authorship are: (1) That the references to organized 'persecution point to a late date outside the probable limits of St Peter's life. In answer to this it may be argued (p. xliffl) that the allusions to persecution do not necessarily imply a persecution organized by the state^ and that even if they are so explained they are not inconsistent with what we know of the Neronian persecution to which St Peter's martyrdom is usually assigned. It is moreover possible (though AUTHORSHIP xxiii not in the opinion of the present writer probable) that St Peter's life may have been prolonged until 70 — 80 a.d. (2) That the Epistle is written in good idiomatic Greek, and shews an appreciation of the niceties of the language in the use of tenses, prepositions and synonyms. The writer must have been a diligent student of the LXX., probably including the Apocrypha, and he is saturated with its language. Besides this he uses sixteen Classical words not found in the LXX. or N.T. and several other Greek words (chiefly compounds) for which there is no contemporary or earlier authority. Such literary attain- ments, it is urged, are incredible in a Galilean peasant like St Peter, who is described in Acts iv. 13 as "ignorant and unlearned" (tSitorT^s Ka\ aypdymaros), and is stated by Papias and other early Fathers to have required the services of St Mark as his interpreter {ipfirjvevrrjs). Dean Armitage Robinson says {Study of the Gospels, p. 16) "It is extremely probable that St Peter could not write or preach, even if he could speak at all, in any language but his mother tongue, the Aramaic of Galilee." Simi- larly Dr Swete {St Mark, Int. p. xx) says "Simon Peter, if he could express himself in Greek at all, could scarcely have possessed sufficient knowledge of the language to address a Roman congre- gation with success," On the other hand Lightfoot {Excursus on St Peter in Rome, Clement, Vol. ii. p. 494) says "When Mark is called epixrjvfvTTjs the interpreter of Peter, the reference must be to the Latin, not to the Greek language. The evidence that Greek was spoken commonly in the towns bordering on the Sea of Galilee is ample, even if this had not been the necessary inference from the whole tenour of the New Testament." In view of the large element of Greek life in Galilee, it is certainly probable that St Peter had some knowledge of colloquial Greek from the first. The epithets "ignorant and unlearned" applied to the Apostles need not mean more than that they had no professional training in Rabbinic schools. Although there is no warrant for the idea that the "gift of tongues" enabled the Apostles to preach at will in foreign languages, we may well suppose that in choosing St Peter as one of His messengers our Lord discerned in him intellectual as well as spiritual gifts and fitted him for his work by blessing the use which he made of those gifts. In his inter- course with Hellenists at Jerusalem, with Jews of the Dispersion xxiv INTRODUCTION on the day of Pentecost, and with Cornelius the centurion St Peter must almost certainly have spoken in Greek, yet there is no hint of the employment of an interpreter, and his knowledge of the language would steadily increase during his sojourn in Jerusalem and his missionary work (see 1 Cor. ix. 5) when Antioch was perhaps his headquarters. Moreover he would be dependent upon the study of the LXX. in "searching the Scriptures." It is generally agreed (Edersheim, Noldeke, etc.) that liebrew was only familiar to scholars in the time of our Lord. Apparently Jewish children were taught to read Hebrew and the lessons in the Synagogue were still read in Hebrew (except possibly among the Hellenists). But already an "interpreter" was required to give an Aramaic paraphrase, though this did not take written form in the Targums until a much later date. Hebrew Manu- scripts seem to have been very costly, whereas Greek Manuscripts were quite cheap. Thus even in Galilee it is probable that the LXX. was "the people's Bible." It would therefore be by no means impossible for the language of the Epistle to be chiefly St Peter's own, though it is conceivable that his amanuensis (possibly Silvanus, as the style is quite unlike that of Mark, his only other known companion) may have assisted him in expressing his thoughts in an idiomatic form. (3) The comparative absence from the Epistle of allusions to the facts or teaching of our Lord^s earthly life. It is urged that if the Epistle was written by St Peter, the close companion of Christ, we should find more signs of a vivid remem- brance of His life and teaching. But it is surprising how few facts concerning our Lord's life and ministry are found in any of the N.T. Books outside the Gospels. The story of His words and works must have been constantly preached by the Apostles, as we learn from St Luke's preface and from the unanimous tradition that St Mark's Gospel was based upon the preaching of St Peter. Yet in the recorded speeches of St Peter in Acts the only references to events before the Passion are three allusions to the Baptism and two to the Miracles of our Lord. Similarly in the Epistles of St John and of James, the Lord's brother, very few facts are alluded to. Therefore the absence of such direct allusions in 1 Peter can only be used as an argument against its genuineness if the same is applied also to the other speeches and AUTHORSHIP XXV epistles attributed to Apostles. On the other hand, if they were late forgeries, such allusions would almost certainly have been introduced to support their professed Apostolic authorship. But although direct allusions to our Lord's Life and Work are rare there are numerous indirect allusions and undesigned coin- cidences which support the Petrine authorship. As in St Peter's speeches in Acts the author lays special stress upon the fact that he was a "witness" of Christ's sufferings, and, although the word fidprvs does not in itself necessarily mean a "spectator," the vivid imperfects in ii. 23 seem to describe the author's own recollection of the scene of Christ's Trial and Passion. The implied contrast between himself and his readers 6v ovk l86vT€5 dyaTrdre i. 8 is not only an indirect claim to have been himself an eyewitness but suggests a reminiscence of our Lord's words to St Thomas, Jn xx. 29. The instruction to gird themselves with humility to serve one another, v. 5, would come most naturally from one who had been so put to shame by the Lord Jesus in girding Himself to wash the disciples' feet, when none of them would demean them- selves to do the slave's duty. The exhortation to watch (yprjyopflv) and to resist the devil in his attempts to devour them by making them deny their faith in the hour of danger, v. 8, would have special force if it came from one who had himself fallen, in spite of his Master's warning that Satan had desired to have him and his companions to sift them as wheat, because he failed to watch and pray, from one whose faith had been saved from utter failure by his Master's prayer and who now that he is converted desires to strengthen his brethren. The charge to his fellow-presbyters to shepherd (irotfjLaiveiv) the flock of God is the same that was given to St Peter on his repentance, Jn xxi. 16. There are also numerous echoes of our Lord's sayings in the Epistle. 1 Pet. i. 4. The Christian's Mt. xxv. 34. Inherit the king- inheritance reserved in heaveo, dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, cf. Mt. v. 5, vi. 20. I PETEK C XXVI INTRODUCTION 1 Pet. i. 6. dyaXKiacrde...\virr]- dhres ev ttolkIXols weipacrfiols. 1 Pet. i. 8. dyaXXtaTe x°-P^--- 1 Pet. iv. 13. Ka6b Koivuiveire rois Tov 'Kpiarou TradrifxatTLV xo-i-P^t^, ?i'a...xapi7re ayaWnJo/xevoi. 1 Pet. i. 10 f. The search of the prophets... now revealed. 1 Pet. i. 11. The prophets foretold the sufferings of Messiah and the glory which should follow them. • 1 Pet. i. 13. Gird up {dvaiu- adfievoi) the loins of your mind. 1 Pet. i. 17. e^ irar^pa iiriKa- Xecade. 1 Pet. ii. 2. cbs dpTiyivvTira pp^p /xr) (jiO^rjdrjTe, cf. Is. viii. 12, 13. 1 Pet. iii. 16. ol iwqped^ovTes. 1 Pet. iv. 7. vfixpare els vpoa- evxds. Mt. v. 12. x^'^P^'''^ 1^^^ dyaX- Xidade 6ti. 6 /xicrdbs vp-Qv ttoXvs iv Tols ovpavdts' ovTws yap idiu^au K.T.X. Lk. X. 24. Many prophets... desired to see the things which ye see. Lk. xxiv. 26. Behoved it not the Messiah to suffer these things and to enter into his glory ? Lk. xxiv. 46. So it is written that the Messiah should suffer. Lk. xii. 35. Let your loins be girded about {irepie^ua/xivaL). Mt. vi. 9, Lk. xi. 2. The Lord's Prayer. Mt. xviii. 3. idv firj yipijade <1)S rd wacdia. Mt. xxi. 42, from Ps. cxviii. 22. Mt. V. 16. That they may see your good works and glorify your Father. Mt. xxii. 21. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. Mt. X. 38. Take up his cross and follow me. Lk. xxiii. 46. els X"P^s aov wapaTidefiai rb irvevp.d fiou. Mt. ix. 36. Sheep having no shepherd. Lk. XV. 4. The lost sheep. Lk. vi. 28. evXoyeire tovs Kara- ptjfiivovs. Lk. X. 19. ovd^v vfids ou fiij dbLK-qaei, cf. Lk. xxi. 18. Mt. V. 10. /xaKdpLoi oi bediojyfii- voi iveKev 8LKai.o<7(>vqs. Mt. X. 26. p.T] (po^rjd-rjTe avTO^s. Lk. vi. 28. tQp irnipea^bvTwv v/xds. Mt. xxvi. 41. yprjyopeiTe /cat AUTHORSHIP xxvii 1 Pet. iv. 14. et 6v€i8i^€(yd€ iv Mt. v. 11. /xa/cctptoi orav dvei- ovd/xari XpiaToG fiaKapLoi. 8L}(jLV...eveK€v e/mov. 1 Pet. V. 1. Witness of suffer- " Lk. xxiv. 47. Ye are witnesses ings fellow-sharer of glory. of these things. Mt. xix. 28, Lk. xxii. 30. When the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory ye also, etc. 1 Pet. V. 3. KaraKvpie^ovres. Mt. xx. 25. oi dpxovres rCbv idviav KaraKvpielJOVcnv avruv. ovx ovT(t}s ^(TTai ev vpuv. 1 Pet. V. 6. TaTr€ivw6r)T€...wa Mt. xxiii. 12. 6s are appa- rently borrowed from St James, who probably died in 62 a.d. and therefore wrote before the outbreak of the Neronian persecution. Therefore as borrowed by St Peter the words need not imply any persecution organized by the state. Similarly in iv. 12 the phrase "fiery trial" {-rrvpuxris) is a metaphor from the refining of gold, like doKLfxiov in i. 7, and does not necessarily refer to death by burning such as was inflicted by Nero. In ii. 19 Christian slaves are described as suffering unjustly at the hands of capricious masters, but here "suffering" is defined as being "buffeted." In iii. 14 the possible contingency (ft Kal nda-xotTe) of suffering for righteousness' sake is regarded as a blessed thing — with an evident allusion to our Lord's words Mt. v. 10. But such suffering is regarded as by no means inevitable. It may be I PETER d xlii INTRODUCTION averted by a zealous devotion to what is good (iii. 13). If Christians only maintain a good conscience by persistent good conduct those who revile them will be shamed into silence (iii. 16). Suffering for righteousness' sake therefore is only an uncertain contingency, expressed by the optative which is very rare in the N.T., el Km ndaxoiTe, "supposing that you should be called upon to suflfer," "if God's will should require that of you" (el OeXoi iii. 17). In ii. 12 Christians are described as being spoken against as evil-doers or malefactors {KaKonoioi), but the spectacle of their good deeds will cause their heathen neighbours to glorify God in "the day of visitation " (see note on ii. 12). In iii, 9 They are not to requite evil for evil or reviling for reviling. In iv. 4 Men revile Christians and regard them as fanatics for refusing to join in the profligate excesses of the day. In iv. 14 It is a blessed thing to suffer reproach in the name of Christ. In iv. 19 Any who suffer according to the will of God are bidden to commit their lives by doing good to the safe keeping of God as a faithful Creator who may be trusted to guard His own handiwork. None of the above passages necessarily imply any organized persecution conducted by the state. They might be used of the insults, abuse, social boycotting, unjust accusations, and roughi usage such as Christian converts in a heathen country have constantly had to endure. There are however other passages to which Kamsay {Church in the Roman Empire, pp. 280—281, 290 — 295) appeals as clearly pointing to organized official per- secution. (a) In iii. 15, in a passage dealing with suffering for righteous- ness' sake. Christians are bidden to be "always ready to give an answer {aTroXoyia) to every man that asketh you a reason con- cerning the hope that is in you." This, says Ramsay, implies persecution after trial and question. Now it is quite true that oTToXoyia is used of a legal defence in Acts xxv. 16 and 2 Tim. iv. 16, and such legal defence might be included in St Peter's use of the word. But the words del "at any time" and iravri "to any person " imply that the reference is more general, and diroXoyia is used in a non-legal sense in Acts xxii. 1 and 1 Cor. ix. 3 and DATE OF THE EPISTLE xliii most probably in Phil. i. 7, 16, though the last passage might possibly refer to St Paul's first trial. It can hardly therefore be assumed that St Peter is necessarily referring to legal trials. His language may well mean that Christians are always to be ready to shew their colours and give a reason for their hope when any opponent challenges them, cf. Col. iv. 6 "that ye may know how to answer each one." (6) Again in iv. 14 — 16 Ramsay (p. 292) argues that "the words 'Let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief (sic).., but if (a man suffer) as a Christian let him glorify God in this name' have no satisfactory meaning, unless those to whom they are addressed are liable to execution : the verb in the second clause is understood from the preceding clause and must have the same sense"; and (p. 281) he argues from this same passage that Christians suffer for the Name pure and simple, which, according to his theory, was not the case in the reign of Nero. He would therefore date the Epistle about 75 — 80 a.d. (cf. p. xlvi). In this case the Petrine authorship can only be maintained by supposing that St Peter's life was prolonged beyond the reign of Nero. Again (p. 293) Ramsay argues that "in the Roman Empire the right of capital punishment belonged only to a small number of high officials. No Asian Christian was liable to suffer death except through the action of the governor of his province. If therefore the Christians are liable to suffer unto death, persecu- tion by the state must be in process." In answer to these arguments it may be urged : (1) That, even if the passage indisputably proved that the penalty of death was inflicted for the Name of Christian pure and simple, it may refer to the Neronian persecution or possibly even to earlier persecution in which provincial magistrates them- selves anticipated the policy of Nero towards Christians — or connived at lynch law on the part of the mob. (2) That, even if "the Name of Christian pure and simple'' is implied as a legal charge in this passage, it cannot be proved that the penalty of death was necessarily inflicted. Of the earlier charges specified "murder" would no doubt be punished with death— but "theft" would surely not incur that penalty ordinarily, while KaKonoioc is too general a term to be d2 xliv INTRODUCTION limited to abominable offences or criminal acts necessarily punishable with death — and dWoTpioenio-KOTros (which probably refers to tampering with other peoples' concerns — interfering with their families or their trade) can hardly have constituted a capital oftence under Koman Law in ordinary cases. It seems therefore by no means a conclusive argument that the word "suffer," as supplied in the second clause, must imply death because it would bear that sense in one of the preceding cases. The balance of probability, so far as this particular passage is concerned, seems to be rather on the other side. Moreover verse 14 speaks of "being reproached in the name of Christ," and this also suggests that the sufleriug intended does not refer exclusively or even primarily to death. Again, whereas the first three words are coupled together with ^, implying that they are all legal charges, aXXoTpLoeirio-Koiros is separated from them by the repetition of ws, so that it may be intended as a ground of complaint or dislike rather than as a definite legal charge, and in that case it is hardly safe to assume that "the Name of Christian pure and simple" was a definite legal charge. (c) In V. 8 Christians are bidden to "be sober, be vigilant, because their adversary the devil goeth about seeking to devour." This passage does probably refer chiefly to the temptation to deny their Faith in the hour of danger and peraecution, because the next verse speaks of the same experiences of suffering as being accomplished in the Christian brotherhood in the world. This certainly shews that the sufferings of the Asian Christians were not unique but were shared by other Christians elsewhere, but it is hardly sufficient to prove that an organized persecution was in progress affecting the whole Church simultaneously. The word dvridiKos might be used of Satan as "the accuser of the brethren" before God (Rev. xii. 10) without necessarily implying that Satan is represented by some human prosecutor in an actual legal trial on earth, and the words TrepiTr are t Ctjtmv are part of the simile of the prowling lion in search of prey and need not necessarily imply that Christians are being "sought out for trial by Roman officials," as Ramsay suggests (p. 281). If however the words are thus literally interpreted they would merely point to a date before the rescript of Trajan which forbade such search for Christians. DATE OF THE EPISTLE xlv The following conclusions may therefore be suggested : (1) that the Epistle does not' necessarily imply that an official persecution organized by the state was in progress, although some passages would certainly admit of that interpretation ; (2) that if such organized persecution is implied the evidence is not inconsistent with what is known of the Neronian persecu- tion. Dr Hort (1 Pet. Int. pp. 1 and 3) says that the Epistle "was written during a time of rising persecution to men suffering under it" and he suggests that this was either (1) the persecution begun by Nero, or (2) a persecution arising out of it, or (3) a persecution in Asia Minor, independent of any known persecution bearing an Emperor's name and per- haps even a little earlier than Nero's persecution, as may be suggested by the language used in the Epistle about the Emperor and his officers. The Emperor and magistrates are described in language, evidently borrowed from Romans xiii. 1 tf., as God's agents to exact vengeance on evil-doers but for the praise of them that do well. With regard to this point Dr Chase (Hastings' D. of B., vol. iii., p. 785) argues "that a Christian teacher writing from Rome after Nero's attack on the Church to fellow - Christians in the provinces should adopt St Paul's language" [which was written when he still regarded the Roman State as the "restraining power" and still looked to the Emperor as the protector of the Church] " only making it more explicit and em- phasizing its hopefulness seems inconceivable." In answer to this argument it might be urged : (a) That St Peter expressly points his readers to Christ as the example of patience under injustice, and Our Lord recognized the authority of Pilate as being "given him from above," despite the judicial crime in which he was taking part. He also told His followers that they would be brought before rulers and kings for His name's sake, and yet bade them bless and pray for their persecutors. (6) That later Fathers, who certainly wrote during or after ■periods of violent persecution, in which the state had shewn the xlvi INTRODUCTION greatest cruelty and injustice towards Christians, nevertheless use equally strong language about civil rulers. E.g. Clement of Rome, c. 96 a.d., says (cc. Ix. Ixi.) "Give concord and peace to us and to all that dwell on the earth — while we render obedience to Thine Almighty and most excellent Name and to our rulers and governors upon the earth. Thou, O Lord and Master, hast given them the power of sovereignty through Thine excellent and unspeakable might, that we, knowing the glory and honour which Thou hast given them, may submit ourselves unto them, in nothing resisting Thy will." Still it must be admitted that it would have been easier for St Peter to speak so hopefully about civil rulers before the outbreak of the Neronian persecution rather than during or after it, and this would add some slight support to other con- siderations which also point to an early date for the Epistle. D. The probable date (a) of St Peter's death, (6) of an occasion when St Peter, St Mark and Silvanus were present together in Rome, as is implied in v. 12, 13. (a) Ramsay, who dates this Epistle 75—80 A.D., suggests that St Peter's life may have been prolonged to that date on the following grounds : (1) that the evidence for St Peter's martyrdom in the reign of Nero is not very early; (2) that there must be some foundation in fact for the strong tradition that St Peter worked for a long time in Rome, whereas if he died in the reign of Nero it is hardly possible that he can have resided long in Rome. The evidence for St Peter's death in the reign of Nero is as follows : (1) Clement of Rome (c. 96 a.d.) (cc. v., vi.) couples the martyrdoms of St Peter and St Paul closely together, placing that of St Peter first, and says that 'Ho them was gathered a great company of the elect, who, being the victims of jealousy, by reason of many outrages and tortures became a noble example among us." It is argued (Dr Chase, Hastings' D. of B., iii. 769) that "the great company" must refer to the Neronian victims, and as they are described as being "gathered to" {a-wrjOpoia-dr]) Peter and Paul it is suggested that those two Apostles were among the DATE OF THE EPISTLE xlvii earliest victims and must consequently have been put to death in A.D. 64 or 65, as the great fire which served as the pretext for Nero's persecution happened in July 64 a.d. In answer to this it may be urged : (a) That when once Nero had set the example of persecuting the Christians such persecution was more or less chronic, and therefore later victims than those of Nero's reign may be in- cluded in "the great company." {h) That Peter and Paul are named first, not necessarily because they were the earliest victims, but because they alone were Apostles and therefore the ringleaders to whom both earlier and later victims might be described as being "gathered." (c) That the traditional date for St Paul's death is 67 or 68 A.D., i.e. three or four years after the fire when the first violence of the Neronian persecution had spent itself. If persecution was more or less chronic from 64 a.d. onwards such later date for St Paul's martyrdom is by no means impossible and is more consistent with the evidence of the Pastoral Epistles. The ex- tended missionary work implied in them can with difficulty be accounted for if the period between his release from his first imprisonment and his death was only two or three years. Again in 2 Tim. St Paul speaks of his "first defence" and yet contemplates surviving till the winter and invites Timothy and Mark to join him in Rome. This evidence implies a lengthy remand and comparative safety for other well known Christians to visit Rome and is hardly consistent with the theory that St Paul suffered in the first outbreak of the Neronian persecution. It is therefore possible, or even probable, that neither St Peter nor St Paul were present in Rome in 64 a.d. and that consequently they escaped martyrdom until a later date. Still Clement does couple the martyrdoms of St Peter and St Paul together and that of St Paul was almost certainly in Nero's reign. (2) Dionysius of Corinth (c. 170) (as quoted by Eus. H. E. ii. 25. 8) after speaking of the joint work of Peter and Paul in Corinth, says that, "having gone together (or 'to the same place') to Italy and taught, they suff'ered martyrdom at the same time." xlviii . INTRODUCTION (3) Tertullian (c. 200) {Scorp. 15) says "Nero was the first to stain the rising faith with blood at Rome." "Then Peter is 'girded by another' when he is bound to the cross." Then Paul etc. (4) Origen (c. 250) (ap. Eus. iii. 1) mentions St Peter's death by crucifixion in Rome before St Paul's martyrdom, and dates the latter in the reign of Nero. (5) Commodian (c. 250) {Carmen Apologeticum 820 f.) speaks of Peter and Paul as suffering in Rome under Nero. (6) The Chronicon of Eusebius. The Armenian version puts the Neronian persecution, when the Apostles Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom in Rome, in the thirteenth year of Nero, i.e. 67 — 68 a.d., while Jerome's version gives the fourteenth year of Nero, i.e. 68 a.d., as the date. (7) The Catholic Acts of Peter (ed. Lipsius, p. 172 f.) (probably fifth century but based upon a second century document) connect with St Peter's death a prophecy that "Nero should be destroyed not many days hence." (8) The lists of Roman Bishops give Linus as the first Bishop after the Apostles with 12 years' episcopate, then Anacletus as second Bishop with 12 years' episcopate, followed by Clement as third Bishop. Eusebius dates the accession of Clement in 92 A.D. which would place the appointment of Linus in 68 a.d., but Lightfoot would date Clement's accession 86 — 88 a.d. which would place Linus 62 — 64 a.d. If Linus is regarded as succeeding to the Bishopric on St Peter's death this would corroborate the Neronian date for the martyrdom. Irenaeus however describes Linus as being appointed Bishop by St Peter and St Paul, the founders of the Church in Rome, and no writers of the first two centuries or more describe St Peter himself as Bishop of Rome. Therefore Linus may have been Bishop in St Peter's lifetime, and in that case his accession affords no clue for the date of St Peter's martyrdom. (9) It seems probable that St Mark's written record of St Peter's preaching (which was either our second Gospel or at least the basis of it) was written before the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and Irenaeus states that Mark wrote it after the e^ohos DATE OF THE EPIiSTLE xlix of Peter and Paul, which probably means after their death. Clement of Alexandria, Origen ^nd Jerome on the other hand represent St Mark as writing during St Peter's lifetime. But Irenaeus is more likely to represent the tradition current in Rome, and St Peter's death would make the need of a written record much stronger. Moreover "the presbyter" quoted by Papias (Eus. iii, 39) describes St Mark as having to rely upon his memory of what St Peter preached, and this suggests that St Peter was dead. The general consensus of tradition therefore seems to place St Peter's martyrdom in the reign of Nero, and this would make 68 the latest possible date for the Epistle. (6) We have next to consider the most probable date at which St Peter, St Mark and Silvanus were in Rome together. The apparent traces of the Epistle to the Ephesians contained in 1 Peter make it unnecessary to consider any earlier date than 61 A.D., and reasons have been given above (see p. xviii f.) for the view that St Peter had not worked in Rome before that date. On the other hand there is a strong tradition that St Peter worked /or a considerable time in Rome, and there is some evidence that St Peter and St Paul worked together in Rome. There is therefore reasonable ground for presuming that St Peter arrived in Rome very soon after Colossians and Ephesians were' written and before St Paul left the city. We know from Col. iv. 10 that St Mark was already in Rome, "touching whom," St Paul says, "ye received commandments, if he come unto you receive him." This suggests three questions : (a) What were these " commandments " ? (6) Why had it been necessary to send them? (c) Why does St Paul go out of his way to refer to them ? A plausible answer is (a) that the commands were the words which follow, namely instructions which had been sent to the Colossians (probably by St Paul himself) to receive St Mark if he passed that way on his journey to Rome; {h) that such instructions were necessary because St Mark, as a previous deserter, whom St Paul had declined to accept as a fellow- worker (possibly, as Dr Chase suggests, because St Mark was not in full sympathy with his policy towards the Gentiles) 1 INTRODUCTION might well have been coldly received unless his journey was known to have St Paul's full concurrence, (c) that St Paul desired to shew the Colossians how fully St Mark's visit to Rome had justified the hopes which he had formed in preparing for it. As one of the leading representatives "of the Circum- cision" St Mark had been a great comfort to him at a time when others were preaching Christ out of faction (Phil. i. 17). If this explanation be accepted there is no ground for believing that St Mark was thinking of leaving Rome in 61 a.d. and con- templating a possible visit to Colossae. He may therefore have remained in Rome and been St Peter's companion there from 61 to 64 A.D. On the other hand it suggests that St Mark's visit to Rome had been carefully arranged for and undertaken with St Paul's concurrence, if not at his request. Dr Chase (Hastings' D. of B.) hazards a further conjecture that St Peter's own visit to Rome was also at St Paul's request. St Paul's ardent desire was to unite Jewish and Gentile Christians in One Body, and if this could be accomplished in a mixed Church like that of Rome, the capital and meeting-place of the Empire, the problem would be largely solved for the rest of Christendom. This had been the great object of St Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Its fulfilment would be enormously furthered if St Peter the Apostle to "those of the Circumcision" and Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles were seen working together in Rome. Such an object-lesson of unity would shew how com- pletely "the middle wall of partition" was broken down. In any case, whether it were at St Paul's request or on his own initiative, St Peter would certainly welcome such an opportunity of again "giving the right hand of fellowship" to St Paul's work. He had himself been chosen to "open the door" to Gentile converts. It was he who advocated their exemption from Circumcision and the observance of the Law. If on one occasion at Antioch he withdrew from intercourse with Gentiles it was obviously not from any personal bigotry of his own but merely out of deference to Jewish scruples. There is no evidence that he resented St Paul's outspoken rebuke when once he realized that his conduct involved a breach of principle. Although his own sphere of work had been specially among those of the Circumcision he must have been genuinely distressed DATE OF THE EPISTLE li on finding himself claimed by Judaizers as a supposed opponent of St Paul. There is therefore no reason to distrust the early tradition that St Peter and St Paul did "work together" and jointly founded the Church in Rome. If this was the case it can only have been just after St Paul's release in 61 a.d., and the whole tenour of St Peter's Epistle is easiest to explain if it was written during or just after such a period of fellowship with St Paul. With regard to St Peter's other companion Silvanus (or Silas) we are told nothing of his movements after St Paul's Second Missionary journey. Certainly Silvanus cannot have been in Rome before or during St Paul's first imprisonment, otherwise so faithful a fellow-worker would inevitably have been mentioned in his Epistles. It is therefore quite possible that St Peter, St Mark and Silas might have been together in Rome at any time from 62 a.d. (or late in 61 a.d.) till the middle of 64 a.d. It is less easy to find an occasion when they might be there together later in Nero's reign. If St Peter was in Rome during the first violence of the Neronian persecution he would almost certainly be one of the first victims. It is however possible that he may have returned to Jerusalem to take part in the election of Symeon as Bishop of Jerusalem after the death of James the Lord's brother — which happened most probably in 62 a.d. Eusebius H. E. iii. 11 quotes a tradition that the surviving Apostles came together from all parts for the election of Symeon. It is true that Eusebius places this event after the Fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, but he was apparently misled by a rhetorical exaggeration of Hegesippus (Eus. ii. 23) who speaks of Vespasian commencing the siege immediately after the murder of James. But the account given by Josephus {Ant. xx. 9. 1), which is also quoted by Eusebius, would place the death of James in 62 a.d., and in this case the election of Symeon was presumably not long deferred. Some time however would necessarily elapse before the news of James' death could reach Rome, and further delay would be necessary to summon a meeting of the scattered Apostles (say) in 63 or early in 64 a.d. If then St Peter did leave Rome before the persecution broke out he may have escaped martyrdom until nearly the end of Nero's reign (or possibly even until a later lii INTRODUCTION date). On the other hand it seems inconceivable that either St Peter or Silvanus were in Rome when 2 Timothy was written shortly before St Paul's martyrdom — and if St Peter had then been recently put to death St Paul would surely have referred to the fact. St Mark was certainly then somewhere in the East as St Paul asks Timothy to bring him with him to Rome (2 Tim. iv. 11). It is certainly difficult to believe that St Paul was writing during the first fury of the Neronian persecution, but if he was writing in the autumn of 64 a.d. and St Mark did come to Rome "before winter" in answer to his request, then he may have remained in Rome after St Paul's death as St Peter's companion, and there would still remain some three years (65 — 68 a.d.) within the reign of Nero when 1 Peter might have been written. But if, as seems on the whole more probable, St Paul's death is placed as late as 67 a.d. there would be hardly time for St Peter's visit to Rome before Nero's death. E. The Silence of the Epistle about St Paul. Arguments from silence are always precarious, but it is certainly difficult to believe that St Peter, if he wrote from Rome shortly after St Paul's martyrdom, could have failed to mention it. Unless therefore we adopt Ramsay's view that 1 Peter was written several years after St Paul's death, and we set aside the tradition that St Peter himself was put to death in the reign of Nero, the absence of all mention of St Paul is more easily explained on the assumption that St Paul was still alive. In this case there are two. alternatives. (1) That St Paul was still in Rome but that his old colleague Silvanus, the bearer of this Epistle, was charged with all necessary tidings about him. Possibly, as Dr Chase suggests, Silvanus was being sent on a mission to Asia Minor on St Paul's behalf. (2) That St Paul had already left Rome and had himself gone to Asia. He certainl}^ contemplated such a journey soon after his release, as he asked Philemon to prepare him a lodging at Colossae (Philemon 22). In this case also Silvanus would perhaps be able to give tidings of St Paul to St Peter's other readers. The various arguments as to the date of 1 Peter may therefore be summed up as follows : DATE OF THE EPISTLE liii (1) The traces of other Books point to a date not earlier than 61 or 62 but not necessarily mugh later. (2) The spread of Christianity in the Northern provinces of Asia Minor is not impossible during the reign of Nero. (3) The relations between the Church and the State which are implied are not inconsistent with what is known of the Neronian persecution, and would even admit of a date shortly before that persecution broke out. (4) There is not sufficient evidence to set aside the tradition that St Peter suffered martyrdom in the reign of Nero, so that 68 A.D. is the latest date consistent with the Petrine authorship of the Epistle. (5) That St Peter, St Mark and Silvanus might have been together in Eome between 61 and 64 or possibly, but less probably, at the end of Nero's reign after St Paul's death. (6) That the absence of all mention of St Paul is less difficult to explain before St Paul's death than shortly after that event. Therefore the evidence seems to be slightly in favour of dating the Epistle between 62 and 64 a.d., and such a date would suit one of the apparent objects of the Epistle, namely to promote the union between Jewish and Gentile Christians. 6. Relations between 1 Peter and otHER N.T. Books. (a) 1 Peter and James. I Pet. i. 1 iKkiKTols TTapeiTibrjyLOis Biaarropds. Jas 1. 1 Tois ScbSeKa (jivXals Tois iv rfj biacnropa. Three views are possible : (a) That both Epistles employ the word diaa-rropd in its literal sense of the Jewish Dispersion. In this case either writer might have used the phrase independently of the other. To St James writing from Jerusalem Jewish Christians in other lands would naturally be thought of as "in the Dispersion." St Peter writing from the Roman centre of "the Dispersion" might quite naturally use the phrase of another district of the Dispersion. But if one writer did derive the word from the other the borrower was probably St Peter. liv INTRODUCTION (6) It may be literal in St James and metaphorical in St Peter. In this case the natural inference would be that St Peter, with his mind evidently full of the thought of the Christian Church as the new Israel of God, borrowed St James' greeting to the Dispersion and applied it to his scattered readers as the "new Dispersion." (c) That both St James and St Peter use the word meta- phorically of the Christian Church. Certainly that suits the general tenour of St Peter's Epistle, and Parry adduces strong arguments for its use in that sense by St James. If the report of St James' speech (Acts xv. 14 — 20) may be accepted as representing his actual arguments, he did speak of God choosing a people {\a6s) for His Name from among the Gentiles to be included in the restored "tabernacle of David"; and the language of the prophets about the ideal Jerusalem, coupled with our Lord's words about "gathering together His elect," might suggest to one writing from Jerusalem the idea of the Church as forming the Twelve Tribes of the ideal Israel of God at present "scattered abroad." But if so it is a pregnant seed-thought suggesting the totality and the underlying unity of the Church despite present appearances. St James makes no attempt to expand it in the remainder of his Epistle, and, unless it was an idea already familiarized to the readers either by St James himself or other teachers, they would not readily grasp its meaning. In St Peter on the other hand the idea is elaborated and worked out by other titles — "holy nation," "royal priesthood," etc. It is however more likely that St Peter should have thus expanded a pregnant thought of St James' than that St James should have chosen one single title out of St Peter's list. It is almost impossible to date St Peter's Epistle earlier than 61 A.D.; if it was written from Rome, and if St James' martyrdom was in 62 a.d. there would be barely time for St Peter's Epistle to become known to him and still less to his readers. This argument afifects also all the other passages under discussion in the two Epistles and suggests that St Peter borrowed from St James rather than vice versa. RELATIONS WITH OTHER N.T BOOKS Iv 1 Pet. i. 6 f. iv a dyaWida-de, oXiyov aprt el deov XvTrrjdevTes iv TToiKiKois Tre I paa-fxols, Iva to 8oki.ixlov vixcov rrjs Tr/oTecoy k.t.X. Jas i. 2 f. Trdaav ■)(^apdv rfyrjcraade orav TrfipaafioLS 7repnr€(rr)T€ noiKiXois, yivuxTKOvres on to hoKipnov vficov Trjs TriaTeois k.t.X. In these passages the verbal correspondence is so close and the order of the words in the last clause so unusual that there must be some direct literary connexion between the two writers. St Peter is referring to outward trials and persecutions, which form one of the main topics of his Epistle. He works out the idea of boKlpnov by a comparison with the refining of gold, with an apparent allusion to Pro v. xxvii. 21 doKifxiov dpyvpico Ka\ xp'"^<^ TTvpcoais (to which he reverts again in iv. 12) dvfjp de doKifxd^fTai 8id o-TOjxaTos iyKcofjLia^ovTiov avTov and Prov. xvii. 3 doKifid^eTai iv Kap.iv(o dpyvpos koI )(pv(r6s, ovTtos iKXcKToi Kapdiai irapa Kvpiov. It may therefore be argued that St Peter borrowed a pregnant thought from St James and elaborated it from the Old Testament, at the same time softening down the uncompromising stoicism of St James Trao-av x^P^^ r)yr](ra(rd€ by adding oXiyov dpri, el Se'oj/, XvirrjdevTes. Such expansion and mitigation of an allusive paradox might be natural on the part of the borrower while the reverse process would be less probable. On the other hand the ordinary view is that in St James also the words refer to external trials^ which is not a prominent topic in his Epistle, and that he immediately deserts it to discuss temptations to sin. In this case the words are rather disconnected in St James and it might be argued that he borrowed them from St Peter as a kind of text. Parry however {St Jas. p. 32 ff.) argues that St James is throughout referring to temptations to sin and begins with the startling paradox "Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." In this case the words are connected with their context in St James, but it might be argued that such psychological analysis as St James bases on them is more subtle and therefore presumably later than the lessons of practical experience which St Peter gives. But, whereas the j)sychological phase would naturally be later than the practical in the same person, it is hardly a conclusive argument as to the relative dates of writings by two diflferent persons. St Peter might have borrowed a subtle Ivi INTRODUCTION idea from St James and either understood it or applied it in a more practical sense to outward trials. 1 Pet. i. 23 flf" dvayeyevvT]fievoc...8ia \6yov ^covtos Oeov koI fJLivovTos...aiTo6e^ivoi ovv naaav KUKiav. Jas i. 18, 21 ^ovXrjdels aTT^Kvr^a-ev rjfxas \6yco a.\r)3€Las.,.8i6 d7rod€fievoi,,,Trepi(T(T€iav KaKias...8€^a(rde tov €fx(f)vTov Xoyov. Here St James begins by referring to "the manifestation of God's will in creation as a strong warrant and incentive for resistance to temptation" (Parry). In St Peter the only allusion to creation is in iv. 19, that God is "a faithful creator" who may be trusted in all trials not to neglect His own handiwork. St Peter on the other hand is reiferring to the word of regeneration by which man is begotten anew as a new creature. But St James goes on to urge his readers to receive the implanted word (Xoyos- €fx(f)VTos), which seems to mean the fiat of creation after God's likeness, as an active redemptive principle now implanted within the man who receives it, and this must be the word of regeneration, the new principle of life given in Christ Jesus. Both St Peter and St James shew that those who are thus begotten by the word of God must put away all malice. In St Peter this is urged as a necessary result of being so begotten. If the seed from which they spring is the incorruptible word of God which abides for ever, its fruit should be shewn in a love which is equally incorruptible and abiding, and this involves putting away all malice, etc. In St James the putting away of malice is rather a necessary preliminary in order to receive the implanted word. Thus the treatment of the subject is very different in the two writers. Whichever was the borrower has welded the idea into his own argument without any slavish imitation. But St James's appeal to the fiat of creation is more subtle and obscure than the appeal to regeneration by St Peter. It would therefore seem that St Peter has adopted one part only of St James' message, possibly not having himself grasped the allusion to the Gospel of Creation. The contrast between corruptible seed and the word of God living and abiding for ever is emphasized by St Peter by a quotation from Isaiah xl. 6 Trdaa trap^ x^P'''^^ '^"* ndo-a do^a dvBpooiTov (Mf avBos x^pTov, i^-qpavOr] 6 xopros koI to avBos e^CTrea-fVy RELATIONS WITH OTHER N.T. BOOKS Ivii TO bt p^fia Tov Beov rjfxayv fXfvei els top ala>va. In i. 24 he quotes the whole passage with three variations from the LXX. as being inserted after adp^, avr^s substituted for dvOpanov and Kvplov for rov Beov fjpav, all of which readings may possibly have been found in the text of the LXX. used by St Peter. Now the main point in St Peter's use of the passage is the last clause, "the word of the Lord abideth for ever," but the earlier portion is also very appropriate to his argument. The fading glory of grass is a fitting emblem of "the corruptible seed," the vain manner of living which his readers had inherited from their heathen fore- fathers. Moreover the whole passage in Isaiah is a gospel of redemption and new birth for God's exiled people in Babylon, based upon the lastingness of God's promise as contrasted with the vanity of human schemes. It is therefore very suitable to describe the new birth of the New Israel, ransomed from their old heathen surroundings. St Peter therefore might quite well have selected the passage independently. But in view of the other traces of his indebted- ness to St James, it is not unlikely that the quotation was partly suggested to his mind by the fact that in Jas i. 10 a few phrases o)S avBos x6pTov...€^r)pav€ tov ^opTov Koi to dvOos avTOv e^eTreare had been applied to the transitoriness of earthly riches. 1 Pet. ii. 11 drrex^adai Ta>v aapKiKmp eiridvpiwv oltivcs (TTpoTivovTai Kord Trjs ■v//'u;(^y. Jas. iv. 1 €K Twv rjdovcov vpwv Tcov (TTpaTevopevcov iv toIs pfKfaiv vpoiv; eVi^v/xetre. In St Peter the words are an injunction to Christians, as strangers and sojourners, to abstain from the mutinous desires of the flesh which are at war against their true self (V^u^'?)- They must maintain an honourable standard in all their dealings with heathen neighbours. In St James pleasures are regarded as hostile occupants of the members, resisting a lawful authority which is not named, and this causes quarrels and fightings. There is therefore not any close connexion of thought between the two passages. Possibly St Peter may have had St Paul's words in Rom. vii. 23 in his mind. ^Xewat eTepov v6p,ov iv Tols p-fKecriv pov dvTiaTpa- Tcvnpevov Ta vopM tov voos p.ov. The use of aapKLKos in a bad sense is decidedly Pai^ljoe, but ^^xt) must not be identified with I PEXE5 e Iviii INTRODUCTION irvevfxa — e.g. Gal. V. 17 f] yap (rap^ emdvfiel Kara rov nvevfiaros — yl^vxri is the essential "self" in man, of which his bodily life is only a secondary element. 1 Pet. iv. 8 dydirr] KoXvTrrei ttXtjBos dfiaprimv. Jas V. 20 one who converts a sinner KaXv-^ei TrXrjdos ap,apTLaiv. In Prov. X. 12 the LXX. reads pXaos eyeipet v(Ikos Trdvras 8e tovs IMT) (fiiKovciKovvTas KoXvTTTfi. (f)ikia — but the Hebrew is "love covereth all sins." It is possible that some Greek text of Proverbs. x. 12 may have read KaXvTrrei TrXfjBos afxapTimv — OrdydTrrj naXinrrei ttXtjOos dp-apTioiv may have been an unwritten saying of Christ, as Resch suggests — because it is introduced by cfyrjari in Clem. Al. Paed. iii. 12 and by Xeyei Kvpios in Didascalia ii. 3. But otherwise the words in Jas V. 20 can hardly be regarded as a quotation at all. In St Peter on the other hand there does seem to be an obvious reference to Proverbs x. 20, and, unless ttXtjBos dfiaprimv occurred in the Greek text used by him or in some familiar saying, it seems probable that the variation from both the LXX. and the Hebrew was suggested by the phrase in St James. It is less easy to suppose that St Peter originated this variaDt form of an O.T. proverb, and that St James borrowed part of it from him and used it in a sense which is very diflferent from that in Proverbs and 1 Peter, 1 Pet. V. 5 — 9 6 Seos vireprjcpdvois dvTirdaaerai raTreivols be dlBcocriv x'^piv. Ta7reivo)6r)T€ ovv viro rrjv Kparaidv x^^P*^ """^^ Bfov^ tva vfids vylAaxTTj . . .6 8ia/3oXo $■...<» dvTia-TijTe. Jas iv. 6 6 d(6s VTreprjcpdvoLS avTirda-a-eTai Taneivols de Sidwaiv xdptv. VTTordyrjTf ovv ra Oew' dvricTTrjTe df rm 8ia06X(p,.. (10) 'raTr€ivd)Or]T€ evwTrcov Kvpiov kol v^wad Vfids. Here both writers quote the same verse, Prov. iii. 34, with the same variation from the LXX. 6 Oeos for Kvpcos. In St James the quotation is naturally suggested by the preceding words p.ei(ova de didaxTiv x'^P'-^ which Parry (*S'^ Jas. 40) explains to mean that God not only imparted a living soul to man in creation and therefore jealously demands its sole allegiance to Himself, but also bestows an even greater favour in the gift of regeneration — (cf. the Xoyos dXrjdeias and the €fipiou avTOv iK veKpQv. ijij,Cov e/c vcKpQv. Here St Peter's phrase Tncrrovs els Oeov is unique, and the language about the resurrection is an almost creed-like phrase which occurs frequently in St Peter's speeches as well as in St Paul's Epistles. 1 Pet, i. 22. els 70'fTai. K6/xfxaTos Kai Trirpa (XKavdaXov, K.T.X. Here we have a combination of two passages Isaiah xxviii. 16 and viii. 14 (St Peter also introducing a third passage from Psalm cxviii. 22 about the stone which the builders rejected). Both have the same variations from the LXX. rlBrjui iv 2ia)v instead of e/i/SaXXo) els to. depieXia Sicoi/ and XiOos irpoaKOfipiaTos koI irerpa aKavdaXov instead of ov^ ^^ ^^-Idov TrpoaKOfxpLaTL (rvvavrrjcrea-Oe ov8e as ireTpas irToifiaTi^ which is a loose paraphrase of the Hebrew and entirely inverts Isaiah's meaning by inserting a negative. St Peter and St Paul give an accurate translation of the Hebrew but are hardly likely to have selected independently the same Greek words, which do not occur in any known version. It is however possible that they might have borrowed from a common source, either a Greek Bible the text of which differed from the Ixii INTRODUCTION LXX., or from an early catena of Old Testament Messianic passages in which the passages about "the Stone" were grouped together. This however is pure conjecture, and in view of the other un- doubted coincidences between 1 Peter and Romans it is simpler to suppose that St Peter borrowed the composite quotation from St Paul, working it out in fuller detail and adding the verse from Ps. cxviii. which our Lord had quoted of himself and St Peter had used in one of his speeches Acts iv. 11. 1 Pet. 11. 10. ot TTore ou Xa6s Eom. ix. 25. KoKicru) tov ov vvv 5k Xa6s deov, ol ovk rjXerjfx^vot Xadv fiov Xadv /jlov, kuI tt)v ovk vvv 5e eXerjdevTes. riyaTrrjfiivrjP r)ya7rri/x^P7)v. The passage is taken from Hosea ii. 23 : St Peter agrees with the majority of MSS. of the LXX. which read rjXerjixevrjv instead of rjyairrjfievrjv which is found only in the Vatican MS. It might therefore be argued that St Peter is quoting independently from the LXX. But in Hosea the words refer to the restoration of renegade Israelites whereas St Paul applies them to the admission of the Gentiles, and it is in that sense that St Peter almost certainly employs the passage. 1 Pet. ii. 13 — 17. vTroTdyrjre Rom. xlli. 1. irdaa ^vxr) i^ov- 7rd(777 dpdpojTrlvy Kriaei. 8id rbv alaLS VTrepexoOffais viroTaacri- KiLipiov eire ^aatXei u)S v ire pi- adta' oir yap iariv i^ovcriaei /jlt] virb XOVTi, etre rjyefxoaip u?s 8t' avroO deov, ai 8k ovaac vrrb deov rerayfii- irefnrofiivot.s els iK8iKr}o-iv kuko- vai. elaiv. TTOiwv iiraLvov 8k ayaOoiroLWV 3. ot yap dpxovTes oiK elah {oTi oUtus iarip t6 OiXri/xa TOV deov) (pd^os rip dyad^ ^PJV dXXd t<^ ...TrdvTas Ti/xr)(raTe,Tr]P d8eX, KXaleiv fxera KkatbvTwv. to eiXoyovvres. aOrb eis dWifiXovs (ppopovvres' /xr] rd, vxj/rjXd (ppovovvres dXXd Toh rairei- VOLS (TvvaTraydfievoL fiTjSevi KaKbv dvTl KaKOV diroSiSovres. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Xpiarbs d-rra^ Rom. vi. 10. 5 ydp diridave rrj T€pl d/xapriQv [dw^davev] — dava- dtxaprriq, diridavev etpdira^, 8 Sk f^ Tudeis fih capKl i^djowoiridels 8k ^rj t<^ deifi. •wveijuiTi. Here the emphatic words ana^ and ecfydna^ are used to shew that Christ's death was the termination of the regime of sin once and for all, and the ushering in of a life of spiritual activity. This, says St Paul, is the ideal for those who claim to share Christ's death in Baptism. This, says St 'Peter, is the blessed purpose of sufferings in the flesh, whereby Christians are sharing in the sufferings which culminated in death for Christ. 1 Pet. iii. 21. vfxds...}Tat dirb r^ys dfiaprlas. St Paul is arguing that death cancels all previous obligations. A slave can no longer be brought into court by his previous owner. The master must lose his case and the slave be acquitted if his Ixiv INTRODUCTION death certificate can be produced. So those who claim to have died with Christ in baptism are exempt from the claims of their old master Sin. Their duty now is to share the resurrection life of Christ. St Peter is continuing his argument about suffering in the flesh. He has shewn that Christ's sufterings and death were the ter- mination of the regime of sin once and for all — and that in Baptism we claim to have risen with Christ from a similar death to sin. Sufferings in the flesh therefore should be welcomed as a means by which that ideal death unto sin may be made a greater reality and help us to live unto God in the spirit. The language and the illustrations used by St Peter are very different from those employed by St Paul — but the ideas are intensely Pauline. 1 Pet. iv. 3. ^1/ d(r€X7e/ats... Rom. xiii. 13. /ir; Kdfiois Kal olvo^XiryLais, KdbfJLois, irdrois. /xidaLS, fii] KoLracs Kai dcreXyeiais. 1 Pet. iv. 9 — 11. ^i\6^€uoi eis Rom. xii. 3 — 13. cKaaTi^ ws 6 dXXTjXous . . . iKaaros Kadois ^Xa/3e v 6ebi ifiipiffe fi^rpov vla-Tews . . . ^xo"- XdpKTfxa, eis eavroi/s aiirb diaKO- res de x<*/»'<''MaTa Karh ttji/ x^-P'-^ vovPTCS (bs KoXol oIkov6/xoi TToiKiXrjt TTf\v dodeiaav ijfup Sid^opa, elre irpo- XdpiTos deov' el rts \a\ei, ws Xdyia (firiTelav ...elTe bi.aKovla.p . . .ttiv S'^ Peter^ 15 ff.), while admitting that St Peter must have read St Paul's Epistles and that his amanuensis may have often heard St Paul preach, denies any direct borrowing on St Peter's part from Romans or Ephesians. He argues that St Peter shews no trace of the fundamental topics dealt with in Romans, nor of the characteristic Pauline figure of the "one body." Romans and 1 Peter, he says, have a few not very remarkable phrases and a couple of obvious, practical topics in common but are otherwise as different as possible. The common composite quotation from Isaiah, with the same divergence from the LXX., may possibly be explained by the theory that they both borrowed from a common source, possibly an early collection of Messianic prophecies. Sanday and Headlam {Rom. Ixxv f.) on the other hand say "the resemblance (between 1 Peter and Romans) is too great and too constant to be accidental." Besides the common com- posite quotation (possibly derived from a common source) not only do we find the same thoughts, such as the metaphorical use of the idea of sacrifice (Rom. xii. 1 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5), and the same rare words, such as o-vvax^ifiaTiC^a-dai, dwiroKpiros, but in one passage (Rom. xiii. 1—7; 1 Pet. ii. 13 — 17) we have, what must be regarded as conclusive evidence, the same ideas occurring in the same order. Nor can there be any doubt that of the two the Epistle to the Romans is the earlier. St Paul works out a thesis logically and clearly. St Peter gives a series of maxims for which he is largely indebted to St Paul. For example, in Romans xiii. 1 — 7 we have a broad general principle laid down. St Peter, clearly influenced by the phraseology of that passage, merely gives three rules of conduct. In St Paul the language and ideas come out of the sequence of thought; in St Peter they are adopted because they had already been used for the same purpose. {d) 1 Peter and Hebrews. There are certainly some resemblances between the two Epistles. Both are addressed to Churches which were in danger of per- secution. Therefore in both suffering is regarded as a loving RELATIONS WITH OTHER N.T. BOOKS Ixix discipline, in Hebrews as a fatherly chastisement of beloved sons, in 1 Peter as a crucible to test the purity of their faith. Both contain warnings against apostasy and resentment under injury. Both appeal to the example of Christ, exalted through suffering, as the model of patient endurance— sufiFering being a prelude to glory— 1 Pet. i. 11, iv. 13, v. 10; Heb. ii. 10, xii. 1—3. Again both Epistles regard Christianity as the natural outcome of Judaism, and shew that Christians have a spiritual priesthood, 1 Pet. ii. 5 ; Heb. x. 19 — 22. But the writer to the Hebrews, addressing Jewish readers who hankered after the old regime, shews the imperfections of the old sacrificial system as being merely the shadow of which Christianity is the reality. St Peter on the other hand, writing chiefly for Gentile readers, claims for them all the old titles and privileges of Israel. Both writers lay stress upon the moral effects of the death of Christ as the termination of the regime of sin — once and for all oTral, 1 Pet. iii. 18; Heb. ix. 26, and use the same sacrificial language, not found elsewhere of Christ, offering up our sins, dva(f)€p€t.v dfiaprias 1 Pet, ii. 24; Heb. ix. 28. The duty of Christians therefore is to have done with sin. But this idea is more probably derived by St Peter from Romans. But, with the exception of the word dvTlrvjrov 1 Pet. iii. 21 ; Heb. ix. 24, the verbal coincidences between the two Epistles can nearly all be accounted for from the Old Testament. It is therefore probable that both writers drew from the common store of ideas and phrases that belonged to Judaistic Christianity, and both represent the liberal school of Jewish Christians who recognized that old things had passed away and become new in Christ. 7. The Readers of the Epistle. A. Their home. The Epistle is addressed to the Christians scattered throughout the Roman provinces which constituted the region now called Asia Minor, with the exception of the coast-land south of the Taurus mountains. The history of each province and the probable means by which Christianity was introduced into it are discussed in the notes on i. 1. The Ixx INTRODUCTION district is certainly a wide one but great facilities for travel were provided by the Roman Empire. Apparently Silvanus was pro- posing to make a circular tour starting from some seaport in Pontus and ending his journey somewhere on the coast of Bithynia. Such a tour to visit the chief centres of Christianity in a vast district is just what we find in St Paul's missionary journeys. B. Their nationality. Were they Jewish or Gentile Christians ? Most of the Greek Fathers, e.g. Origen (Eus. H. E. iii. 1), Didymus and Eusebius (iii. 4), seem to have held the view that St Peter's readers were Jews by birth. This opinion was shared by many commentators after the Reformation, such as Erasmus, Calvin, Grotius and Bengel, and it is supported by some recent critics in- cluding B. Weiss and Kiihl. On the other hand the Latin Fathers Augustine and Jerome held that it was addressed to Gentile converts (though in one passage, Viri Illust. 1, Jerome repeats Origen's statement that St Peter preached to those of the Cir- cumcision in the dispersion). Most modern critics of all schools support the view that the Epistle was chiefly addressed to Gentiles, although no doubt there were numerous Jewish Christians among them. The arguments in favour of the view that the readers were Jewish Christians are as follows: (1) That the special sphere of work assigned to St Peter was among "those of the Circumcision" (Gal. ii. 8 — 9). In ansAver to this it may be said that the arrangement was not absolute and in no way precluded St Peter from addressing Gentile Christians, just as St Paul, although especially the Apostle of the Gentiles, constantly worked among Jews, always offering the Gospel "to the Jew first," and addressing them by name in parts of the Epi^stle to the Romans. (2) That the Epistle is expressly addressed to "the sojourners of the dispersion," -irapeTribrjixois dcacnropas, which, it is argued, most naturally refers to the Jewish dispersion. But reasons are given (p. liii f. and note ad loc.) for explaining biaairopd in a metaphorical sense. (3) That the constant direct or indirect allusions to the Old Testament imply a degree of familiarity with the O.T. on the READERS OF THE EPISTLE Ixxi part of the readers which would be hardly possible for Gentile converts from heathenism. In answer to this it may be urged that the O.T. was " the Bible " of the Apostolic Church whether Jew or Gentile. (4) That several passages in the Epistle would most naturally refer to Jews, e.g. the words of Hosea, quoted in ii. 10 "which in time past were no people but are now the people of God," were originally spoken to Israelites. But in Romans St Paul applies them to the admission of the Gentiles, and they are much more forcible if addressed to Gentiles in 1 Peter. Again in ii. 25 the readers are described as having strayed away but having now returned to the Shepherd. This, it is urged, could only properly be said of Jews, because they alone had been previously under the Shepherd. But by creation and by God's design all men are "the sheep of His pasture" — whether they belonged to the Jewish "fold" or not. Again in iii. 6 the women are described as having become the daughters of Sarah by well-doing. Here it is urged that the word "become" cannot be emphasized as pointing to the ad- mission of Gentiles to God's family, because Gentile women would have "become" daughters of Sarah by their conversion and not by their subsequent conduct. But very possibly the words about Sarah rjs eyevrjBijTe rcKva are a parenthesis, and the words which follow about well-doing etc. may refer to the conduct of the holy women of old. Also eyevrjdrjre may be better rendered "whose daughters you proved yourselves to be." This would have additional force if addressed to Gentiles as being included in the seed of Abraham in Christ, cf. Rom. iv. 16 ; Gal. iv. 21 — 31. None of the above arguments therefore necessitate the view that the readers were Jewish Christians. On the other hand there are several passages in the Epistle which almost certainly refer to Gentiles. (a) In i. 14 the readers are bidden not to "fashion themselves according to their former lusts in the days of their ignorance." It is true that ignorance (ayvoia) is once used by St Peter of the conduct of Jews in crucifying Christ (Acts iii. 17), and St Paul uses the verb dyvoelv of his own conduct in persecuting the Christians (1 Tim. i. 13), but elsewhere. Acts xvii. 30 ; Eph. iv. 18, ayi/ota is specially used of heathenism. Ixxii INTRODUCTION (b) In i. 18 they are described as having been redeemed from their vain (/xaraias) manner of life handed down by their fathers (irarpoTrapadoTov). The last word taken by itself might seem to suggest Jewish traditions, but heathenism had equally strong hereditary claims upon its followers, and the phrase " vain things " was constantly used of idolatry in the LXX. and also in Acts xiv. 15; Eph. iv. 17 {fiarawTrjs). (c) In ii. 9 they are described as having been " called out of darkness into God's marvellous light." Similar language is used of St Paul's mission to the Gentiles (Acts xxvi. 18 quoting Isaiah xlii. 7, 16) and "darkness" is specially used of heathenism in Eom. i. 21 ; Eph. iv. 18, v. 8, but in Col. i. 13 St Paul regards all Christians {rjfias) as rescued out of the power of darkness. (d) In iv. 2 — 4 they are no longer to live the remainder of their life in the flesh according to the lusts of men, but according to the will of God. For the time past of their lives is sufficient for them to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, walking (as they have done) in wantonness and unlawful idolatries. Yet the Gentiles think it strange that they do not join them in their profligate excesses. If this language was addressed to Jewish Christians it would imply that the Jews of the Dispersion had generally lapsed into heathenism and immorality, whereas there is no evidence for such wholesale apostasy. Again it would hardly have been a surprise to their neighbours if Jewish settlers had a different standard of religion and morality. But Gentile con- verts would doubtless be regarded as fanatics if they abandoned the habitual practices of their own relations and friends. (e) There are several passages in the Epistle in which St Peter emphasizes the idea that God's mercies, long reserved and foretold, have at last been extended to his readers {els vfias). After coupling himself with his readers in i. 3 "God hath begotten us (rifias) again," in the next verse he speaks of the inheritance as having been all along kept in reserve {Terrjprjixevrjv) to be extended to them {els vfias). The concluding words of verse 5 eToifirjv dTroKoKvcfidrjvai iv Kaipa eaxdrco may also (as Dr Chase suggests Hastings' B. of B. iii. 795) refer to the in- heritance and not to the immediately preceding substantive araynjpiav. In this case the meaning may be that the inheritance READERS OF THE EPISTLE Ixxiii was kept in reserve ready to be revealed when "the fulness of the time" was come in the Messianic age of the Christian dis- pensation, cf. i. 20 (pavepadevTOS de eV iaxarov rmv XP^^^^ ^*' vfias, cf. also Romans xvi. 25—26 and Eph. iii. 5, where the admission of the Gentiles as fellow- heirs {o-vyKKqpovoyia) is described as being now revealed {aTreKokixpdrj). In i. 10 — 12 St Peter says that the prophets who prophesied of the favour of God destined to be extended to you {ttjs els vfias xdpiTos) learned by revelation that it was not for themselves but for you (vfilv, so W.H. not ripTiv as T.R.) that they were ministering. In i. 25, after quoting the message of good tidings originally addressed to the Jews in Babylon that "the word of the Lord endureth for ever," he says this is the word which has been preached as good tidings reaching to you {els v/xay). In ii. 4 the readers are described as "coming" (irpoa-epxoixevoi) to the living stone that even they (Koi avToi) may be built into a spiritual Temple, because faith is the one requisite for sharing the preciousness of the stone laid in Zion ; therefore it belongs to you {v/Mv). You who were previously not a people are now the people of God ; and all the old titles of honour addressed to God's chosen people Israel are now true of you (v/iels-), cf. Ephesians ii. 20 — 22 where Jews and Gentiles are built into one Temple united by one corner stone (aKpoyavidiov). In iii. 18 the best text is v/xas, and the meaning seems to be that it was only by His death that Christ was able to win access {trpoa-aydyri) to God for Gentiles (cf. Eph. ii. 18 Trpocraycoyrj). In i. 12 the extension of God's favours to you (Gentiles) opens up a fresh vista to the angelic students of God's mysterious purpose for the world, cf. Eph. iii. 10. If then we regard the Epistle as addressee! primarily to Jewish Christians much of its meaning is lost. There were doubtless numerous Jewish settlers in the provinces of Asia Minor, but the bulk of the inhabitants, and therefore presumably of the Christians, were Gentiles, and it is to them that the Epistle is primarily addressed. One great object of St Peter is to assert the truth which he had championed at the Apostolic conference (Acts XV. 14), that God had "visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name." I PETER / Ixxiv INTRODUCTION C. The circumstances of the readers. We have no certain evidence as to when and by whom they had been converted. St Peter makes no claim that he had himself worked among them, and the statement of Origen (Eas. H. E. iii. 1) to that effect is probably based only upon the salutation of this Epistle. In i. 12 St Peter merely refers to "those who preached the Gospel to you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." Some of them doubtless were converts of Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey, others of Paul, Silas and Timothy on the second journey, others may have been converted by Epaphras, or Aquila and Priscilla. Again the description of Silvanus in v. 12 "as a faithful brother to you" very probably may refer to his previous work in the provinces addressed. In ii. 2 they are described as "new-born babes," but this does not necessarily imply that they were very recent converts. The phrase denotes rather the simple childlike tastes which even the maturest Christian should retain (cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 20 "in malice be ye babes"). St Peter assumes that there were presbyters in some at any rate of the Christian communities which he addresses, and such presbyters are exposed to the temptations of "lording it over the flock" (v. 3) or of seeking office for the sake of sordid gain, neither of which would be probable dangers in an infant church, even if the latter warning refers to the management of Church funds rather than to official stipend. The Christians are already a marked body among their heathen neighboui'S. Their lives have a conspicuous influence upon the world around. They are exposed to constant obloquy, insults, injustice, even bodily violence for the sake of their religion. The advice to servants, without any corresponding instruction to Christian masters such as we find in Ephesians and Colossians, may suggest that most of the Christians were of humble rank, but this argument from silence must not be overpressed, as the passage is dealing with submission and patience under unjust treatment, and it would have involved a slight digression to teach masters their duty towards their servants. There is no reference to any controversial questions about Circumcision or clean and unclean meats, such as we find in St Paul's earlier Epistles. But even in Ephesians and Colossians these do not seem to have been such burning questions as had READERS OF THE EPISTLE Ixxv been the case a few years earlier. Possibly Jewish influence was not so strong in the northern provinces. At any rate St Peter, in welcoming the Gentiles as included in the New " Israel of God," abstains from referring to minor questions of ritual and deals only with general principles of Christian conduct. Moreover the perils, to which Christians were now exposed, were not so much from the Jews or from false brethren as "perils among the heathen." 8. The Occasion and Purpose of the Epistle. The order in which the provinces are named in i. 1, coupled with the fact that Pontus and Bithynia, which formed one Roman province, are mentioned separately, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the list, probably indicates the route which Silvanus, the bearer of the Epistle, proposed to follow. It would seem that he intended to land at one of the seaports in Pontus, possibly Sinope, and travel south through Galatia and Cappadocia and then eastwards, again passing through part of Galatia to Asia and thence northwards, regaining the shore of the Black Sea somewhere in Bithynia. Such a route implies an extensive and organized missionary journey, and it may be con- jectured that Silvanus was either intending to revisit districts where he had already been working (cf. v. 12) or, as Dr Chase suggests (Hastings' D. of B. iii. 791), he may have been under- taking the journey as St Paul's messenger. At any rate St Peter avails himself of the opportunity afforded by this proposed journey of Silvanus to send a letter to the scattered Christians of that vast district. No doubt there were many Jewish Christians among them but the majority were Gentiles, and it is to them that St Peter chiefly addresses himself. One of the chief objects of St Peter's visit to Rome was probably to promote union between Jews and Gentiles in the Church. That object, as we know from Acts, was no less dear to Silvanus. It would there- fore be a real strength to him in his mission to the provinces of Asia Minor to have such a letter as this, written by the recog- nized leader of the Jewish Christians, welcoming the Gentiles as members of the New Israel of God. Moreover it was a time of threatened danger and rising /2 Ixxvi INTRODUCTION persecution. Satan was going about "desiring to have them" in the smelting fire which was to test their faith. It was therefore a fitting opportunity for St Peter, who had himself known the shame of falling in the hour of trial, when Satan had " sifted him as wheat," to fulfil his Master's command, "When thou hast turned again strengthen thy brethren." In V. 12 St Peter says that his object in writing to them was (a) to encourage them, (6) to testify that this is in very truth the "grace" or "loving favour" of God, and bid them stand fast in it. What is this "favour"? Does it refer only to the imme- diately preceding section about persecution or to the whole theme of the Epistle? Probably to the latter, including the thought of suffering as one item in God's work of loving favour. Their privileges were part of God's eternal purpose, the extension of God's "favour" to Gentiles (i. 10) had been long foretold and is now revealed. It is on that "favour" that they are to set their hope (i. 13). Husbands and wives are fellow-heirs of the "favour" or free gift of life iii. 7. God's "favour" is only bestowed upon the humble V. 6 : let them therefore humble themselves to bear the discipline of suffering which He is sending upon them. It is the God of all "favour" who called them to eternal glory in Christ (v. 10) : if the road to that glory leads through a short tract of suffering it is no mark of disfavour but rather of favour, because such suffering is the prelude to the glory. The three main topics of the Epistle are : (a) the privileges of Christians, {h) the consequent duties of Christians, (c) the present trials of Christians. These three topics respectively form the theme of the three sections into which the Epistle may be divided : (a) i.— ii. 10, (6) ii. 11— iv. 11, (c) iv. 12— v. 14. But the Epistle is no formal treatise capable of being strictly analysed, and the three topics are to some extent interwoven throughout. (a) The privileges of Christians. They are the New Israel of God, chosen by God's foreknowledge, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, sprinkled with the Blood of Christ as the Covenant Victim. They are begotten to a living hope of attaining to an incorruptible inheritance which has all along been kept in reserve for them. Prophets long ago foretold this OCCASION AND PURPOSE Ixxvii extension of God's favour to them. Angels are watching this development of God's all-embraeijtig plan of love with eager eyes. They have been ransomed from slavery, as Israel was from Egypt. They are living stones built into a holy Temple of which Christ is the corner stone. They are a holy nation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood. They are begotten by the word of God who lives and abides for ever. They are called to eternal glory. {h) The duties of Christians. Such privileges carry with them corresponding responsibilities. In the first section therefore St Peter bids his readers to gird themselves for active service with sober earnestness and confident hopefulness (i. 13). They must prove themselves obedient children. In the days of their ignorance it was more excusable to follow the shifting fashion of their own wayward desires, but now they have been called by One who is all-holy and therefore they must be holy (14 — 16). In claiming God as their Father they must remember that He is also the Judge, by whom everyman's work must be tried, and He will not shew partiality or favouritism to His children. They must therefore pass their time as sojourners in the world in reverent fear of offending God (17). The seed from which they are begotten is nothing less than the word of God who lives and abides for ever, its fruits in their lives should therefore be of the same character. Their love for their fellow-members in God's family must be heartfelt and un- relaxed. Malice, guile, hypocrisy or unkind talk must be put away (i. 22 — ii. 1). In the exercise of their "holy priesthood" they must offer spiritual sacrifices to God (ii. 5). As a "peculiar people" it is their task to proclaim the excellences of the God who has called them out of darkness (ii. 9). In the second section the duties of Christians are emphasized in fuller detail. They must remember that they are only settlers in the world whose true home is in heaven, but there are all kinds of fleshly lusts carrying on a constant campaign against their soul, and from these they must abstain (ii. 11). They mu^t set an example of honourable conduct to the heathen among whom they live (12). Ixxviii INTRODUCTION Though they are not of the world they are in the world and must submit to all the institutions which God has appointed for its orderly governance. The state, the household, the family are all intended to be earthly copies of divine ideals. As citizens they must honour the Emperor and magistrates, Christian liberty must not be misused as a cloak for social or political anarchy. They are only free because they are God's bondslaves. As such they must give all men their due honour, and towards their brethren in Christ this means love. Though they can no longer worship the Emperor, reverent fear of God in no way excludes but rather demands honour to the Emperor (ii. 13 — 17). As members of an earthly household the fear of God should prompt servants to submit to their masters, even though they may be unreasonable and awkward to deal with. To suffer in- justice with patience will win God's verdict of "well done." It is the path which the Master trod and the servant is called to tread in His steps (ii. 18 — 22). As members of an earthly home wives should submit to their husbands even though they are still heathen. The spectacle of a Christian wife's chaste conduct is a more potent force than argument to win her husband to the cause of Christ. Instead of outward finery the wife's truest adornment is a meek and quiet spirit. If they claim to have proved themselves true daughters of Sarah they must imitate her submission. The saintly women of old owed their charm to their persistence in well-doing, undisturbed by any excited exhibition of panic (iii. 1 — 6). But such submissive conduct on the part of the wife involves a corresponding duty on the part of a Christian husband. Husband and wife not only share an earthly home but are also co-heirs of the gift of life. Both are "chosen vessels" of God, but the wife is cast in a more fragile mould and therefore needs to be treated with the greater honour. Conjugal intercourse must be based upon this conception, otherwise the blessing promised to united prayer will be curtailed (iii. 7). Besides such particular duties there are obligations binding upon all Christians alike. Unanimity, sympathy, love as brethren, tenderness, humility should be the characteristics of the Christian society. There should be no spirit of retaliation of "evil for evil, or reviling for reviling." Rather curses should OCCASION AND PURPOSE Ixxix be met with blessings, for blessing is the special inheritance to which Christians are called. The allusion to evil and reviling suggests advice as to how it may be avoided by devoted well-doing (iii. 13). But if, in spite of all their efforts, Christians are called upon to suffer for right' eousness' sake they must not be panic-stricken. If only they keep the presence of Christ as their Master enshrined in their hearts, they will silence their revilers by living Christ-like lives, and must be ready to answer for their faith with meekness and reverent fear. Suffering should be faced in the same spirit with which Christ met His sufferings in the flesh (iv. 1). Their past career of heathen profligacy has been all too long. The remainder of their earthly life must be regulated by the will of God and not by the wayward desires of man (iv. 2). Christians should live in watch- fulness and soberminded prayer because the end of all things is approaching. Above all their love towards one another should never be relaxed (iv. 7 f ). They are stewards whom God has entrusted with varied gifts to be used in His service. Claims upon their hospitality should be met without a murmur. Those who have gifts of utterance must remember that their message is not their own but God's. Those whose duty it is to minister must do their work with all the strength that God gives them (iv. 10 f). In c. V. St Peter gives a special message to the Presbyters. He bids them shepherd God's flock not under a sense of compul- sion or with any sordid mercenary motives but willingly and gladly, not domineering over those entrusted to their care but leading them by their example (v. 1 — 4). Those who are junior in age or office should humbly submit to their seniors. In short all Christians should gird themselves with humility in their relations towards each . other, and above all in their attitude towards God, humbly submitting to whatever discipline of suffering He may impose upon them. To be anxious and worried is to distrust God's loving care (v. 5 — 7). (c) The jpresent trials of Christians. In i. 7 the varied trials through which Christians have to pass Ixxx INTRODUCTION are described as the smelting fire to test the puritj of their faith. In ii. 12 Christians are liable to be denounced as malefactors. In ii. 18 servants who suffer wrongfully are to bear it patiently. By so doing they may imitate Christ's example and follow in His steps. In iii. 9 Christians are to meet revilings with blessings, (iii. 13) Zealous devotion to what is good will probably spare them from injury, but if they should be required to suffer for righteousness' sake it is a blessed thing. If only they maintain a good conscience by persistent good conduct they may shame their maligners into silence. But if God's will should require them to suffer it is far better to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. Let them consider the sufferings of Christ. His death was: {a) The termination of sin once and for all (aira^). (b) The opportunity for new and wider service. By dying He was able to win access to God for the Gentiles (u/xay). Set free by death His human spirit was quickened for new activity in the world of spirits. He went and preached to the spirits in prison, (c) It was the prelude to glory. He who then suffered and died is now seated at the right hand of God, supreme over angels, principalities and powers. (iv. 1) Christians should therefore face sufferings in the flesh, armed with the same conceptions which enabled Christ to endure the Cross and despise the shame. They should regard suffering in the flesh as a means of terminating the old regime of sin and fleshly life, to live a new life unto God in the spirit. In iv. 12 St Peter again reminds his readers that sufferings are a smelting fire to test their faith and character. They must not therefore be regarded as a strange misfortune happening by chance. It should be a matter of joy to have fellowship in Christ's suffer- ings in order that they may have exultant joy at the revelation of His glory. To be reproached in the name of Christ is a blessed thing for it means that the spirit of that "glory" is already resting upon them. The process of judgment is already beginning and it starts with God's own household first. Even in these initial stages of judgment the process by which the righteous are judged and OCCASION AND PURPOSE Ixxxi saved is a painful one, but how far more terrible will the final stages be when the ungodly an{J. sinners are dealt with. Those who suffer according to God's will should commit their lives to Him, as to a faithful Creator, who may be trusted to deal justly with His own handiwork. In V. 6 — 10 Christians should submit humbly to God's hand in patiently enduring suffering. In one sense their sufferings are the work of Satan, for he employs them to try and devour his prey by inducing Christians to give way. But in another sense they are the accomplishment of a divine purpose of loving favour, and that same purpose is being accomplished in the Christian brotherhood in other parts of the world. In calling His children to His eternal glory in Christ God requires them to pass through a brief period of suffering, and He will provide them with what is necessary to refit, stablish and strengthen them. 9. Doctrine in 1 Peter. Nearly every clause in the Creed can be supported by passages in the Epistle. / believe in i. 2. According to the foreknowledge of God the Father God the Father. i. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, i. 17. If ye invoke as Father. Almighty iv. 11. To whom is the glory and the {TravroKpartap) Kparos for ever. v. 6. The mighty hand of God. Maker of heaven iv. 19. A faithful creator. and earth And in Jesus i. 3. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ His only Son our Loi'd iii. 14. Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. who was incarnate Christ's Body ii. 24, Flesh iii. 18, iv. 1, Blood i. 19, Human spirit iii. 18 are referred to. who suffered i. 11. The sufferings destined for Messiah. Ixxxii INTRODUCTION was crucified dead He descended into Hell He rose again He ascended into heaven He sitteth at the right hand of God He shall come again with glory. To judge both the quick and the dead ii. 21. ii. 23. not. iv. 1. iv. 13. Christ suffered for us. When He suffered He threatened Christ having suffered in the flesh. Ye have fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. V. 1. A witness of the sufferings of Christ, i. 2. Sprinkling of the Blood of Christ. ii. 24. Who bare our sins in His own Body on the tree, iii. 18. Christ died {aniOavt) for sins once, being put to death in the flesh, iii. 19. He went (in His human spirit quickened by death) and preached to the spirits in prison, i. 3. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, i. 21. God raised Him from the dead, iii. 21. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ, iii. 22. Having gone into heaven. i. 21. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory. iii. 22. Who is at the right hand of God, angels and principalities and powers being made subject to Him. i. 7, 13. At the revelation of Jesus Christ. iv. 13. At the revelation of His glory. V. 4. When the chief Shepherd is mani- fested. In St Peter the judgment is ascribed to God rather than to Christ. i. 17. If ye invoke as Father Him who without respect of persons judgeth accord- ing to every man's work. iv. 5. Who shall give account to Him who is in readiness to judge the quick and the dead. But in V. 4 the bestowal of the crown of life DOCTRINE IN T PETER Ixxxiii / believe in the Holy Ghost Who spake hy the 'prophets The Holy Catholic Church is connected with the manifestation of the chief Shepherd, i.e. Christ. i. 2. In sanctification of the Spirit. i. 12. Those that preached good tidings to you by the Holy Ghost sent from heaven. iv. 14. The Spirit of the glory even the Spirit of God doth rest upon you. (See note ad loc.) i. 20. Prophets — searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ (or Messiah) which was in them was signifying in testifying beforehand the sufferings destined for Messiah. (See note ad loc.) The full divinity of the Holy Spirit is implied by the fact that He is coupled with God the Father and mentioned before Jesus Christ in i. 2. Also the fact that the inspiration of O.T. prophets and Christian teachers is ascribed to Him, and that He now rests on believers in their sufferings presupposes His divinity and omnipresence. As there are so many indirect traces of Ephesians in this Epistle it is somewhat strange that neither the word iKKkrjaia nor the illustration of the Body of Christ should be found in it. But in i. 1 Christians are called iKkeicToi They are built as living stones into a spiritual temple of which Christ is the chief corner-stone. They are yevos €<- XfKTOv, ^aaiXeiov IcpaTev/xa, eBvos dyiov, Xaos fls iT€pnToir](riv. In other words they are the New Israel of God, which is practically what our Lord meant when He spoke of building His iKKkrjaia in the promise to St Peter, Mt. xvi. 18. Again the description of Christians as being "in Christ" iii. 16, v. 10, 14 implies Ixxxiv INTRODUCTION I believe in one Baptism for the remission of that they are regarded as members of His Body. Christians are a brotherhood, the house of God. The Christian society from which St Peter is writing is ^ awcKXeKTr). iii. 21. Baptism doth save us. The resurrection of the body The life This is not expressly mentioned but is implied in the "living hope" to which Christians are begotten again by the resurrection of Jesus Christ i. 3, and the instruction to rejoice in sufferings as a prelude to glory would be meaningless apart from a sure and certain hope of resurrection. Is implied in the "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away " i. 4, and also in the " crown of glory " v. 4, and the eternal glory to which Christians are called v. 10. Thus the only clauses of the Apostles' Creed for which no direct support is afforded by the Epistle are : He came down from heaven. Was conceived by the Holy Ghost, bom of the Virgin Mary. Under Pontius Pilate. Buried. The Communion of Saints. St Peter* s conception of God. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ i. 3. He is our Father but also our Judge, and will not shew any undue favouritism to His children i. 17. He is a faithful creator and therefore His creatures can entrust their souls to His keeping in perfect confidence despite man's cruelty or injustice iv. 19. He cares for us and therefore we can cast all our anxiety upon Him V. 7. He is a Being of absolute holiness who demands that His children should be holy i. 15 — 16. He lives and abides for ever i. 23. His purpose of redemption was foreknown to Him before DOCTRINE IN I PETER Ixxxv the foundation of the world i. 2, 20. It is He who begets us again to a living hope i. 3. He calls us i. 15. He is a God of all favour, even in the discipline of suflfering by which He calls us to glory V. 10. His eyes are over the righteous and His ears open to their prayer but His face is against those that do evil iii. 12. All human institutions whether in the state, the household or the family are ordained by Him ii. 13 — iii. 7. He is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls ii. 25. The Church is His flock v. 2. His temple ii. 5. His house iv. 17. Christians are His stewards and are intended to use all His varied gifts in His service iv. 10. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble v. 5. St Peter's conception of Jesus Christ. He is very Man. He suffered in the flesh iv. 1, was put to death in the flesh iii. 18, and thereby was quickened in His (human) spirit for further work in the unseen world. His blood as the Covenant Victim is sprinkled upon Christians i. 1. It was the price of their redemption i. 19. In character He was sinless, a Lamb without spot or blemish i. 19. He did no sin neither was guile found in His mouth ii. 22. He was patient under sufferings and injustice, because He committed Himself to the just judgment of God ii. 23. In fact He was the ideal Servant of the Lord described in Isaiah liii. He is our example ii. 21, our High Priest through whom our spiritual sacrifices must be presented ii. 5. He presents men to God iii. 18. He has ascended into heaven and is at the right band of the Father exalted above all angelic powers iii. 22. Suffering in His name is a high privilege iv. 14. He will be manifested as the chief Shepherd v. 4. His revelation is referred to i. 7, 13. A few passages, if isolated and exaggerated, might be mis- interpreted as suggesting that Christ was a subordinate Being, e.g. He was foreknown by God i. 20, raised from the dead by God i. 21, chosen by God ii. 4. In i. 3 God is described as His God and Father. But such a view is disproved by numerous other passages. He is our Lord i. 3. He is coupled with the Father and the Holy Spirit i. 2. He is to be sanctified as Lord in our hearts iii. 15, language which in Isaiah viii. 13 is applied to Jehovah of hosts. Ixxxvi INTRO D UCTION Similarly other passages which refer to Jehovah in the O.T., "0 taste and see that the Lord is gracious" (Ps. xxxiv. 8 ; 1 Pet. ii. 3) and the stone of stumbling — the corner-stone (Isaiah xxviii. 16 — of the presence of Jehovah) 1 Pet. ii. 6, are applied to Christ. The description of Christians as being "in Christ" iii. 16, v. 14 implies His divinity. It is only "through Christ" that Christians are faithful as resting in God. "Through Him" their spiritual sacrifices are offered ii. 5. "Through Him" God is glorified by the faithfulness of His members iv. 11. "In Him" Christians are called by God to eternal glory v. 10. Again St Peter's doctrine of the atonement is that Christ bare our sins ii. 24, that by His stripes we were healed ii. 24 — that His death was the termination of the regime of sin once and for all iii. 18, and is intended to produce similar death unto sin in His members ii. 24, iv. 1, that by His blood the Gentiles were redeemed from the slavery of sin i. 18, that by dying Christ presented them (who were once far off) to God iii. 18. All this would be unintelligible if St Peter regarded Jesus as nothing more than a human martyr. 10. The Greek Text and Versions. The Greek Text. (1) Uncial Manuscripts written in capitals. K. Codex Sinai ticus (fourth century), discovered by Tischendorf at Mount Sinai, now at St Petersburg. A. Codex Alexandrinus (fifth century) in the British Museum. B. Codex Vaticanus (fourth century) in the Vatican Library at Rome. C. Codex Ephraemi (fifth century), a palimpsest with some of the works of Ephraem Syrus (299—378) written over the original text, now in the Royal Library at Paris. K. Codex Mosquensis (ninth century) contains the Catholic and Pauline Epistles and came from the Monastery of St Dionysius on Mount Athos. L. Codex Angelicus (ninth century) contains part of Acts, the Catholic Epistles and the Pauline with part of Hebrews. It belongs to the Augustinian Monks at Rome. GREEK TEXT AND VERSIONS Ixxxvii P. Codex Porphyrianus (ninth century) contains the Acts, all the Epistles, the Apocalypse and a few fragments of 4 Maccabees. It was found by Tischendorf in 1863 in the pos- session of Bishop Porphyry. It is a palimpsest with fragments of the commentary of Euthalius written over the original text. These are the only uncial MSS. of the Catholic Epistles. (2) Minuscules or cursive MSS. expressed by numerals. Of these the most important are: 13 ( = 33 Gosp. 17 St Paul) (ninth century). 31 ( = 69 Gosp. 37 St Paul) (fourteenth century) at Leicester. 34 ( = 61 Gosp. 40 St Paul) (fifteenth or sixteenth century). (3) Versions. Latin. Only a few fragments of 1 Peter are extant in Old Latin vss. m ( = the speculum of Mai) and g. The Latin Vulgate (lat. vg) was made by Jerome 385 a.d., of which countless MSS. are extant. Syriac. (a) The Peshitto (syr vg) (? third century). (6) The Harclean (syr hi) (seventh century) based on an older version of Philoxenus (sixth century). Egyptian. (a) The Bohairic or Memphitic, the version of Lower Egypt (? second century). (b) The Sahidic or Thebaic, not much later, the version of Upper Egypt. Armenian (fifth century). 11. Literature. For a fuller list of literature bearing upon the Epistle see Dr Chase's Article, Hastings' B. of B. iii. 817 f. The following commentaries or books may be mentioned in alphabetical order : Alford, fourth edition, 1871. Bigg, International Critical Commentary^ 1901. Ixxxviii INTRODUCTION Chase, Articles on "St Peter," and "1 Peter," Hastings' D. of B. iii. 756—796. Cook, Speaker's Commentary^ 1881. Hort, on 1 Peter i. 1— ii. 17, 1898. Hort, Christian Ecclesia^ 1897. Hort, Judaistic Christianity, 1894. Kiihl, sixth edition, Meyer's Commentary, 1897. Leigh ton. Devotional Exposition, 1845. Lightfoot, "St Paul and the Three" in Oalatians, 1865. Lightfoot, " St Peter in Rome " in Clement II, 481 ff. Mason, in EllicotVs Commentary, 1883. Masterman, on 1 Peter, 1900. Plumptre, in Cambridge Bible for Schools, 1880. Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, 1893. nETPOY A 1 ^n ETP02 aTr6a-To\o<; ^Irja-ov l^picTTOv eV\e/CT0?9 trap€TnhriixoL<; hiacnropafi YiovTov, VaXaria^i, Kainra- BoKLa^i, 'Acrta?, koI BiOvi^ia^i, ^/cara Trpoyvcoaiv deov TraTpo^;, iv aytacrfJLw 7n/€v/jLaT0<;, et? viraKor^v fcal pavrtafiov aifxaTO^ Irjaov ^pua-rov' %«/3t9 vpulv koI eiprjVT} 7r\r)6vpdeL7}. ^Kv\oy7}ro<; 6 ^€09 /cat irarrjp rov Kvplov tj/jlmv ^Irjaov Xpva-Tov, 6 Kara to ttoXv avrov eXeo? dvayev- vrjcrava<^ tt}? hiavoia^ vfifaVy VTj^ovTe^ reXe^ft)?, eXirla-aTe eirl ttjv (l>epo/iiev7jv vfilv Xdpiv iv diroKaXvylret ^Irjaov ^ptarrov. ^^co? reKva v7raKorj<;, fir) Gvvr)Te' ^^etSore? otl oy lAyTpoieHTe e/c t^9 fiaTala^: vfJL&v dvaa-Tpo(f>r}<; TraTpoirapaBoTov, ^^dXXd Tifiia) ai/JLaTL o)? d/jLVOv d/jLcofiov koX da-irCXov }^pi(TTov, ^^irpoeyvaxT/JLevov /jlcv irpo KaTa^oXrj^ Koa/Jbov, - OevTO^ he iir ia")(^dT0v t&v ^P^^^^ ^^' vfid^ ^^Tov^i Si avTov iri(TTovd6vovr) to Xoyi/cov dSoXov ydXa iimro- OrjaaTe, Xva iv avTM av^rjdrJTe elq aa)Tt]piav, ^ei ereycAcGe oti xphctoc 6 Kypioc. ^7rpo<; ov Trpoo-ep^o/jLevoc, AiGoN ^(ovTa, vnro dvOpdyircov fjuev AnoAeAoKiMACMeNON irapd Be d€a> eKAeKTON entimon ^kol avTol co? XlOol fwi/re? olKoBofjueto-Oe oIko^ 7rv€v/JLaTCK0<; ek lepdTevfia dyiov, dveveyKai TrvevfjuaTtKa^; Ovaia^ evirpoaBe/CTOv^ OeS Bid ^Irjcrov ^pLCTTOv' ^Blotl irepUx^i' eV ypacj)!) 'IAOY TIGHMI CN ZlOiN AlGON IkAEKTON AKpOfCONIAToN ENTIMON, KAI 6 niCTeyooN en' ayto! oy mh kataicxynGh. '^V/JlIp oZv 7) TlflTj TO 69 7ri(TT€V0V(7l,V' dTTLa-TOVaiV Bk Ai'eoc ON AneAoKiMACAN 01 oiKoAoMOYNTec OYTOC ereNH0H eic K6(1)AAhN rOONIAC ^Kal Al0OC npOCKOMMATOC KAI neTpA ckanAaAoy" ot TTpoa-KOTTTOvaLV Tc5 X6y(p direuOovvTefi' eh o KoX eTedrjcrav. ^vfjueh Be reNOC ckAckton, BACiAeiON lepATEYMA, e0Noc AfioN, Aaoc eic nepmoiHciN, onoac t^jIc ApeT^ic eSArreiAHTe tov ix (tkotov^ vfid<; KaXeo-avTc; eh TO OavfiaaTov avTov <^«9 • ^^oi iroTe OY Aaoc vvv Be Aaoc eeoY, ol oyK HAeHMeNOi vvv Be eAeHGeNTec. ^^' A.ya7rr)T0L, irapaKaXd &>? nApoiKoyc kai HApeniAH- MOYC d'iTe')(€y6fi6(7tv to? Be avTov Tre/ATTO/xej/ofc? eZ? eKBUrjo'tv KaKOiroiSiv eiraivov Be dr/adoTTOLMV ^^{ort ovr(o<; earrlv rb diXijfia tov deov, dyado7rotovvTa<; (fnfioiv ttjv tojv d(f)p6v(ov dv6 p(Diro)v dyveoatav) ^^co? iXevOepoi, koX fjur) co? iiriKaXv/jb/xa €')(pvTe6^(p dyvrjv dvaa-rpocprjv vfimv. ^cov earrco ov'^^ 6 e^eoOev ifiTrXoKrjt; rpiyoov koI TTepiOeaea)^ 'X^pvalcov rj €v8v(T€0)<; IfjuarLcov Koa-fMO^, *dW' 6 KpviTTO^ T7J^ KapBlat; dv6p(07ro6dpTa) tov rfO'Vxi'OV i^cui 7rpa€(o<; 7rvev/jLaTo<;, 6 iarcv ivcoiriov tov deov iroXvTeXi^. ^ovTco^ yap irore Kot al dyiai yvvaiKe^ at iXiri^ova-ai, €t9 deov eKoa/jbovv eavrdf;, vTroTaa-ao/jievai Tolv ol iirrjped^^ovTe^ Vficov TTjv dyaOrjv iv 'Kpiarw dvaaTpo Kal Tol^ iv (j>v\aK'^ Trvevfiao-cv 7rop6vdel<; iKijpv^ev, ^^direiOrjcrao-Lv iroTe ore aTref eSe^^ero rj tov 6eov fiaKpo- 6vfiLa iv r)/jLepai,<; NoSe KaTaarKeva^o/Jbivrjf; ki^cotov eh rjv okiyoi, tovt eaTLv oktq) '^v')(ai, SteacodTjaav Bo vBarof;. ^^o Kal vfid^ avTirvirov vvv adt^et ^dTTTLafia, ov aapKOf; diroOecn^ pvirov dWd (TvveiBr}(Te(o<; dyadrjf; iirepdyTTj/jba eh Oeov, Be dvaaTdcrecD^ ^Itjo-ov Xpto-roi), ^^09 i(TTtv In AeliA eeoY iropevdeh eh ovpavov viroTa- yevTOiv avTw dyyektov Kal i^ovcTtcov Kal Bvvd/juecov. 4 ^XptaTov ovv iradovTO^ crapKl Kal vfieh rrjv avrrfv evvoiav oirXiaaaOe, oti 6 TraOcov aapKl ireTravrai, dfj,apTLai<}, ^eh to fiijKeTt dvdpd)7rcov i'm6vtiiaL<^ dXkd OeXrj/iiaTC Oeov tov iirLXoLirov iv aapKl ^cwo-at ')(^p6vov. ^dpKeTo<; yap 6 irapeXrjXvOcb'i %/)W09 to ^ovXijfia tmv iOvodv KaTeipydaOat, ireTropev/Jbevovfi iv daeXyelaif;, i7n6vfjLiaL<;, olvo^Xvyiai<;, Kd)/jL0i,7}- fjLovvTepovria-aT€ otfv KOL vrjylraTe et? TT/ooo-eu^a? • ^irpo iravrcov rrjv eh eavTov<; dydiTTjv eKrevrj e^oi/T€9, otl aVahh KAAynrei 7r\rjdo<; AMAprioaN* ^(pcXo^evoc eh dWrjXovf; dvev yoyyvcTfiov* ^^eKacTTO^ Kada)<; eXa^ev '^dpLO'fjLaj eh eavTov^i avTO hiaKovovvre^ ot)':; Kokol OLKOvofioi, 7roc/clXr)<; 'XdpLTo^ deov' ^^el rc^ XaXel, ox; Xoyta Oeov' eo rt? SiaKoveL, (»9 ef i(7')(yoavep(o6evrof; rov a/^X*- TTOLfievo^; KOfiielade rov dfJiapdvTLvov rrj^ S6^r}<; aTeN enipiV^NTec en avTov, otl avTot /niXei irepl v/jlcjv. ^'NijyjraTc, jprjyoprfaaTe. 6 clvtI^lko^ vfio)v SidfioXoi; CW9 Xecov ODpvo/jLevo^ irepLTraTel ^tjtcov /caTaTrcelv ^o5 dvriaTTjre a-Tcpeol Trj irLarei, et^ore? rd avTa twv TraOrj/jLaTCOV t^ iv ro) Koafio) v/jlwv dhe\^6Tr)ri iiriTe- XelaSav. ^^'O he deo^ irdarj^; ')(apno^, 6 Ka\eaa<^ Vfid^ eh TTjv alwvtov avTov ho^av iv l^piaTw, oXlyov 7rad6vTa<; avTo^ KaTapTtaeL, (TTrjpl^ei, adevooaei. ^^avTOf TO KpdTOpovp€Lv to stand sentry over either to prevent escape, as in 2 Cor. xi. 32 (where the parallel passage in Acts ix. 24 has irapaTTfpelv), or to guard against attack, protect. Cf. Phil. iv. 7; Gal. iii. 28. Here the perfect participle, TeTrjprjtiiprjv, means that the inherit- ance destined by God to be extended to the Gentiles {els vfids) has been safely laid by in reserve in heaven all through the long years of 1 5] NOTES 21 silence when God's mercy in including the Gentiles in the covenant was not yet made known (cf. Rom. xvi. 25; Eph. iii. 5 — 11; 1 Pet. i. 11 — 12). The present participle, tppovpov/xivovs, describes the present position of Christians as heirs who still need God's constant protec- tion in order to attain to final salvation. 4v ovpavois suggests another mark of superiority of the Christian's inheritance as compared with the earthly Canaan. 6. €v 8vvdn€t 06OV may describe the fortress in which or the garrison by which the Christian is guarded. Sid irf6T]vai Iv Kaipw Icrxdro). Dr Chase (Hastings, D. of B. III. 795) connects these words with KX-qpovofiiap, and inter- prets iv Kaip(^ ^(rx in the same sense as iir' icx^-fov tQv xP^^^^ i^ i. 20 as referring to the Messianic age which is described in prophecy as "the last days" (Is. ii. 2; Hos. iii. 5; Mic. iv. 1). The actual phrase, Kaipbs ^crxaros, does not occur, but Kaipbs is used in eschato- logical passages in Daniel and in the N. T. {e.g. 1 Pet. iv. 17 ; Kev. i. 3). According to this interpretation the clause is correlative to TeTTjprjfi^vrjv iv ovpavois. It is however more natural to take the clause with the immediately preceding word aojTrjpiav, in which case /caipy eQ)$ els diroKd\v\{/iv idvQp Kal db^av XaoO aov ^lapaifK. 6. Iv w d-yaXXiao-dc. Dr Hort, recognizing the difficulty of con- necting these words with /catpy ^(tx^tv i^ ^^^ sense of ' ' season of extremity," would make ^ masculine — "In whom," i.e. Christ. This would match the following phrase : eh 8p iria-TeijoPTes dyaXKiSiTe. But if Kaipt^ iaxd'Tifi means the Messianic age in which the readers were living, ip (^ can be taken in its more obvious grammatical connexion 1 7] NOTES 23 and would mean "living in that age as you do." Another interpreta- tion would be to take ev q5 as neuter (cf. ii. 12, iv. 4) = wherein, i.e. in the thought of your new birth and its privileges. d7(xXXia(r6c must be taken as present indicative (not imperative) in view of the dyaWtdre in v. 8. The active only occurs again in Lk. i. 47 and in Rev. xix. 7 (v. L). Dr Hort suggests that the middle voice may here denote a state of exultation caused by God's dealings, while the active regards exultation more as their own act. But a more usual distinction is that the middle denotes inward feeling and the active merely states a fact {e.g. xxTrepeiv = to lack; vTiTat. Even prophets, despite their divine mission, were less privileged than Christians. They sought and searched for the full meaning of God's messages which they delivered. Now that meaning is fully proclaimed, cf. Matt. xiii. 17. 11. els riva TJ TToiov Katpov, searching (to discover) what or what manner of season was pointed to {els). If God withheld from them the precise time when His promises were to be fulfilled, they desired at least to know whether it was to be in the immediate or only in the distant future. irv€v)j.a XpwTTov can haiWly mean " the Spirit which spake of 1 11] NOTES 29 Christ," taking Xpia-rov as an objective genitive. Nor is it likely to mean merely the Spirit which in after days dwelt in Christ. It might mean the Spirit belonging to or 'proceeding from Christ Himself. Certainly the Holy Spirit is described as irvevfjia. Xpt0Ti. In answer to their searching enquiry the prophets, says St Peter, though " it was not for them to know the times and seasons which the Father set within His own authority," were nevertheless permitted to realize that the messages which they were delivering as God's ministers (dtrjKdpovu) were not for their own times or their own people only, but that the manifestation of Messiah belonged to the far future and to all mankind. The teaching of the prophets had of course a primary message for their own times, but this did not exhaust its meaning. vvv means the Christian dispensation as contrasted with the earlier age of the prophets. dvTjY'y^XTi. The word occurs in Is. Hi. 15, oh oiK dvriyy^>^v irepl airov 6\f/ovTat, a passage which St Paul applies to his own missionary work among the Gentiles, Rom. xv. 21, and so here St Peter, in thinking of the announcement to Gentiles, perhaps borrowed the word from St Paul. The verb avayy^Xeiv in the N. T. retains its proper classical meaning of announcing in detail. So here the several facts of the Gospel and the implicit teachings and hopes involved in them are announced by Christian teachers. v^iv. The T.R. reads riixiv, which would mean "us Christians," but all the best MSS. read viuv, which suggests the Gentiles. 8id Tcov cvaY'YcXio-afj.^vwv vpids, hy the agency of those who gladdened you with good tidings. evayyeXi^eadai is used with an ace. of the person in Lk. and Acts, where the subject of the message is not given, otherwise the dative is used. The preachers referred to would include St Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Epaphras (see Col.), and others whose names are unknown, but St Peter does not definitely claim any personal share in the work, and we have no evidence that he had ever visited Asia Minor. irvcvjJiaTi aylt^ dirocrrciXevTi dir ovpavov. The T.R. has iv, an early Alexandrian interpolation, and the simple dative is almost unique. The "dynamic" dative describes that in virtue of which a thing exists or is done. The " instrumental " sense is only one aspect of this. TTuevfjia dyiov without the article might mean one who is none other than a spirit of holiness (cf. ,Heb. i. 2, iXdXrjaev ijfuv kv vl(^ = cm& who is a Son and no mere prophet). It was the same Holy Spirit who "spake by the prophets," but the mode of His operation 1 13] NOTES 31 was different. The outpouring of the Spuit, His mission to the world as sent {airoaraXhTi.) by the Son from the Father did not take place until after the Ascension, cf. Jn vii. 39, oUttu yap r)v irvevfxa Sri'Irjaovs oHirta edo^dcrdrj. irc4>aKv\|/ai. K^Trreiv and its compounds are used of bending the body up, down, or forwards, e.g. kui/'os = stooping down, (rvyK^TTTetv = to be bowed together, avaKvirreiv = to straighten oneself or look up. So irapaK^TTTeLv means to stretch the head forward to look into or down upon something. It is used of St John '* peeping into" the tomb (Jn XX. 5) and again in Jas. i. 25 of a man who "glances into the perfect law of liberty." So in the Book of Henoch (ix. i. p. 83, ed. Dillm.), from which St Peter may be borrowing here, it is used of the four archangels "looking down" upon the earth out of the sanctuary of heaven. The angels are described as spectators of the Christian's conflict in 1 Cor. iv. 9, d^arpov iyevqdrjfxev . . .dyy^Xois. They rejoice over one sinner that repents, Lk. xv. 10. They were watching the unfolding of the mystery of God's loving purpose for the world in the Incarna- tion [uiipdi] dyy^Xois, 1 Tim. iii. 16). So here the admission of the Gentiles is a further unfolding of that mystery pointing forward to "the final consummation of all things," and each stage is watched with eager longing eyes by God's angels as they " look down " upon the world. Similarly in Eph. iii. 10 St Paul says that the admission of the Gentiles into the Church is a making known of the manifold wisdom of God to principalities and powers in heavenly places. This thought adds dignity to the position of Christians as God's "chosen people." Their "election" is due to the Father's fore- knowledge, it is effected by the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, and sealed by the sprinkled blood of Christ as the covenant victim. They are begotten to a new life by the resurrection. A glorious inheritance is theirs. Their salvation was no new thing — no afterthought. It was the subject of anxious search on the part of the prophets who foretold it, and its future development is watched by angels with eager anticipation. Intboductory Exhortation founded upon the Benediction. 1. 13— ii. 10. 13 — 25. The new life of hope, faith and privilege to which you have 13 been begotten involves corresponding responsibilities on your part. You must gird up the loins of your mind in readiness for active service, have all your faculties under perfect command, and set your 32 / PETER [1 13— hope upon God's favour which is ever being brought to you in the 14 progressive unveiling to you of Jesus Christ. Eemember that as God's children you are pledged to hearken to His voice and follow His guidance. You must not follow the fashion of your old heathen days, when you had no rule of life beyond your own erratic impulses. 15 You have been called by the Holy One, therefore you yourselves also 16 must shew yourselves to be holy in all your dealings. The ideal which God has laid down for you is nothing less than to imitate Him. 17 You must not presume upon your sonship (any more than might the Jews). In addressing God as "Our Father" you must remember that He is also your Judge. Under the New Covenant as under the Old, He will shew no favouritism to the children of the covenant if their works prove them to be unworthy of favour. Do not then be over confident or reckless. In all your sojourning as strangers in the world your dealings with those around you must be regulated by a sense of responsibility, by a reverent fear of being untrue to your high 18 position. You are God's ransomed people rescued (like Israel from Egypt) from the slavery of your old vain heathen life, a slavery intensified by the inherited instincts and habits of past centuries of ancestors. Eemember how much your deliverance cost. It was no 19 perishable ransom of silver or gold. It was nothing less than the inestimably precious Blood of Christ, who is our true Paschal Lamb, 20 without inherent blemish or external stain of sin, a victim designated by God before the foundation of the world, but only manifested in the fulness of time at the end of the long series of periods of 21 preparation for the sake of you Gentiles who through Him are faithful as resting upon God who raised Him from the dead and crowned Him with glory. God Himself then is the centre and object 22 not only of your faith but also of your hope. In your conversion and your Baptism you profess, by virtue of the obedience which springs from your possession of the truth, to have purified and consecrated your souls to enter into the spirit of your sonship by unfeigned love from the heart for your brethren in Christ. Fulfil that vow of consecration then by loving one another, not fitfully but with 23 strenuous and steady earnestness. A living and abiding love such as that is alone consistent with the new life into which you have been begotten. Your character, your love, ought to conform to the seed from which you are sprung, and that seed is no transient, perishable thing ; it is incorruptible, it is the Word of God who liveth and 24 abideth for ever. For (to apply to you the prophet's message assuring exiled Israel of the certainty of God's promise of deliverance despite the weakness of all human hopes) the natural life of 1 14] NOTES 33 heathenism is perishable like grass, its brightness and attractiveness is as transient as that of flowers, it soon withers and wastes, but the 25 word of Jehovah abideth for ever. 'And that word, originally spoken to Israel, is the message of good tidings which was extended to you Gentiles. 13. 8io sums up all the preceding verses = on the strength of such a position of privilege and dignity. dvat<«)o-d|JL€vot. Girding up the loins is a symbol of prompt readiness for active service as opposed to slackness and indolent heedlessness. So our Lord told His disciples that they must have their loins girded as servants waitiug for their lord (Lk. xii. 35), but ava^. only occurs here and in Prov. xxxi. 17. As St Peter in v. 18 describes his readers as " ransomed " by the Blood of the true passover lamb, it is possible that he may also have in mind the direction to Israel to " have their loins girded " at the first Passover (Ex. xii. 11) in readiness to avail themselves of the deliverance and start on their journey to inherit the Promised Land. So Christians need to brace up their minds, otherwise their hope will not be set towards the favour which is being brought to them, and they may forfeit the deliverance and the inheritance. vii<|)ovT€S TtXcCws. reXe/ws is generally joined with the followiug word eXiriaaTe ; so A.V. hope to the end, R.V. set your hope perfectly on. But St Peter's usual custom is to join adverbs with the preceding word, and so it is better here to translate being perfectly sober. The Christian must not ouly have his mind braced for action (di'ttfaxrd/iei'oi), but all his faculties must be under perfect control, with no confusion, no unhealthy excitement. cirl. Set your hope in the direction of. You must turn to God's free favour to you as the ground upon which your hope of glory must rest. €po|jt^vTiv. The word is used in Acts ii. 2 of the '^rushing mighty wind." Here the idea seems to be that God's loving favour is continually being conveyed to mankind in the ever-widening, ever- deepening revelation of Jesus Christ in the expansion of the Church and the daily life and experience of the Christian, But in this life we only see Him " in a glass darkly," but one day the veil will be entirely removed and we shall see Him " face to face." 14. (OS r(Kva viraKOTJs. The /or/;i of the expression is a Hebraism (cf. sons of Belial), but (as in the parallel passage, Eph. ii. 2, rots vlots TTJs direideias) the phrase is used by St Peter to mean more than merely *' obedient children." " Children of obedience" are those who belong to obedience as a child to its mother. The impulses and principles I PETEB C 34 / PETER [1 14— which mould their lives are derived from it, and they are the representatives or exponents of it to others. To have been "begotten again " by God [v. 3) demands the character of obedience on the part of His covenant children. They must ever listen to His voice and follow His guidance, striving to be like their Father. ^x\ -/), the permanent and essential form ; cf. Phil. iii. 21. So here conduct which is ruled by capricious desires has no con- sistent inner principle or fixed pattern (fiop^rj), but is unstable and at the mercy of transient outward circumstances, "the fashion (crx^Ata) of this world which passeth away" (1 Cor. vii. 31). €V T^ d-yvoCq, v\i.(i»v. In St Peter's speech. Acts iii. 17, dyvoia is used to describe the condition of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ, but it is much more commonly used of the heathen world, cf. Acts xvii. 30 ; Eph. iv. 18. So here St Peter is probably con- trasting the present condition of his readers with their former condition as heathen when they had no knowledge of God on which to model their lives. 15. KarciTov KaX^cavra vp.ds -n = your converse or intercourse with those around you. 17. d irartpa c-iriKaXeicrOe. If ye invoke as Father. iiriKaXeia-dai in the middle does not mean merely to call a person by a certain name or title, but to invoke or appeal to for aid. It is the word used by St Paul, Acts xxv. 11, "I appeal unto Caesar," and of St Stephen appeaHng and saying, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," Acts vii. 59. Here there is very probably an allusion to the invocation of God as " Our Father " in the Lord's prayer. But the words may also be borrowed from Jer. iii. 19, where some MSS. of the LXX. read el iraTipa KaXeiadi (or iiriKaXeiffd^) fie, though the best text is elira Ilar^pa Ka\4creT4 fxe. The sense of sonship which allows us to invoke God as " Our Father " "in the words which Christ Himself hath taught us " does not warrant any presumption on our part. We must not forget that God is also " the Judge of all the earth." aTrpoo'cdiroXijfjL'irTus. The adverb occurs nowhere else in the Greek Bible, but the adjective is used by the Fathers, and the substantive irpoatJwoX'rjfiTrTrjs occurs in St Peter's speech to Cornelius, Acts X. 34, and irpoffiioTrohriixypia in Eom. ii. 11 with reference to God. It is not a classical word, but is based upon the Hebrew NJJ^J "•iD, to receive the face of, so to favour a person, either in a good sense to receive favourably or in a bad sense of undue favour, 02 36 / PETER [1 17— partiality. As applied to God in the N.T., it is generally used with reference to His dealings with Jews and Gentiles, that both are treated alike by Him. But, on the other hand, equality of favour implies impartiality of judgment for all. The children of the new covenant will not be treated with undue leniency if their works prove them to be unworthy of God's favour any more than were the children of the old covenant, as they were warned by Moses, Deut, x. 17. KptvovTtt. The present participle may be a reminder that God's judgment is not merely future but continually exercised, or it may be merely a descriptive participle. Kara to cKdorrov ^p^ov (cf. Kom. ii. 6 ff.). Every man, whether he be Jew, Gentile or heathen, is judged according to the sum of his personal actions in thought, word and deed. Iv <|>oPa>. The thought of God as " Our Father" can give us hope and love, but the reminder that He is also our Judge should inspire us with reverent fear. Not the shrinking fear of the slave (Rom. viii. 15), for that is " cast out" by perfect love (1 Jn iv. 18), not the fear of the coward (1 Pet. iii. 14), but the fear of being untrue to God, which makes a man bold in the face of all other dangers (Matt. x. 28 |l). irapoiKCas. In one sense these Asiatic Christians were sojourners among a heathen population with whom they were brought into constant intercourse (dvaa-rpdcpTjTe). In another sense all Christians are men whose true "citizenship is in heaven " (Phil. iii. 20). This world is not their home, but only the place of their temporary sojourn. 18. clSoTCs. The thought of what their deliverance has cost increases the responsibility of Christians to "walk worthily." €Xvtp«9t]t€, ye were ransomed. The word is used of deliverance from slavery or from exile, e.g. of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Ex. vi. 6, xv. 13, etc.). So St Stephen speaks of Moses as XvTpioT-^s. Again Isaiah Hi. 3, speaking of the deliverance from Babylon, says, oii fxerd apyvpiov XvTpcodrja-eade. In Lk. ii. 38 Anna •' spake of Jesus to all those that were looking for the redemption (XrirpwaLv) of Jerusalem" (R.V.), referring to the Messianic king- dom as the deliverance from foreign rule ; cf. Lk. xxiv. 21, " We hoped that it was He which should redeem (KvTpova-dai) Israel." Similarly Christians are to welcome the signs of the coming of the Son of Man as a token that their redemption draweth nigh, i.e. their deliverance, Lk. xxi. 28. So sin is regarded as a state of slavery from which man needs deliverance, and in Eph. i. 7, Col. i. 14, St Paul defines aTToKtJTpiocns as dcpeaLs TrapairTWfidTwv or afxapTLwu, letting go free from sins, and in Titus ii. 14 he says that " Christ Jesus gave Himself on 1 19] NOTES 37 our behalf that he might redeem {XvTpibarrrai) from all iniquity and purify unto himself a people for his own possession," just as Israel were made God's "peculiar people" by being "purchased and redeemed of old. " So here St Peter regards the old heathen life of his readers as a state of slavery from which they have been ransomed. But besides the mere idea of rescue or deliverance the word XvTpovadai suggests also deliverance by the payment of a ransom by another, and the ransom given for man's deliverance from the slavery of sin was the life-blood of Christ Himself ; cf. Matt. xx. 28 ; Mk x. 45, "The Son of Man came... to give His life a ransom for many" {X&rpov dvrl ttoXXcDj') ; cf. 1 Tim. ii. 6, 6 Sous eavrbv avTiXvrpov virkp wdvTOiv. So here the blood, as representing the surrendered life, is the ransom; cf. Kev. i. 5, "to him that loosed us {XiJcravTi, not \oi^o-a»'ri = washed, as T.E.) from our sins {iv ry al'/xari avrov) at the price of his own blood." We must not, however, over-press the metaphor and ask to whom the ransom was paid. Most of the early Fathers regarded the ransom as paid to the devil as being the slave- owner. Such a thought is abhorrent to us, yet the other suggested alternative that the price was paid to the Father would imply that the Father's pardon required to be bought, whereas " God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son," and in one passage (Acts XX. 28) the Father Himself seems to be described as the ransomer or purchaser. Cf. Eev. xiv. 3, 4. ^K TT]S jiaraCas v\imv dvafvav€p&>6€VT0S. The eternal purpose of God was not manifested to the world until the "fulness of the times" was come ; cf. 1 Tim. ii. 6 and Rom. xvi. 25, 26. CTT* ItrxttTOv T«v xpovwv, at the end of the times, cf. /cat/x^ iaxdrtf^ V. 5. The Christian dispensation is regarded as the climax for which all the earlier periods of God's dealings with the world were pre- paratory. Cf. 1 Cor. x. 11, the story of Israel in the wilderness was written " for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come"; Heb. i. 2, God has spoken to us by the Sou, iv e^xdrov tQp rjfiepQv To^Tuw, ix. 26, Christ sacrificed Himself "at the end of the ages," iirl (xvPTekdq. rdv aloiviav. 1 22] NOTES 39 21. 8t* vfias, for the sake of you Gentiles, cf. Eph. iii. 5; Eom. xvi. 26. The revelation of Christ was made for your sake, because it is through Christ that you are enabled to be faithful as resting upon God {iriarovs ei's de6v). Tnarbs in the LXX. never means "believing" or trustful, but is used to translate the Hebrew word )DS: = firm, secure. As applied to persons, a firm friend is one who is trust- worthy, and so irLards acquired the meaning trustworthy, faithful. But in the N.T. the active use of tt'lctls, viz. belief, is much more common than the passive trustworthiness, fidelity, and so the adjective iriarbs is occasionally used in the sense of believing — e.g. six times in the Pastoral Epp., possibly also in Eph. i. 1 and Col. i. 1 — and with a new application of Abraham's old title in Gal. iii. 9. It is also used in the sense of a believer as opposed to aTnaTos, an unbeliever, in Jn xx. 27 ; 2 Cor. vi. 15 ; and without aTrto-ros in Acts xvi. 1. But there is no instance of Ticrrbs in the sense of believing, followed by a preposition. So here Hort would translate " faithful as resting on God " rather than believers in God (as the B.V.). If St Peter had intended this he would have written irLarev- ovras, which is the reading of the T.R. Moreover, in that case, the words which follow at the end of the verse would be a meaningless repetition. The remembrance that death led to resurrection and glory in the case of Christ enables the Christian to be " faithful unto death" as leading to the crown of life; cf. Heb. ii. 9, Jesus is crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, and this perfecting of the Captain of their salvation through sufferings befits God's purpose in bringing many sons to glory; cf. Rom. viii. 17. «iXa8€Xiav. Self-consecration as obedient children of God necessarily pledges you to (et's) love of the brethren. (piXadeXipia does not mean merely "brotherly love," but love of the Christian brother- hood ; cf. ii. 17, and 1 Jn v. 1. There can be no true sonship of God without true brotherhood with the other children of "Our Father." dvuiroKpiTOV. This love of our brethren in Christ must be no mere cant phrase, no unreal pretence. Cf. Kom. xii. 9, 2 Cor. vi, 6. It must spring from the heart and must be intense {eKTevais), not fitful or capricious, but steady and strenuous. For iKrev-^s, applied to love, cf. iv. 8, and to prayer cf. Lk. xxii. 44, Acts xii. 5 ; cf. also Acts xxvi. 7. 23. dvaY€7€VVTi(i.€voi ; cf. i. 3, the only other place where the word occurs. The verses which follow state the obligation and the source of Christian love. They have been brought into a new state of existence, they are born into a new divine sonship, and it is their common sonship which constitutes their new brotherhood with each other. Love is the essential characteristic of life derived from God, for. '*God is Love." The proof of true sonship is to inherit the Father's nature ; cf. 1 Jn iv. 7, ttSs 6 dyairQv iK tov deov yeyippTjrai. Christian love must be unfeigned [dwwoKpiTos) and earnest (c/cTevTjs), because the seed from which it springs is nothing less than "the word of God who lives and abides for ever." The fruit of that seed therefore must also be " living" and "abiding," with no fading, no decay. 8ia Xo'-yov £«vtos 0€ov Kal |jl€vovtos. ^Qvtos koI (jiApoptos are generally explained as agreeing with \6yov on the following grounds : (1) that the point of the quotation which follows is that the word (prjiJia) of God abideth for ever ; (2) that some epithet is needed for Xoyov, the seed of Christian life, as contrasted with (pdaprrjs cnropds', (3) that the phrase ^wp \6yos occurs in Heb. iv. 12 ; cf. Xoyia ^ojura, Acts vii. 38 and Jn vi. 63, where our Lord says that His prjixara are fw^. 1 24] NOTES 41 On the other hand, the two epithets fwj/ and ijAvujv are together applied to God in Dan. vi. 26, and the contrast with ciropa. (pdaprri is even more marked by tracing the source of Christian life to the abiding life of God Himself. Xo-yov means more than the Gospel message by which these Asiatic Christians were converted. That is described as prjua at the end of V. 25. It means God's whole utterance of Himself in the Incarnation, in Scripture, in preaching, in the inward voice of conscience. In Jas i 18 the original creation of man is attributed to the \070s d\r)deias. The divine image was implanted in man, endowing him with a capacity for knowing God and hearing His voice. Here the reference is rather to man's new creation as a Christian (cf. Intro, p. Ivi.). 24. SioTi is used again to introduce a quotation in i. 16 and ii. 6. The quotation is taken from Isaiah xl. 6—8, and agrees with the LXX. in omitting the words " because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it." But it dififers from the LXX. (1) by inserting ws, (2) by substituting avTrjs for avdpdiirov, (3) by substituting 'Kvpiov for rov deov TjfiQv. Possibly, however, all of these changes already existed in the LXX. text used by St Peter. In the T.E. the first two have been altered here to agree with the usual text of the LXX. The words originally referred to the message of hope to the exiles in Babylon. Human help is weak and perishable, but God's promise of restoration can never fail. Parts of the same passage are quoted in Jas i. 10 — 11 to shew the transitoriness of riches (see Intro, p. Ivii.). avOos \6pTov means bright flowers such as the scarlet anemones which were characteristic of Palestine. €|T]pdv0ii...l|€'ir€rj without the article. The plural al ypatpai is used of ' ' Scripture " as a whole and ij ypacpifi in the N.T. means a particular passage. Here St Peter appeals to the fact that there is written evidence to support his statements. X£6ov. Three passages from the O.T. all containing the same metaphor of a stone are here combined together. (a) Ps. cxviii. 22, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner." The Psalm was probably written after the return from Babylon, and meant that the kingship of Jehovah, though long ignored by the kings and princes of Judah who claimed to be the builders of the nation, has now at last been recognized as the true bond of union for the restored nation. This passage was applied to Christ at the end of the parable of the wicked husbandmen, Matt. xxi. 42; Mk xii. 10; Lk. xx. 17, and again by St Peter in his defence after healing the impotent man, Acts iv. 11. Here the passage is alluded to in v. 4 and quoted in full in V. 7. (6) Is. xxviii. 16, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste." The passage was probably written at the time of Sennacherib's invasion and meant that the 48 / PETER [2 6— presence of Jehovah is the one and only source of protection for Judah, and that intrigues with Egypt, etc., are utterly useless. (c) Is. viii. 14, "(He shall be for a sanctuary;) but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence (to both the houses of Israel)." This passage was written in the reign of Ahaz when Israel and Syria were invading Judah. The meaning is that Jehovah will be a sure refuge to those who trust in Him, but will cause the overthrow of unbelievers. Neither of the two passages from Isaiah therefore had primarily any direct reference to Messiah, but from the Targums and other Jewish books it seems clear that "the stone" was regarded as a regular title of Messiah, and from the application of Ps. cxviii. 22 to Christ the other passages in which the word \idos was used in the LXX. came to be similarly applied. So again in 1 Cor, iii. 11 St Paul speaks of Jesus Christ as the foundation [defjAXiov), and in Eph. ii. 20 as the chief corner-stone, aKpoytavLoiov, and in later Christian writers who traced the fulfilment of prophecy in Christ "the stone" is used as one of His regular titles. St Paul (Rom. ix. 33) and St Peter both combine the same two passages of Isaiah and both have some common variations from the LXX. : (1) both read l8ov rld-rjixi ep 'Liuiv instead of ibov iyui i/x^dWoj els TO. de/jL^Xta Stciv, (2) both read ir^rpa aKavddXov instead of irh-pas TmbfiaTi, (3) both omit e^s rk defi^Xia aiirijs, (4) both insert e7r' avT(p after Tnaretjwp. As there are many other coincidences of thought between St Peter and St Paul (especially Romans and Ephesians) the natural inference is that the changes were introduced by St Paul and borrowed by St Peter. But it has been suggested that possibly a collection of O.T. passages, arranged according to their subjects, suitable for proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, was made at a very early date. Certainly such collections were afterwards used, e.g. the Testimonia of Cyprian, where one of the chapters shews that Jesus was styled "the stone." If such a collection was already extant when St Peter and St Paul wrote they may have both borrowed independently from it, and the same theory might explain other composite quotations in the N.T. kv Hiciv, the promise was made for Israel and was first fulfilled in Israel by the Incarnation and so is efficacious for the new Israel which is the expansion and archetype of the old. ckXcktov dKpo-ywviaiov. The order of the words in the T.R. is thus reversed in the best MSS. as in the LXX., in which case dKpoycjviaiov 2 8] NOTES 49 is probably a substantive, a stone that is elect a chief corner-stone that is held precious. The corner-stone perhaps means that which unites two walls; so in Eph. ii. 20 where aKpoycovLoiov occurs again the idea is that Jews and Gentiles are united in Christ. 6 irioTTcvcov 6ir* avT^. irtaTetjeiy iiri with the dative suggests the basis on which faith rests. Except in this passage quoted here and in Rom. ix. 33, x. 11 this construction only occurs in Lk. xxiv. 25 and 1 Tim. i. 16. ov (It) KaTai'qv v|Jta)V...KaXT]v. K^aXT^v is the predicate. Your intercourse with the heathen round you must be such as commands their respect. In iii. 16 the enemies of the Christians are described as reviUng their dvapov(ov. The article might mean " those senseless men who have been described as speaking evil of you," or '* men such as are senseless and reckless in their charges." d-yvoxr^a, purblindness, is a much stronger word than dyvoia. It describes the ignorance which cannot and will not recognize the truth. Cf. 1 Cor. XV. 34 only. 16. (OS €\€v9epoi. The nominative connects the verse with v. 13. In submitting yourselves to the institutions of human society you will not be reverting to the old bondage of your heathen life from which you have been ransomed. The service of God is "perfect freedom" {cut servire est regnare), the freedom to do what you ought rather than what you like. Old institutions must be submitted to not as a bondage to men but as ordinances of God. liriKaXvfji.p.a KaKCas. Christian liberty affords no pretext for churlish, scornful, contempt towards heathenism and its institutions, rather it requires you to *' honour all men." »s Ocov SovXoi, cf. Kom. vi. 22 and 1 Cor. vii. 22. 17. Ti|i.i]op€i(r96...Ti(i,aT6. Here we have an aorist imperative followed by three present imperatives. The usual distinction between aorist and present imperatives is that the present is used in general precepts and the aorist in individual cases, the aorist denoting "point" action and the present "linear," see J. H. Moulton's Grammar, p. 129. Sometimes, however, the aorist imper- ative is used in general precepts to inculcate a new duty not previously recognized. So in Kom. vi. 13, firjde irapiaTdveTe ra fjAX-q v/jlwv o-rrXa ddiKlas rrj dfiaprlq. dWd TrapaaTTjaare eavrovs ti^ de<^, the present im- perative may mean, do not continue your old practice of presenting your members as instruments of unrighteousness for sin to use, but begin a new practice and present yourselves to God. But another explanation is, do not time after time present... but present yourselves once and for all to God, the aorist denoting something which is to be done to the end as a complete whole. So here some would explain that to "honour all men" is a new duty never realized until now, whereas honour to the king is an old duty which is not to be abandoned, although he can no longer be worshipped as a God. The objection to this view, however, is that love for the brotherhood, for which the present imperative is used, would also be a new duty not possible until they were admitted into God's family. Possibly the aorist irdpTas TifiriaaTe states the Christian's duty as a whole to be fulfilled to the end and the three present imperatives expand it by three general precepts. But St Peter has a marked preference for aorist imperatives which 2 18] NOTES 59 he uses 22 times (against 9 presents) as being more forcible, but in expanding his injunction he borrows a passage from the O.T. in which the present imperative (po^ov occurred and therefore he assimi- lates the other two imperatives to it. Tov 0€6v <{>oP«i(r6e, tov PacriX^a ripidTC. The words are borrowed from Prov. xxiv. 21, "My son, fear God and the king," but instead of coupling God and the king together with the same verb (po^eiade St Peter treats "honour the king" as a subordinate form of the reverence due to God, just as " honour to all men " is a subordinate form of that love which can only reach its highest form in the reci- procal love of Christians as brothers. 18. The duty of Servants to Masters (cf. Camb. Gk. Test. Col. p. Ixviii. ; Lightfoot Col. 317 ff.). Slavery was interwoven with the texture of society under the Eoman Empire. To prohibit slavery would have been to tear society into shreds, and bring about a servile war with its certain horrors and doubtful issues. The Gospel therefore nowhere directly attacks slavery as an institution. It lays down universal principles which were ultimately to undermine the evil, but there is not a syllable which could appeal to the spirit of political revolution. Yet the numbers of the slave population were enormous, and their lot was often intensely hard. The slave had no recognized relationships, no conjugal rights. He was absolutely at his master's disposal ; for the smallest offence he might be scourged, mutilated, crucified or thrown to the beasts. When men in such a position were for the first time taught that "there is no respect of persons with God, that in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free," that masters and slaves are brothers in Christ, they might easily have been excited to assert their liberty in a spirit of open rebellion or sullen discontent. St Peter therefore, like St Paul in Eph. vi. 5 ; Col. iii. 22 ; 1 Tim. vi. 1, instructs Christian slaves to regard service to earthly masters as part of their service to God. 18. olK€Tai, literally members of a household so domestic servants, including perhaps freedmen as well as slaves, 8ov\oi, which is the word used by St Paul. In the Pentateuch, however, and in Proverbs oUiT'qs is frequently used in the LXX. to translate the same Hebrew word which is rendered SouXos in other books. In the N.T. oIk^ttjs occurs only in Lk. xvi. 13 ; Acts x. 7 ; Eom. xiv. 4. viroTao-o-6|x6voi. Cf. Lightfoot on Col. iii. 16, "The absolute participle being (so far as regards mood) neutral in itself, takes its colour from the general complexion of the sentence." 6o / PETER [2 18— Here the participle is a virtual imperative referring back to uttotci- ynre in v. 13 (see J. H. Moulton Grum. 180 ff.). This is a very common use in 1 Pet. e.g. iii. 1 vTroraaadfievai, iii. 7 (rvuoiKovPTes, iii. 8 — 9 where participles and adjectives stand side by side (cf. Eom. xii. 9 — 19 with imperatives and infinitives added), iv. 8, 10 and (?) ii. 12 For St Paul cf . Col. iii. 16 ; 2 Cor. ix. 11, 13 ; Eph. iv. 2, 3 ; for papyri see J. H. Moulton, p. 223. ciri€iK^(riv (see Mayor on Jas iii. 17). In the LXX. iirieiK-^s occurs only in Ps. Ixxxvi. 5 of God being " ready to forgive," and this agrees with the definition given in Aristotle {Eth. vi. 11) top eirieiKT] frnXia-ra ip€Lv in this passage on the ground that the sins could hardly be described as offered up. He would explain the words as meaning that, when Christ " bears up to " the cross the sins of men, then men have them no more ; the " bearing up " is a " taking away," without any special idea of substi- tution or sacrifice. He also quotes a contract, Pap. Flind. Petr. 1. xvi. 2, Trepi 8^ dov avTiXiyw duacpepofxev [ ] ocpeiX-q/MTUv Kp^d-qcoixai, iir 'A(TK\r}irLd5ov. The editor supplies the missing portion... wj/ eis ifie and the sense may be that certain debts of another person have been imposed upon the writer (cf. Aesch. 3. 215 ; Isoc. 5. 32). If such a forensic meaning was intended by St Peter, the meaning would be that the sins of men are laid upon the Cross, as in a court of law a debt in money is removed from one and laid upon another. We might compare the forensic metaphor in Col. ii. 14 where the x^^P^- ypatpov drawn up against mankind is taken away by being nailed to the Cross. €v T» o-wjittTi auTOv. The body of Christ is the organism through which His life is fulfilled. His earthly body was the instrument of His perfect obedience and self-sacrifice, " A body hast thou prepared Me," Heb. x. 5. "By the offering of that body (alike in the perfect service of His life and the voluntary endurance of death) we have been sanctified," Heb. x. 10. St Paul in Rom, vii. 4 says, " Ye were made dead to the law through the body of Christ." So here it is the sin-bearing victim. But elsewhere in St Paul the body of Christ means the organism by which His life and work are still carried on, viz. the Church in which Jews and Gentiles are made one. Of that body He is still the Head and the source of its life and growth. Into it Christians are incorporated by Baptism, and are sustained by partaking of His life. Each has to contribute in building it up. On its behalf St Paul rejoices in sharing the sufferings of Christ. In view of St Peter's apparent use of llomans and Ephesians in so many passages, it is certainly surprising that he shews no trace of this striking Pauline conception of the body of Christ. ^vXov is used for a gallows tree in Deut. xxi. 23, " Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree," quoted in Gal. iii. 13. But the .only other passages where it is used for the Cross are in St Peter's speeches, Acts v. 30 and x. 39, and by St Paul, Acts xiii. 29. In 64 / PETER [2 24—25 Eev. xxii. 2 etc. it is used for "the tree of life " and in Lk. xxiii. 31 of " the green tree." In Acts xvi. 24 it means " the stocks," and in the plural Mt. xxvi. 47, " staves." rats duapriats diro'yevoiievoi, breaking off all connexion with sins, being dead to them. The verb occurs nowhere else in the LXX. or N.T. For the dative after compounds of airb, cf. dirodvi^ffKeLP rip v6fi(p, Gal. ii. 19, ry afiaprlg., Rom. vi. 2. The purpose of Christ's sacrifice, as stated here and generally in the N.T., is not to save man from the punishment of sin so much as from its power, to put an end to the regime of sin. The same idea is suggested in iv. 1, 6 rradihv capKl ir^Tavrai afj-apriais, Christians are to welcome sufferings as the process by which the ideal ' ' death unto sin," symbolized by their baptism into Christ's death, is made real in the persons of His members. The same thought of being dead to sin as living members of the crucified and risen Lord is expressed more fully in Rom. vi. 1—11 ; cf. Gal. v. 24 ; Col. ii. 12, iii. 2. jjicoXut)/ is the scar or wheal caused by a blow. The phrase is quoted from Is. liii. 5. The slaves to whom St Peter was writing might find help to be brave and patient, when their bodies were perhaps bruised and bleeding from some cruel blow, by the thought that they were sharing in suffering like that by which their Saviour had won life and healing for them. 25. '^T€ -ydp «s irpdpaTa irXavtoftcvoi (T.R. irXapibfieva). St Peter means. You Gentiles may well apply to yourselves the language of Is. liii. about those healed by the suffering Servant of the Lord, for you were indeed wandering like lost sheep, as the speakers in that chapter describe themselves. iroi|j^va Kttl liricTKO'irov. The Shepherd and overseer or guardian who was all along watching over your lives. You were all along His sheep though previously " not of this fold," cf. Jn x. 16, your con- version may therefore be described as returning to Him. For iroifjLTjv applied to Christ, cf. Jn x. 11 ; 1 Pet. v. 4 ; Heb. xiii. 20; cf. Rev. vii. 17 " The Lamb shall be their shepherd." lirCo-KOTTos. The verb is used of God ' * seeking out " His sheep in Ezek. xxxiv. 11. In Acts xx. 28 St Paul tells the elders at Miletus that the Holy Spirit has appointed them as ewiaKOTroL to shepherd {iroifiaLveiv) the Church of God. In the LXX. iirlaKowos is used of overseers, and so it came to be adopted in the N.T. as a title of those who had the oversight of the Church. NOTES 65 CHAPTJIR III iii. 1 — 12. Social Kelations continued. The same principle of submission to authority as part of God's 1 will applies also to Wives (in spite of the fact that in Christ there is neither male nor female) . Wives should submit to their husbands ; deeds speak louder than words. To be spectators of the effects of 2 the fear of God as seen in the pure lives of their wives may silently win husbands, who are persistently deaf to the spoken message of the Gospel. The wife's truest adornment should be not outward 3 but within, the inner character of a heart clad in the imperishable 4 ornament of a spirit which is placid in itself and gentle towards others. That is a jewel of great price in God's estimation. Such was the self -adornment practised by the wives of whom we 5 read in the ancient story of the chosen people. Their hopes were set on God and consequently they submitted to their husbands. Take 6 for example the case of Sarah, whose daughters you Gentile women became when you were admitted to the new "Israel of God." She obeyed Abraham and called him "Master." Such wives did good work, and were never scared or "flustered" into deserting the path of duty. This involves a corresponding duty on the part of 7 Husbands. You must appreciate the meaning and dignity of human life and marriage. You share an earthly home with your wives; you also share the same spiritual inheritance, God's free gift of life in the highest sense of the word. Your wife, like yourself, is " a chosen vessel" of God, but she is cast in a more fragile mould and therefore needs all the gentler handling and the more honour. Any lower, more selfish, more sensual view of marriage will be a hindrance to your prayers. To sum up mutual duties in general. All of you must strive to 8 be of one mind. Feel for one another, love one another as brothers in Christ, be tender-hearted, be humble -minded. Do not requite evil 9 with evil or abuse with abuse. Bather bless your revilers, for the inheritance of blessing is the end and object of your calling as Christians. As the Psalmist says, A man who has made up his mind 10 to love life and see good days must check his tongue from what is evil and his lips from uttering anything deceitful. He must turn 11 aside from evil and do good. He must seek peace and follow it up. So, and so only, can he attain true life, true happiness, for the eyes 12 of the Lord are over the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. I PETEB E 66 / PETER [3 1— iii. 1 — 6. The duty of Christian wives. 1. ofioCios. In accordance with the same principle of submission to God's ordinances for mankind. The wife, like the slave, was raised to new dignity by the Gospel ; and, especially in cases where the husband remained a heathen while the wife had become a Christian, the duty of submission to marital authority needed to be consecrated and ennobled by its recognition as part of God's will. In Eph. V. 22 — 24 St Paul regards marriage as the earthly picture of the union between Christ and the Church. The husband's duty therefore is loving self-sacrifice and the wife's is reverent submission. St Peter however shows no trace of this among the thoughts which he borrows from Ephesians. In Col. iii. 18 St Paul merely describes the submission of wives to their own husbands as " fitting in the Lord." In 1 Cor. vii. he urges a Christian wife not to seek separation from a heathen husband if he is willing to live with her in peace, and one reason for this is that she may be the means of converting her husband. Tois ISCots dv8pd6pa) might refer to the reverence of the wife for her husband, cf. Eph. V. 33. More probably however it means the fear of God, as also in ii. 18 where slaves are to submit to their masters eu iravrl xi-ov) life. The sub- stantive rja-vxta is used of silence in Acts xxii. 2; 1 Tim. ii. 11, and of quietness in 2 Thess. iii. 12 as opposed to restless excitement. Bengel distinguishes irpaiis as meaning " qui non turbat," ■^a-ijxioi " qui turbas aliorum, superiorum, inferiorum, aequalium fert placide. " Also irpaus, he says, refers to feelings, ijavxtos to words, look, or conduct. irpavs=mild, gentle, meek as opposed to self-seeking and ag- gressive, cf. Mt. V. 5, xi. 29, xxi. 5. iroXvTcX^s- Such an ornament is like a costly jewel in God's estimation, cf. Mk xiv. 3 ; 1 Tim. ii. 9. In the LXX. it is used of gold and precious stones. 6. al d^iai "yvvaiKes perhaps = u>o?;tm of the chosen people. 6. Kvpiov KoXovo-a. The only passage where Sarah is actually described as calling Abraham her "lord" is in Gen. xviii. 12, but St Peter is referring to her habitual attitude towards Abraham. E 2 68 / PETER [3 6— •qs Iy6vi]0t]T€ T^Kva. Those who regard the epistle as addressed to Jewish readers explain iyeurjdTjre to mean whose true dauQhters you proved yourselves ; but the words are much more forcible if addressed to Gentiles. Just as St Paul describes the Gentiles as becoming true sons of Abraham by sharing his faith, so St Peter describes Gentile women as having become true daughters of Sarah by their admission into the new covenant people of God, cf . Gal. iii. 29 ; Kom. iv. 11. ayoLdoTToiova-ai k.t.X. These words are generally connected with iyev-rjdrjTe if (or so long as) ye do well. But if Gentile women are addressed they did not become daughters of Sarah by doing well. The E.V. margin refers them to al ayiac yvvatKes and treats the passage about ' ' Sarah — whose daughters ye became " as a parenthesis. Holy women of old adorned themselves by submitting to their husbands, by well-doing and by tranquillity. TTTOTio-tv. E.V. text "put in fear by any terror" (objective ace.) but E.V. margin "afraid with" (cognate ace). The substantive occurs only in Prov. iii. 25 "be not afraid of sudden fear," but the verb is frequently used in the LXX. of alarm or panic. So it is used in Lk. xxi. 9, xxiv. 37. Here it means not interrupting the quiet discharge of home duties by any excitement or panic. 7. crvvoiKciv here only in N.T. but is frequently used in the LXX. of marital intercourse and doubtless the sexual aspect of marriage is specially included here as in 1 Cor. vii. 3 — 5 ; 1 Thess. iv. 3, 4. Kara -yvwo-tv, cf. Eom. x. 2 and 1 Thess. iv. 5 where the duty of Christians with regard to gratifying the bodily appetites is contrasted with the conduct of heathen ra fxr] elddra tqi> debv. One aspect of this yvCbais is that "our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost." o-K€vei. In 1 Thess. iv. 4 Christians are bidden to abstain from fornication and each is to know how Kxaadai to eavroD aKevos (lit. acquire his own vessel) in sanctification and honour. In that passage some interpret aKevos to mean "body," that a man ought to get the mastery over his own body, but others refer aKevos to the wife as being an instrument for the husband's use. St Peter how- ever probably regards the wife not as the o-kcvos of her husband but of God, cf. Acts ix. 15 (XKeOos iKXoyiji ; Eom. ix. 21—23 crKc^rj eXiovs ; 2 Cor. iv. 7 iv 6aTpaKivoi$ crKeijeaL. The comparative aadevecripi^ implies that the husband and wife are both (TKeit}. dadePTjs is generally used of bodily sickness or infirmity, or of lack of power or robustness. But St Peter does not use the word in any depreciatory sense, cf. 1 Cor. xii. 22. rd dadeviarepa fiiXT] in the body are all important (avayKoia). yuvaiKcCtp, an adj. "the female." 3 8] NOTES 69 «s Kttl orvvK\iipov6(i.oi. The Kal emphasizes the fact that hus- bands share in something far better than the marital intercourse of an earthly home {pov6s, Ukeminded, only here in Biblical Greek, but bixodvixadbv is frequently used in Acts and to uvto (ppoueiv occurs in Rom. xii. 16, XV. 5; 2 Cor. xiii. 11 ; Phil. ii. 2, iv. 2 and to iv (fypoveiv in Phil. ii. 2. (Tvfi.'iradcis, compassionate, sympathetic, the adjective here only in N.T., but the verb is used Heb. iv. 15, x. 34. <|>iXd8eX(|>oi only here in the N.T. but cf. ii. 17; Rom. xii. 10; 1 Thess. iv. 9 ; Heb. xiii. 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 22 ; 2 Pet. i. 7. 70 / PETER [3 8— evo-irXa-yxvoi, tender-hearted^ only here and Eph. iv. 32. Ta'ir€iv64>pov€s, humble-minded (only here in the N.T.), is used in Prov. xxix, 23. TaTr€ivo6pov avTwv K.T.X. ^^Fear not their fear neither he troubled, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord.'^ The quotation is taken from Is. viii. 12, 13 where the prophet is instructed by God not to share in the general panic caused by the invasion of Judah by Israel and Syria in the reign of Ahaz. The presence of the Lord of Hosts is the one true object of reverence and of fear, of reverence because He is a sanctuary or place of asylum to those who trust Him, of fear because He is a stone of stumbling to the disobedient (cf. ii. 8). So St Peter bids his readers not to admit thoughts of terror with which their persecutors try to inspire them, but to set up Christ as the one object of reverent fear, the Lord and Master in their hearts. In the LXX. top 6^ov avrCbv probably means the fear which others feel, i.e. the general panic, though some would explain it to mean "that which they worship" i.e. heathen Gods. This would give a possible meaning in 1 Pet. if the passage refers to attempts to induce Christians to revert to heathenism. But more probably it means — their threats, the fear which they try to inspire in you. 15. d-yido-are. The verb is occasionally applied to God in the LXX. e.g. of Moses and Aaron failing to sanctify Him in the eyes of the people. (Deut. xxxii. 51.) In Isaiah it was perhaps selected because Jehovah is described as the sanctuary "or place of asylum to be consecrated as an object of fear." So here Christians are to treat the indwelling presence of Christ, as Lord and Master in their hearts, as a kind of sacred shrine which must never be surrendered or profaned by cowardly fears or inconsistent conduct. TOV Xpio-T^v. The T.E., with KLP etc., reads KijpLOP rbu Qedv which would mean "God as Lord" Kijpiov being the predicate, not as A.V. "the Lord God." In Isaiah the words are merely "Sanctify Jehovah." The constant transference to Christ of language referring to Jehovah in the O.T. is one indication of the full Divinity ascribed to Christ by N.T. writers. 3 16] NOTES 73 ^TOL|Jiok del irpos diroXo'yCav. The question whether this impUes formal trial and organized persecution, as Eamsay suggests, is fully discussed Intr. p. xlii. The addition of ael and Travrl make it more probable that St Peter means that Christians are always to be prepared to shew their colours and give a reason for their hope whenever any one challenges them, cf. Col. iv. 6. (jLCTd irpavn]TOS Kal (f>6pov. Meekness not arrogance or self-asser- tion must be their attitude towards these questioners. i]v. Cf. note on koXtjv dvaaTpo(priv, ii. 12. Iv XpwTTw, in Christ, of whom you claim to be members. iii. 17 — iv. 6. The blessedness of suffering in the flesh. The interpretation suggested for this confessedly difficult passage may be best explained by a paraphrase of the whole section with illustrations from other parts of the N.T. Other interpretations of it will be discussed in an additional note (p. 87). Paraphrase. To suffer for well-doing, if the will of God should 17 so will, is better than to suffer for evil-doing, because to suffer innocently is what Christ also did, thereby (as explained above ii. 21) leaving us an example, and to imitate Him must in any case be good. But the value of suffering is enormously enhanced when we consider the purpose and effects of Christ's sufferings. (a) When His sufferings culminated in death (reading awidavev 18 for ^iradev) it was the doing away of sin [nepl a/xapTidv) once for all (ttTra^), of. Bom. vi. 10; 1 Pet. ii. 24, iv. 2. 74 / PETER (&) Death was to Him an opportunity for wider and more fruitful service. He Himself said "I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitened until it be accomplished." Again when certain Greeks desired to see Him He replied ' ' Except a com of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit." So it was only by dying that Christ could atone for the unrighteous {virkp dStKwv), only by dying that He could present you Gentiles (reading vfids as W.H.) to God. Of. Eph. ii. 13, 18. (c) The reason of this was that the death of His flesh was the quickening of His Spirit, a setting of it free for a new and wide- reaching activity. 19 (d) This activity was not confined merely to the unrighteous who are alive like yourselves. In His Spirit thus quickened by death He journeyed to the underworld. He descended into Hell there to 20 proclaim (good) tidings to the spirits in prison. Of these the most notorious and typical examples were the spirits of those who suffered in the flesh as a punishment for evil-doing in the olden days of Noah, when they rejected God's long continued offer of mercy all through those years while the ark was being prepared. [In the book of Henoch (x. Ixxxix. etc. see Charles, Eschatology) from which St Peter appears to borrow several phrases in the Epistle, there is constant ■ reference to the Flood ; and the spirits of those who were judged in this life are assigned a separate place in Sheol (c. 12). For the idea that bodily suffering, even when it is a punishment for sin, may be a factor in the salvation of the soul, cf. 1 Cor. V. 5, " To deliver unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus"; 1 Tim. i. 20, "Whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn (by chastisement, 7raiSev0wov€}j(xaT€ top 8iKaiov may possibly refer to Christ. irpoo-a-yd'yTi probably means present, give access to the presence of God, cf. irpoaayuyq Kom. v. 2; Eph. ii. 18, iii. 12. In the LXX. irpoadyeiv is frequently used of presenting victims as an offering to 3 19] NOTES 77 God. So here Christ in offering Himself as our sin-offering might be regarded as offering us to God. ^ Again in the LXX. it is used of presenting Aaron and his sons for the priesthood, and this idea would also suit St Peter's conception of Christians as " a royal priesthood" ii. 5, 9. But in all these O.T. passages the primary idea of the verb is "to bring near," and in this verse the context is not sufficiently explicit to shew that the word is used in a sacrificial or priestly sense. vfjias is read by B. 31. Syr. Arm. and W.H. and probably means *'?/0M Gentiles,^'' cf. Eph. ii. 13. The T.K. and both A.V. and K.V. read rifxas which would include all Christians. OavarwOtCs. The verb is used of the Jews condemning our Lord to death, Mt. xxvi. 59, xxvii. 3 ; Mk xiv. 55. IcooTTotiiecls is contrasted with davarodv in 2 Kings v. 7, "Am I God to kill and to make alive? " In the N.T. it is used in Jn v. 21 of God and the Son raising and quickening the dead, cf. Bom. iv. 17, viii. 11; 1 Cor. xv. 22; Gal. iii. 21. In 1 Tim. vi. 13, T.B. it is used of God quickening all things. In Jn vi. 53 the spirit is described as "quickening" in contrast with the flesh, and in 2 Cor. iii. 6 the spirit giveth life as contrasted with the old law of "the letter." In this verse the T.B. reads rtp trveiufiaTt. evidently meaning "the Holy Spirit," so A.V. "quickened by the Spirit." For this rendering we might compare Bom. viii. 11. But here, as in iv. 6, crap^ and irvevixa are contrasted and the mean- ing is that by the death of His human flesh the human spirit of Jesus was, as it were, born into a new spiritual existence. It was alive all through His earthly life but was limited by the restrictions of the flesh until it was set free by death, cf. Lk. xii. 50, "I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." Even the body of the Bisen Lord was a spiritual {irvevfjLaTLKbv) body, as our resurrection bodies will be, cf. 1 Cor. xv. 44, but St Peter seems to regard Christ's new spiritual activity as begin- ning immediately after death and even before His resurrection. 19. Iv vXaKfj sometimes means sentry -watch but far more commonly prison and is almost certainly so used here. iropcvBcls naturally suggests a change of sphere and is frequently used of the Ascension, as in v. 22. So here it seems to refer to the descent into Hell, and we thus have a natural chronological sequence davarojdeh — ^(aoiroirjdeis — iropevdels — {8i dvaardaeus) iropevdels els ovpavbv. €K"i]pv|€v is constantly used of preaching the Gospel but never of proclaiming bad tidings. So here it probably means good tidings, cf. eiirjyyeMadT] veKpois, iv. 6. 20. iroT€. The days of their disobedience are described as being long past at the time when the tidings was preached to them. dTTi^Sixtro is read by nearly all Greek MSS. The reading of the T.E. aTra^ e^eS^xero seems to have been a conjectural reading of Erasmus — but aira^ eSix^ro is read by some cursives ; ciira^ would imply that the time of Noah was the only occasion when God exercised such patience. direKdix^adai is used several times by St Paul of Christians waiting for the return of Christ etc. but except in this verse the object or person waited for is always expressed. €1$ •qv is probably a "pregnant construction " = 6i/ entering into which ark, cf. Mk xiii. 16; Acts vii. 4; 1 Pet. v. 12 etc. It is not probably governed by diecrdjdrjaav (as Dr Bigg suggests who contrasts it with els deov which he connects with afb^ei). 4/vxa£ is used of living persons in Genesis xlvi. 22 and Acts ii. 41, vii. 14, xxvii. 37; Kom. xiii. 1. 5iao-w^€tv is used of making a person perfectly whole, Mt. xiv. 36 ; Lk. vii. 3, of St Paul being brought safely through to Felix, Acts xxiii. 24, and of escaping safe to land. Acts xxvii. 44, xxviii. 1, 4. 8t* vSttTos might mean merely, were brought safely through the water. But more probably it means were saved by means of water. The same water which drowned the guilty bore in safety the inmates of the ark. This makes the analogy with the water of Baptism more forcible. So in the first prayer in our Baptismal Office, "Almighty and everlasting God, who of thy great mercy didst save Noah and his family from perishing by water," the words "by water" should probably be connected with "save" and not with "perishing." The prayer specifies three instances in which God has employed "water" mystically (a) the Flood, (6) the Bed Sea, (c) the Baptism of Jesus. Note. For similar instances where the meaning of o-w^eo-Oat Sid has been disputed, cf. 1 Cor. iii. 15 o-wfl^o-erai ovtw 5e m Slo. irvpos — where the sense is probably not saved as it were by means of fire but escape as it were through the fire like a man whose house is burned over his head ;1 Tim. ii. 15 aw^o-erat 3 21] NOTES 79 6ia Ti^s TeKvoyovia^, which might mean that woman shall he brought safely through the pain and peril of childbearing— but more probably =sa-yea by means of the childbearing, which was part of the penalty of woman's sin (Gen. iii. 16), but by which she has attained her truest dignity, especially when it culminated in the childbearing by woman of the Incarnate Son of God. 21. 8 is omitted by &<* 73 aeth. but is read by all the best authorities. The T.K. reads ^ which is found in several cursives, and Hort regards S as a primitive error for ^ on the ground that it is impossible to take dPTlTvirov as an epithet agreeing with ^dirrKTiia and scarcely less difficult to take it with 6 as the E.V. ichich (water) after a true likeness (or antitypically). But avTirvwov may be taken as a neuter substantive and not as an adjective, ivhich antitype namely Baptism. In this case Baptism would not be the olvtItv-jtov of which the Flood was the ti^ttos, but both the Flood and Baptism are regarded as the avTiTvirov or earthly copy of the same spiritual reality, namely death unto sin as the prelude to new birth unto righteousness. dvrCTinrov. Cf . Hebrews ix. 24 where the copies of the things in the heavens vtrobeiyixaTa tCjv iv roh oipdvots, i.e. the earthly tabernacle and its accessories, are described as avrlrvna tQv a\t)divwv because they corresponded to "the pattern (riyTroj) in the mount" which was shewn to Moses. In 2 Clement xiv. the visible Church in its external bodily form [adp^) is the earthly copy (t6 avriTvirov) of the spiritual Church (t6 avdevTiKov), and Lightfoot, p. 247, explains that rb avdevTLKbv means the autograph letter, the original document in God's own handwriting, as it were, of which the avriTvirov is the blurred transcript. So in Irenaeus i. 5, 6 the Church is described by the Valentinians as avTlTinrov t^j duw iKKXrjaias. Again, in the Apostolic Constitutions v. 14, vi. 30, vii. 25, and other Fathers, the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist are described as avTirwa of the Body and Blood of Christ. Cyril of Jerusalem speaks of Baptism as the olvtItvitov of Christ's sufferings, while Caesarius describes Baptism as the avTlrvirov of Circumcision. Other writers speak of the brazen serpent as the avTirvirov of Christ. In all these passages therefore (except Caesarius) the avriTvirov is the copy as opposed to the reality, and naturally inferior to it. In this passage, however, we can hardly imagine that St Peter regards the Flood as the pattern (ti^ttos), of which Baptism is merely the copy, olvtItvitov. Therefore, as suggested above, it seems better to take dvTiTVTTov as a substantive. The same earthly copy, namely, saving by means of water, which was presented in the Flood, is again presented in Baptism. Now, as then, it represents the same heavenly original, life issuing out of death. This rendering enables us to 8o / PETER [3 21 retain the usual meaning of avTirvirov. Lightfoot {Clement ii. 247) however regards avTiTvirou here as the finished work of which the Flood was only the rough model, rvrros. In support of this view it may be argued that r^iros does sometimes mean the copy and not the pattern, e.g. Acts vii. 43, the images (ti^ttoi) of your gods ; 1 Cor. x. 6, 11, the experiences of Israel in the wilderness happened, tvttlkQs, i.e. as earthly copies of spiritual originals. Rom. v. 14, Adam is the tOttos of Christ. So here, it is said, the Flood, in which by the self- same water the guilty world was destroyed while the inmates of the ark were borne in safety by it, was an earthly picture (tvitos) of death unto sin and new birth unto righteousness, of which Baptism is the true expression, clvtItvitov. The objections to this view, however, are (a) that it is contrary to the general use of dpTiTvirov ; (ft) that Baptism is not in itself "the original," but only "the outward and visible sign," and the "means whereby we receive " the inward and spiritual grace of death unto sin and new birth unto righteousness. capKos diroGcoris pvirov. aapKos might be governed by pvirov, putting away of the filth of the flesh, as A.V. and R.V., or it might be putting away of filth on the part of the flesh (subjective genitive). d7r60€p eis KK-qpovoixiav..., and the phrase KKrjpopojJieip ^wqp 3 22] NOTES 83 aldviov occurs in Matt. xix. 29; Mk x. 17; Lk. x. 25, xviii. 18 ; cf. Tit. iii. 7. Possibly there may be a double purpose in this reference to the Session of Christ at God's right hand: (a) That as it was to present us to God that Christ died, therefore the Christian who claims in Baptism to share Christ's resurrection must set his affections on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, cf. Col. iii. 1. {&) That suffering and death culminated in glory in Christ's case, and the same will be true for His followers. The doctrine of Christ's Session at the right hand of God is based upon our Lord's application to Himself of Ps. ex. 1, " Sit thou on my right hand," etc. It is stated in Mk xvi. 19, in St Peter's speeches in Acts ii. 33, 34, v. 31, by St Paul in Kom. viii. 34, Col. iii. 1, and Eph. i. 20, where there is a similar mention of the sub- ordination of angelic powers. Cf. also Heb. i. 3 — 13, viii. 1, x. 12, xii. 2. viroTa-YcvTwv avr^ dyy^cov Kai k^ov\vy£ais, icine-bibbings , a classical word only found here in Biblical Greek though the verb occurs Deut. xxi. 20; Is. Ivi. 12. It denotes excessive drinking, debauch, kcojiois, revellings, cf. Rom. xiii. 13; Gal. v. 21. irorois, carousings, drinking-parties, only here in the N.T, In the LXX. it is sometimes used of banquets. Gen. xix. 3; 2 Sam. iii. 20; Esther vi. 14. d0€p.(Tois, lit. contrary to law and justice. In the only other passage where it occurs in the N.T. it is used of intercourse with Gentiles as being unlawful for Jews, Acts x. 28. So here those who regard the readers as Jews explain it to mean illegal for you to take part in, but more probably it means illicit, abominable deeds which are contrary to what is right {fas). It occurs in 2 Mace. vi. 5, vii. 1, x. 34. €l8«XoXaTptais. Of idol-worship in 1 Cor. x. 14, but in Col. iii. 5 it is used as an explanation of covetousness, greed being regarded as the idolatry of Mammon, cf. Eph. v. 5, 1 Cor. v. 11. In Gal. v. 20 it is included among the works of the flesh, but, though coupled with sins of drunkenness and immorality, should probably be understood literally of tampering with false gods, the word which follows being T£as from a privative and aw^eLv, the spendthrift character which squanders itself and its goods recklessly. This is the definition adopted by Aristotle, Eth. Nic. iv. 1, 4 and it suits the description given of the Prodigal Son, Lk. xv. 13 ^Cov daicrm, so also Theophylact on Eph. V. 18, but Clement Al. explains it as meaning the conduct of one who is aaojros, i.e. one who cannot be saved, an abandoned reprobate. The substantive occurs again in Eph. v, 18, oTuos iv ^ iarlv aaurrla and Tit. i. 6. LXX. Prov. xxviii. 7; 2 Mace. vi. 4. pXao-(|>T)|j.ovvT€s, railing at you, reviling you, cf . Matt, xxvii. 39 ff. ; Eom. iii. 8. The word does not necessarily imply blasphemous language toward God (as in Mt. ix. 3 ; Acts xix. 37 ; Eev. xiii. 6, etc.), nor foul accusations against Christians, but might include taunts and reproaches against them as being gloomy, morose or fanatical. 5. ol. For this abrupt and emphatic use of the relative, cf . Eom. iii. 8. 8£8ovai or diro8C8ovai X670V is used of rendering account in Mt. xii. 36; Lk. xvi. 2; Acts xix. 40; Eom. xiv. 12; Heb. iv. 13, xiii. 17. T^ €To£(Jia)S KpCvovTi. The T.E. reads erolfiuis ^x^^^'- xpivat for which phrase cf. Acts xxi. 13; 2 Cor. xii. 14 and iv eroLfiCf} ?x^iv, 2 Cor. X. 6. Bengel explains ' ' Paratus est Judex ; nam evangelio praedicato nil nisi finis restat." The living will soon have heard the Gospel, the dead have already done so, therefore all is ready for the judgment. But the reading of the best MSS. erot/xws Kpivovn means not so much that the judgment is ready to be executed but that God judges readily "with the unerring precision of perfect knowledge" (Chase, Hastings D. of B. ni. 795). He knows the opportunities which He has afforded 94 / PETER [4 5— to all and their consequent responsibility in accepting or rejecting His message. ^wvras Kal vcKpovs, the judgment of "the quick and the dead" is referred to again only in St Peter's speech to Cornelius, Acts x. 42, where Christ is the appointed Judge and in 2 Tim. iv. 1, but cf. Rom. xiv. 9. Here the personality of the Judge is not stated, but in i. 17, ii. 23 God is spoken of as judging. 6. €ls TovTo ^dp. eis TovTo does not refer to what precedes, viz. that the Gospel was preached to the dead in order that they might fairly be included in the judgment. That idea may perhaps be suggested by the yap. But wherever eh tovto or dca tovto in the N.T. is followed by tva, ottws or an infinitive it points forward to the object of the action, e.g. Jn xviii. 37; Acts ix. 21; 2 Cor. ii. 9; Col. iv. 8; Eph. vi. 33 ; 1 Pet. iii. 9; 1 Jn iii. 8. So here the object for which good tidings was preached to the dead was that they might live unto God in the spirit despite their judgment in the flesh. This is the same message which is being taught to the living by their sufferings in the flesh. Kttl vcKpois. Various attempts have been made to explain this (a) As referring to the spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (so Augustine, Cyril, Bede, Erasmus, Luther, etc.). But, having used peKpovs in its literal sense of the physically dead in the previous sentence, it is hardly credible that St Peter here employs the word metaphorically. (6) As referring to those who have died since they heard the Gospel (so Bengel, who regarded it as impossible that anyone could receive the Gospel after death). According to this view the words have been explained by Van Soden as a message of encouragement, that Christians who received the Gospel but have since been judged in the flesh by dying will share in eternal life (cf . 1 Thess. iv. 13 — 18). Hofman, on the other hand, regards it as a warning to blasphemers, that those who escape punishment in this life will not be exempted from judgment after death. Such interpretations, however, do not naturally follow from the words, and if St Peter had meant to describe "those who have since died," he would have written kckoi- fiTj/x^vois or Te6vrjK6(riv. (c) Another interpretation is ' ' those who hear the Gospel in their lifetime but who will be dead before they are judged." The most natural interpretation of the words is that good tidings was preached to those who were dead at the time when they received the message. 4 6] NOTES 95 The passage must be considered in connexion with iii. 19, though three important differences must be noticed : (a) In iii. 19 one particular generation of the dead is specified, viz. those who being disobedient perished in the great typical judgment of the ancient world. Here veKpoh, though not necessarily universal in its scope, is presumably as wide as the preceding ^ajj/ras koI veKpoTus. Many of the Fathers, e.g. Ignatius, Hennas, Clement Al., Irenaeus, seem to restrict the preaching in Hades to the just alone, but in view of the special mention of those who were formerly dis- obedient in iii. 19 it would seem as if the proclamation was made to all. St Peter is, however, silent as to the results of the preaching. In Hades, as on earth, it may have been rejected by many. (6) In iii. 19 the agency of Christ as the herald {iK-fipv^ev), through His spirit quickened and set free by death, is emphasized. Here the agent is not specified, but the character of the message is defined as being good tidings [evriyyeKiadri) and stress is laid upon the recipients of the message [koI veKpocs). The agent and the occasion may, however, be identical both in iK-qpv^ev and evTjyyeXLadij, though early Fathers, e.g. Hermas and Clement Al., ascribed preaching of good tidings in Hades to the Apostles. (c) In iii. 19 nothing is said about the purpose of the proclama- tion, whereas here it is emphasized as being in order that though judged in the flesh they might live in the spirit. tva Kpt0(3* vjicis dvairavcTai. So BKL very many cursives, lat. vg. Syr. vg. Clem. Al. Cyr. Al. Tert. Fulg., but the lat. vg. and Syr. vg. omit kuI. But i^AF many good cursives, Ath. Did. Cyp. (twice) add /cai Bvydfxeus after 56^?;$ and have various modifications, e.g. good cursives, many versions and Cyprian omit /cai t6 and the best cursives Syr. hi. and Cyr. have ovofxa either instead of or combined with irvevfxa, SyrP. reads quia nomen et spiritus gloriae et virtutis ( = 8vvdjj,€0i)s) del. Sah. : spiritus gloriae et virtutis dei. Vg***. : quoniam quod est honoris gloriae et virtutis dei et qui est ejus spiritus, where quod may agree with nomen understood, or rb rrjs 86^iis was taken in the sense " that which appertains to the glory." At the end of the verse the T.R. with KLP Vulg. Syr. hi.* Theb. and Cyp. (twice) adds Kard fiiv avToi>s ^Xaa^rj/j-ecTat Kara 5e vfids So^dferai, and in lat. codd. and Cyp. this is introduced with quod evidently agreeing with nomen. This addition (not found in SAB some cursives Vulg. some codd. Syr. vg. hi. txt. Memph. Arm. Ephr. Tert.) was evidently intended as an explanation of ovei-Si^eade iv dvdfxari XplcxTov. 6ti t6 (6vo/xa) ttjs 56^7;s ^0' iifxds dvairaiJ€Tai,. Its phraseology is borrowed from Rom. ii. 24 (from Is. lii. 5) (cf. Jas ii. 7 ; Rev. xiii. 6, xvi. 9), coupled with v. 16 of this chapter 5o|af«^ra> rbv debv ev t^j ovo/xaTi To^rq). I04 / PETER [4 14 It is possible that some of the numerous various readings in this passage were liturgical insertions borrowed from early forms of the Lord's Prayer. In Lk. xi. 2 D reads ay LaffOrjTu rb ovo/nd (xov i(f)' Vfids {d super nos). This addition of e^' rjfids Dr Hort (following Sanday) suggests may be a trace of a clause sometimes used in the Lord's Prayer, probably when the prayer was used at "the laying on of hands," iXd^ru) t6 irvevfia arov {rb dyiov) ipiov rrjs 86^7)$, 1 Cor. ii. 8). The Holy Spirit is however described as rb irpeO/xa ttjs dXridelas, and as His work is to "glorify" Christ by revealing Him (Jn xvi. 14) He might in that sense be described as rb vuevfia ttjs Sb^rjs. Or ttjs 86^t}s may be taken as a title of Christ. So Mayor on Jas ii. 1 adopts a suggestion of 4 14] NOTES 105 Bengel that ttJs 56$t7S means that Jesus Christ is the true Shekinah or visible manifestation of God, just as He is the A 670s or Word of God. In support of this view Bengel quotes this passage in 1 Pet. and Eph. i. 17, 6 ^e6s tov K. inxCiv 'I. X. 6 irarTjp t^s 56^7?$, and Lk. ii. 32, to which Mayor adds Jn i. 14; Heb. i. 3, etc. According to this view to irvevfia T7JS 86^7}^ would mean ' ' the Spirit of Christ who is the visible mani- festation of God," and the passage might thus be quoted in support of the clause in the Creed, "who proceedeth from the Father and the Son." But if irvevfjia governs ttjs 86^ris, kuL should be translated "even," otherwise the second to would strictly imply that the Spirit of God is another Spirit. It is therefore better to take t6 ttjs dd^rjs as a substantival expres- sion meaning "the mark or characteristic of the glory." For the neuter article thus used with a genitive, cf. Mt. xxi. 21, to ttjs a^K-qs; Jas iv. 14, t6 rijs a&piov; 2 Pet. ii. 22, to ttjs wapoifxlas; cf. tcl Trjs ffapKds, Kom. viii. 5 ; to. ttjs elp-rjprjs, Kom. xiv. 19. St Peter regards suffering as the necessary mark or characteristic of glory under present conditions. As members of Christ Christians will ultimately share in the revelation of His glory, i.e. manhood perfected and summed up in Christ. Here and now they participate in the preliminary stages of that glory by personal fellowship in His sufferings. To be reproached in the name of Christ is an indication that the glory is already resting upon them. So it was of His approaching sufferings that the Incar- nate Christ said "now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him" (Jn xiii. 31), cf. Col. i. 24, 27; 2 Cor. iv. 17; Eph. iii. 13. The above idea of suffering as a characteristic of glory would be equally intended if St Peter was referring to the Shekinah as the glory which was resting upon his readers. St Paul uses 17 56^a in that sense in Kom. ix. 4 (? cf. Heb. i. 3, ix. 5; 2 Pet. i. 17). It is possible also that Jas ii. 1 may mean that Jesus Christ is present as the true Shekinah among those who are gathered together in His name (Mt. xviii. 20), cf. Pirke Ahoth, iii. 3 : Whenever two men sit together and are occupied with the words of the Torah, the Shekinah is with them. There are also probable allusions to the Shekinah in passages where aK-qvy] and (jK-qvovv are used apparently as a transliteration of the Hebrew word pK^^ nj"'DEJ^ e.g. Jn i. 14, 6 X670S iaK-qviaaev iv ij/uuv Kai ideaad/xeda tt]v 86^av avTov. Rev. xxi. 3, l8oi> t) aKrivrj tov 6eov ficTii, tGjv dvOpibiTiav Koi (TKrjvujcrei fxer avTwi^. So in this passage St Peter goes on to describe the sufferings of Christians as a judgment which begins with the House of God, apparently meaning the temple and referring to Ezekiel ix. 6 "begin io6 / PETER [4 14— at my sanctuary." Similarly in speaking of their sufferings as a irvpuais or "trial by fire" he may be alluding to Malachi iii. 1—5 where the Lord is described as visiting His temple like a refiner's fire. St Peter has already described His readers as being built up as a irvevfiariKos oXkos, ii, 5, and the reference to "the House of God" in iv. 17 would be more intelligible if he had just described Christians as the resting-place of the Shekinah. This interpretation might give some support to the view that 6voiJ.a should be understood with to t^s 56^r)s. In the O.T. " The Name of God " (see Westcott, Epp. S. Jn, 232) denotes the manifestation of Himself which God has been pleased to give, and "the Name " and "the glory " are closely allied. Thus 1 Kings viii. 20, Solomon's Temple is built for "the Name of the Lord," and v. 21, "the glory of the Lord filled the House." So St Peter may mean that in bearing "the Name of Christ" Christ as the Shekinah is resting upon them, and the present manifestation of "Christ in them " is their fellowship in His sufferings. It may be of interest to compare Kev. xiii. 6 where the Beast who makes war against the Saints is described as ' ' blaspheming the Name of God and His tabernacle" (aK-qvi^), which Andreas explains thus aKrjPT) 8^ Tov 6eov Kai i) iv aapKi tov \6yov aKr/puais Kal r) iv rots 07/015 dvdxavacs (cf. vii. 15). 15. The question whether the "suffering" referred to in this passage implies a legal persecution conducted by the state, and its consequent bearing upon the date of the Epistle has been fully discussed in the Introduction (p. xliii f .). It may therefore suffice here to give a brief summary of the conclusions which were there adopted. (a) That TrdtrxetJ' in other passages of this Epistle, as well as in St Paul's Epistles, is an inclusive word, and can denote any form of violence, buffetings, insults, slander, boycotting, without necessarily implying organized legal persecution such as torture and execution. (6) That legal persecution is perhaps contemplated as a possibility from the fact that suffering wj XpiarLavos is coupled with at least three legal offences {4>ove6i, KXiirTtjs, KaKoirotds) . But the fourth word aXkoTpteTiaKoiros, which is separated from the others by the repetition of (is, denotes rather an alleged nuisance than a statutable offence and the same may therefore be true of Xpia-navos. (c) That, even if legal persecution for the name Christian apart from other imputed crimes is intended, there is no necessity to postulate a later date than the reign of Nero. |it| 'Ydp...'iraovevs, K\^im]s, KaKOiroios. Some would explain these as refer- ring to such false charges as were brought against Christians, cf . the note on ii. 12 when KaKotroids is certainly described as a false charge. But Christians would have no choice in selecting what false charges their accusers should employ, and the merit of suffering unjustly for Christ would be the same, whatever the charge might be, provided that it was false. Therefore here St Peter must mean " Take care that no such charge can be brought with truth against you" (cf. ii. 20). In such a country as Asia Minor in days when violence and dis- honesty were rife it might be by no means improbable that some imperfectly converted Christians might fall away and be guilty of such crimes. Clement of Alexandria tells a story of a favourite young convert of St John who became the leader of a band of brigands. aXXoTpieirCo-Koiros = " a meddler in other men's matters" B.V. occurs nowhere else. In the Vulgate it is translated "alienorum appetitor," so Calvin and Beza "alieni cupidus" i.e., one who covets other people's money. In one of the Fayyum papyri 2nd cent. a.d. dWoTpluv iiridvfiTjTrjs is coupled with AdiKos. More probably it refers to the charge of being busy bodies, interfering in the affairs of others. In their zeal for purity and truth Christians may not infrequently have been indiscreet, and exasperated their neighbours by officious attempts to reform their morals or eradicate their heathen supersti- tions. So Epictetus speaking of the Cynic Encheir. iii. 22 says, ov ykp ret dXX6T/)ta iroXvirpay/xovei orav to. avdpdoinva iTia-Koiry dXXa tcl tdia, cf. Horace, Sat. ii. 3. 19, "Aliena negotia euro excussus pro- priis" (see Chase, Hastings D. of B. iii. 783 f.). But besides being thus regarded as a social nuisance, as meddle- some busybodies. Christians may have been attacked on a more legal charge for causing divisions in families (cf. Matt. x. 35, 36) or for interfering with trade (cf. Acts xvi. 19 the masters of the divining girl at Philippi, and xix. 24 — 27 the silversmiths at Ephesus— so also Pliny describes the trade in fodder and animals for sacrifices as having been seriously affected by the spread of Christianity). Such interferences with family or commercial life would cause disunion and discord, rousing discontent and disobedience, and as such would be an offence against the state. This is the explanation adopted by Kamsay who insists that an organized persecution conducted by legal methods is implied. But though the three preceding words are legal charges coupled together with rj, aWorpLeiriaKOTros seems to be separated from them as a different kind of offence by the repetition of the wji. 1 There is no warrant for the view of Julicher that aAA.oTpte7riav6pa>6evTOS. The Chief Shepherd is always present among His under-shepherds, and at last His presence will be manifested. The verb is used of the First Coming of Christ in i. 20 and 1 Tim. iii. 16, but here it refers to the Second Advent as in Col. iii. 4 ; 1 Jn ii. 28, iii. 2. apxiTToCiievos. The word occurs nowhere else. It refers to Christ, who was described as Troi/x-qu in ii. 25. Our Lord described Himself as "the good Shepherd," Jn x., and in Mt. xxv. 32 compared His work as Judge to "a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats." In Heb. xiii. 20 He is called " the great Shepherd of the Sheep." Here St Peter uses the title "chief shepherd," to remind the presbyters that in shepherding God's flock they are working under and with the good Shepherd Himself. KO|i.ici(rd£. Cf . note on i. 9. dpxipavTivov is not quite the same as dfidpapTov ( = unfading, cf . i. 4), but means made of amaranth, a supposed unfading flower. Adjectives in -ivos denote the material of which a thing is made, e.g. ^i/Xij'os, \l6ivos, darpaKivoi. Tt]S So^s is not simply a "genitive of quality," but " of appo- sition" or " epexegetic." The crown consists in sharing the glory; cf . avov TTJs ^utijs Jas i. 12 ; Eev. ii. 10. The phrase (TTiavoi 86^r]s occurs in Jer. xiii. 18 ; cf. Ps. viii. 6 86^ri /cat Tifj,y iaTetpdvoxras airbv. orT^<|^vos might possibly mean a festal garland, but more probably the victor^s crown, which is its regular meaning in the N.T. as contrasted with didSrjfxa, the royal crown. But ar^ipavos is used of the crown of thorns, which was certainly intended as an emblem of royalty, and in the Apocalypse also it may denote a royal crown, as -it does sometimes in the LXX. 5. 6(to£ii>s ; cf. iii. 1. Such unassuming conduct on the part of the presbyters demands a corresponding or reciprocal duty of sub- mission on the part of those who are under their authority. vecoTcpoi. Ye younger probably refers to age and not to office, as also in 1 Tim. v. 1 ; Tit. ii. 6, in which case wpeafivTipois also in this H2 ii6 / PETER [5 5— verse means older men in general, and not official "elders" as in V. 1. At the same time such "elders" would generally, though not always, be seniors in age. Polycarp, v. 6, however, borrowing from St Peter, mentions veiarepoL between his instructions to diaKovoL and irpea^vTepoL, and says that it is right to submit to the " elders " and deacons as to God and Christ. Therefore he probably inter- preted irpea^vT^pois here in an official sense, but the warnings which he gives to veuTepoi are against impurity and lust, and are therefore suited to younger men rather than to minor officials of the Church. Others, however, explain vewrepoi. to mean subordinate officers of some kind who performed the menial duties. In support of this they refer to Acts V. 6, where the pewrepoi carried out Ananias for burial. But in V. 10 those who buried Sapphira are called yeauldvois from virep and (paipofiai, those who are conspicuous above others, so in a bad sense, haughty. The word is frequently used in the LXX. and Lk. i. 51 ; Eom. i. 30 ; 2 Tim. iii. 2. 8C8(i>o-iv \dptv. In the LXX. diSouai x^pi-^ means to give a person favour or acceptability in the eyes of another (Gen. xxxix. 21 ; Ex. xii. 36). So in Prov. iii. 34 the meaning is that God gives the lowly acceptance before true men as well as before Himself, and this may be the meaning in St James, viz. that God gives a far truer accept- ance than can be won by courting the friendship of the world, but Parry explains, " bestows a greater favour," i.e. the gift of regeneration. Here the thought of acceptance with man, which God grants to the humble, is subordinated to the higher acceptance with God. It is only the humble who "find favour" with God. 6 — 14. The way therefore to attain true greatness, to be exalted 6 in God's good time, is to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, submitting patiently to whatever trials He sends you; casting 7 all the burden of your anxiety upon Him in full assurance of His loving care for you. But this does not justify any neglect of precaution on your 8 part. You must have all your faculties under perfect control and be on the watch, for you have an active opponent to deal with. The devil, like a roaring lion, is ever prowling round you, hunting for some prey to devour. (Do not let the fear of suffering terrify you into submission.) Stand your ground against him with the solid 9 front which faith can give. Eemember that you do not stand alone. You are part of a band of brothers, stationed like yourselves in the world. Your experience is not peculiar. The same discipline of suffering is being carried out by God's will in their case also. But 10 however painful your experience may be, remember that it is sent by God whose every thought is loving favour. His final purpose for you, to which He called you, is to share His own eternal glory as members of Christ (your glorified Head). After passing through a short period of suffering He Himself will equip you fully. He will stablish you. He will give you the needful strength for the fight. To Him be the 11 might of victory to all eternity. Amen. Silvanus, the bearer of this 12 short letter, is one whom I regard as a faithful brother to you. My ii8 / PETER [5 6— object in writing to you is to encourage you and to give my testimony to the fact that your position as Christians and the sufferings which it involves are in very truth a sign of God's loving favour. Stand fast then to maintain it. 13 The sister Church in Eome, the new Babylonish exile of the new Israel of God, which shares with you God's call to be His chosen people, sends you her greeting, as also does Mark, my son in the faith. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. May God give the blessing of peace to all of you as members of Christ. 6. TaircivcoOiiTc ovv. Such humility towards fellow- Christians is only the outward expression of humility towards God, just as obedience to rulers, masters or husbands was shewn to be based upon fear and subjection towards God. In their present circum- stances of ' • trial by fire ' ' such humility towards God must be shewn by patient, trustful acceptance of suffering as part of His loving purpose. They must not resent it as "a strange chance" or be fretful with anxiety {/n^pi/xva). Suffering for Christ is in itself a position of favour (cf. Phil. i. 29). To bear it humbly is the con- dition for being exalted to full and final favour. Kparaidv X^^P"- "^o^ ®'°^- '^^^ ' ' J^ig^^J hand ' ' of God is generally used in the LXX. of God's power in deliverance, e.g. from Egypt, Ex. iii. 19 ; Deut. ix. 29, etc., but in Ezek. xx. 34 it is used of God's power in judgment, in scattering His people in exile. So here God's ' * mighty hand ' ' is shewn in judgment, but that same ' ' mighty hand ' ' will exalt those who humbly submit to His discipline. vxj/wo-r), for the exaltation of the lowly cf . Matt, xxiii. 12 ; Lk. i. 52, xiv. 11, xviii. 14. 6V Kttipw. AP and some cursives and versions add iinaKovTjs from ii. 12. Here it means in His oivn good time. Christians must not be impatient if God seems " to tarry long with them." 7. 6irip£\|/avT€S. The words are borrowed from Ps. Iv. 22 Mpi\pov iirl 'K.ipiov TTjp fx^pifivdv (rov Kai avrds ere diadpi\l/€L. In times of danger the Christian is to cast all the burden of his anxiety or alarm {n^pi/xva) upon God with confident trust in His loving care (fxiXei). The A.V. casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you misses the distinction between the two words. 8. vnil/arc, "ypT]"yopTJayy€\iov= joining in the contest in which the Faith of the Gospel is engaged, cf. 1 Tim. iv. 1 diro]p£|ci, shall stablish you. The word is used of fixing a thing firmly, making it stable. St Peter when warned of his fall was bidden "when once thou hast turned again stablish thy brethren" (Lk. xxii. 32). St Paul uses it frequently of God, Rom. xvi. 25 ; 2 Thess. ii. 17, iii. 3, while it is used of men in 1 Thess. iii. 2 ; Jas v. 8 ; Eev. iii. 2. 5 12] NOTES 123 (r6€vov, cf. the commendation of Tychicus, the bearer of Col. and Eph., Eph. vi. 21 ; Col. iv. 7. us XoyL^o/xat, not as in the A.V. as I suppose, as though St Peter had any doubt about his faithfulness, but as in the E.V. as I reckon. In view of the fact that Silas had been St Paul's companion and that Judaizers in Asia tried to represent that St Peter and St Paul were opposed to one another, such a commendation of Silvanus from St Peter would be an indication that he still ' ' gave the right hand of fellow- ship to St Paul's work." If, as Dr Chase suggests, Silvanus was at the very time being sent to Asia Minor as St Paul's delegate, St Peter's commendation would have even greater importance. 126 / PETER [5 12— 8i* oKiyav, cf. Heb. xiii. 22. Even in so long and systematic an Epistle as Hebrews the writer feels that the vastness of his subject is but slightly represented by his letter. So here St Peter may be apologizing for the brevity of his letter and contrasting it in thought with the fuller teaching which Silvanus will be able to give by word of mouth. hipw^a is the epistolary aorist, "I avi tci-iting.^^ irapaKoXwv Kal ciri|iapTvp(5v. St Peter here sums up his object in writing. His purpose is to encourage his readers and to give (or add iiri...) his testimony to the truth of God's favour to them. iTTi/xapTvpecv occurs nowhere else in Biblical Greek but St Peter has urged humility as the condition for receiving God's favour [x^-P'-^) v. 5, and such humility must be exercised not merely towards fellow- Christians but towards God by patient endurance of sufferings as a prelude to final glory. The God of all favour (xapiros) called them to share His glory by passing through a discipline of sufferings. Such sufferings are not inconsistent with God's favour but rather are signs of it, even though they are made use of by Satan to tempt them to apostasy. In i. 10 St Peter had spoken of the extension of God's favour to the Gentiles (t^s els vfias xa/»7-os), as predicted by the prophets and watched by angels, and in i. 13 he urged his readers to set their hope upon the favour (xo-piv) which is being borne to them in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Probably therefore St Peter means that the object of his letter is (a) to encourage his readers in their trial by fire, exhorting them to lead lives consistent with their faith and hope, and (b) to assure them that their position as the new Israel of God is no accident but the fulfilment of God's eternal purpose of loving favour. Their very sufferings are part of that same loving favour. Therefore he urges them to stand fast to secure (els) its final consummation in eternal glory. 5 13] NOTES 127 13. ^ kv BaPv\«viiX'i]}taTi d-yairris. *' A holy kiss " is ordered as a Christian greeting by St Paul in Kom. xvi. 16 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 12 ; 1 Thess. V. 26. At first it was used as a personal greeting, but in the second century it became part of the Eucharistic service and is referred to by Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, the Apostolic Constitutions, Cyril of Jerusalem and Chrysostom. After- wards it was used as a greeting in the services for Baptism, Marriage and Ordination. elprivT) was the regular Hebrew greeting. Our Lord instructed His disciples to use it on arriving at a house, and Himself employed it when He appeared to them after the Kesurrection. As a farewell greeting however the usual form was "depart in peace," cf. Acts xvi. 36. St Paul uses it together with x^P's in ^tie opening salu- tations of all his epistles, but his farewell greeting is usually x^P'^. He does however use elprjPT} in Eph. vi. 23 and eifn^vr) aoi occurs in 3 Jn 15. Iv XpwTTtp is a very favourite phrase of St Paul to denote the position of Christians as members of Christ, and the same idea has already been expressed by St Peter in iii. 16 and v. 10. Such language evidently implies a full belief in the divinity of Christ, INDEX OF SUBJECTS Acts, parallels in, xxi f. Advent, the second, 25, 33, 102, 115 Antiocb, S. Peter in, xiiiff., xvi Aorist, gnomic, 41 ; participles, 23, 52, 122 Apostolic Conference, xiii f. Article, use of the, 27, 66 Ascension, the, 82 f. Asia, 13 Authorship of 1 Pet., xx ff. Babylon, xxx f., 127 Baptism, Ixiii, 74, 78 ff. Bithynia, xxxv, 13 f. Blood of Sprinkling, 15 f. Body of Christ, 63 Canonicity of 1 Pet. , xxvii ff. Cappadocia, xxxv, 13 Chase, Bp, xix, xlv f., xlix f., Ixxv, 16, 22, 104 Christian, the name, 108 Christians, duties of, Ixxvii, 52 f. ; privileges of, Ixxvi f.; sufferings of, Ixxix ff. Corinth, xv Date of 1 Pet., xxxiii ff. Dative, dynamic, 30 Deissmann, 24, 62, 66, 109 Dispersion, the, liii f., 10 Doctrine of 1 Pet., Ixxxi f. Election, 10 f. Emperor, duty to the, xlv, 53, 57 Empire, attitude towards Chris- tianity, xxxviii ff. Ephesians, relation of 1 Pet. to, Ixiv ff. Favour, Ixxvi, 28, 126 Flood, the, 74, 78 ff. Galatia, 12 Gentiles, 1 Pet. addressed to, Ixxi ff. Glory, 25 f., 104 f., 121 God, S. Peter's conception of, Ixxxiv f . Hebrews, relation of 1 Pet. to, Ixviii f. Hell, descent into, 83 ff., 94 f. Henoch, Book of, 31, 74, 88, 109 w., 127 Hort, Dr, xlv, Ixv, 16, 22, 29, 39, 45, 49, 79, 112 Husbands, exhortation to, Ixxviii, 68 Imperatives, aorist and present, 58 Imperfect, graphic, 62 Inheritance, 20 James, relation of 1 Pet. to, liii f. Jesus Christ, S. Peter's concep- tion of, Ixxxv f. ; allusions to life and work of, xxiv f. ; allu- sions to sayings of, xxv f . Judgment, 93 f., 109 Lamb, Christ as the, 37 13© INDEX OF SUBJECTS Lord's Prayer, traces of the, 35, 104 Mark, xxi, xxxiii, xlix f., 128 Marriage, 66 Messiah, 29 Messianic Age, 22 Middle Voice, 23, 27, 43 Name, The, xliii, 103, 108 Nero, xl f., xlvi ff. Optative with el, 72, 76 Parry, liv f. , Ivi, Iviii f., 117 Participles, aorist, 23, 52, 122; imperatival, 59 f. ; perfect, 20, 52, 92 Paul, S., connexion with S. Peter, xiii ff., xix, 1 f. ; silence of 1 Pet. about, lii f. Persecution, xxxvi ff. Peter, S., at Antioch, xivf.; his calls, ix f . ; his character, x ff. ; knowledge of Greek, xxiii f. ; martyrdom, date of, xlvi f. ; the Eock, xi ; visit to Eome, xvi ff.. If. Pliny, xxxix f., 108 Pontus, xvi, XXXV, 11 f. Predestination, 14 f., 49 Presbyters, Ixxix, 111 f. Prophets, 27 f. Ramsay, Prof., xxxiv, xlii f., xlvi, 10, 73, 107, 119 Readers, nationality of the, Ixix f . Rome, xvi f., xxxi, xlvi ff. Romans, relation of 1 Pet. to, Ixff. Salvation, 21 Sanday and Headlam, Ixviii, 20, 25, 49 Shekinah, 105 Silvanus, xxxv, li, Ixxv, 123 Slaves, exhortation to, Ixxviii, 53, 59 Spirit of Christ, 28 f., 77 Spirit, the Holy, 15, 32 Spirits in prison, 74, 77 f., 88, 94 f. Stone, Christ as the, Ixi, 47 f. Suffering, Ixxx, 25 ff., 71, 73 f., 101, 106 Tacitus, xl f. Trinity, the Holy, 14 Versions, Ixxxvii Wives, exhortation to, Ixxviii, 65 ff. INDEX TO NOTES ON GREEK WORDS dyaWiav i. 6, 8, iv. 13, p. 23 ayios i. 12, 15, 16, ii. 5, 9, iii. 5, pp. 15 f. ayvi^eiif i. 22, p. 39 dyvuaia ii. 15, p, 58 &do\os ii. 2, p. 45 atfia i. 2, 19, pp. 15 f. alaxpoKepdds v. 2, p. 114 oLKpoyojuiaios ii. 6, p. 48 dWoTpioeiriaKoiros iv. 15, p. 107 d/xapdvTivos V. 4, p. 115 d/xu/jLos i. 19, p. 38 dj'a7e»'j'aj' i. 3, 23, p. 19 dvaavos V. 4, p. 115 arripi^eiv v. 10, p. 122 avfnrpea^&repos v. 1, p. 112 a-weidrjiTis ii. 19, p. 61 (xvpeK\€KT6s V. 12, p. 127 avvffxni^^'-T^^^'-v i- 14> P' 34 (TWyLia ii. 24, p. 63 ffujTTjpia i. 5, p. 21 ffpov€iv iv. 7, p. 96 raireiPotppoaijPTj v. 5, p. 116 TTjpeiv i. 4, p. 20 virepri