1:1 The writer identifies himself as “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” There is some possibility that he really was the Peter who accompanied Jesus as one of the twelve disciples. But the balance of the evidence seems to suggest that a follower of Peter is more likely to have been the author, and that the letter was written a few years after Peter’s death, possibly between 70 and 90 A.D. For further discussion on the authorship question, see Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, pp. 718-722. Note that the instruction to “honor the emperor” in 2:17 is unlikely to have been given in the midst of an imperial persecution, so would seem to rule out the reigns of Nero and Domitian, which is a point in favor of the 70-90 date range. It has been noted that the author’s competence in Greek seems to rule out the real Peter as author, given that he was an “uneducated, common” Galilean fisherman. (Acts 4:13) However, if one grants that Silvanus (5:12) served as his secretary, then Peter may have dictated to him, or given him general direction which Silvanus then gave specific expression to.
Note that the letter is not addressed to a specific church or congregation, but to individuals (“exiles”) in the northern provinces of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The general purpose of the letter is to urge Christians to hold firm in their faith, even in the face of adversity, and to be good citizens, giving no offense to their non-Christian neighbors in the larger community of the empire.
1:2 His readers are “chosen and destined” to be obedient to Jesus Christ. This is another reminder that whether to follow Jesus and believe in him is not, according to the Bible, a matter of individual choice. It is predetermined by God, and the individual has no choice in the matter. See also Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:5; and 2 Thessalonians 2:13, which reinforce the notion of predestination.
1:5 It appears from this verse that salvation has not yet arrived, but is waiting to be revealed in the end times. Several other passages, however, indicate that salvation has already arrived. See Acts 13:26 (“The message of this salvation has been sent.”); Acts 28:28 (“The salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles.”); Romans 11:11 (“Salvation has come to the Gentiles.”)
1:6-7 The first coming of Jesus has brought no relief to those who follow him. The author counsels that they will continue to suffer various trials “for a little while.” The purpose of this suffering is to contribute to the praise, glory and honor of Jesus himself. So although Jesus allegedly suffered in our place, so that we would not have to suffer, his followers must nevertheless continue to suffer in their own lives in order to promote the glory of Jesus. The “little while” that the author gives as the length of the suffering has now stretched across nearly two millienia. Mercifully, the suffering of those early Christians was shortened not by Christ, or the arrival of the kingdom, but by their own death.
1:8 There are some commentators who see this verse as a hint that the author himself did know Jesus and saw him while he was alive. However, this is quite a stretch. The author may simply be pointing out that believing without seeing indicates greater faith than believing what one has already seen.
1:9 Although we are not yet halfway through the first chapter, we have already noted several contradictions on theological questions, and this verse provides us with another. The readers are told that the salvation of their souls is an outcome of their faith. But in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 we find that certain individuals were predestined by God for salvation from the beginning, before it would have been possible for them to have faith on any subject whatsoever. If predetermined salvation is true, then salvation cannot be the outcome of a person's faith, as claimed here in 1 Peter.
1:11 Allegedly the Old Testament prophets predicted the sufferings of Christ as the messiah. The source for this claim is very likely Isaiah 53, which speaks of the suffering servant of God. But the suffering servant in Isaiah is actually the nation of Israel, not the messiah, and certainly not Jesus. That the servant is the nation of Israel is stated quite explicitly in Isaiah 41:8-9; 44:1; 44:21; 49:3. “There is no evidence that the Jews held the doctrine of a suffering Messiah, or interpreted Isa. 53 in a messianic sense.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, vol.12, pp.98-99.) Thus, the idea of a messiah who suffers is a wholly new idea invented by the Christians, in order to make sense out of Jesus's death, which was a completely unexpected outcome for those who thought of him as the real Jewish messiah.
1:16 The advice to be as holy as God himself is found in Leviticus 11:44-45.
1:17 It is strange that those who worship a God of “love” should be advised to fear him. This is not an isolated instance. Fear is the predominant emotion between human beings and their God throughout the New Testament. See Luke 12:5; Acts 7:32; 10:35; 2 Corinthians 7:1. Ephesians 5:21 even advises Christians to fear Christ.
1:19 The suggestion is that Jesus himself was without blemish, i.e., without sin. But we can cite numerous occasions when Jesus broke God’s commandments. He dishonored his mother in Luke 11:27-28 and Matthew 12:46-50, violating the fifth commandment to honor one’s father and mother. He coveted another person’s donkey in Matthew 21:2, violating the tenth commandment against coveting another person’s property. He worked on the sabbath (John 5:18) violating the fourth commandment and earning the death penalty according to Exodus 31:15-16. See additional examples of Jesus's sinful behavior in Mike Davis, The Atheist’s Introduction to the New Testament, pp.127-134.
1:20 In this verse, the “last times” have already arrived, as we can tell because Christ “was made manifest” in the last time. But in verse 5 we previously read that the inheritance being guarded in heaven will be revealed in the last time, as though the last time has not yet occurred. So had the end of time already arrived for the author’s readers, or was it still in the future?
1:21 The author claims here that it is through Christ that one has confidence in God. But the opposite effect is claimed in Acts 2:22, where it is God who establishes confidence in Jesus, by means of various mighty works and miracles. Ironically, these words in Acts are ascribed to Peter himself, who apparently is in conflict with himself, if he is indeed the author of this letter which bears his name.
1:24-25 The quotation is from Isaiah 40:6-8, but is cited from the Greek Septuagint translation. The Hebrew text, as reflected in our modern English translations, contains additional words, including the following, which attributes the fading of the flower to God himself: “The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.” (RSV)
2:2 Readers are advised to seek the “pure milk” of the word, in order to grow up into salvation. The milk metaphor was also used by Paul to indicate spiritual immaturity among the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). A similar sense is suggested here, by the fact that the readers have yet to “grow up” into the maturity of salvation. The same metaphor appears also in Hebrews 5:12-13, where we read that anyone who is fed with milk is “unskilled in the word of righteousness.” These passages suggest that the early Christians still did not fully understand the message that was preached to them – or would have been preached to them if they had possessed greater awareness. A different viewpoint is found in the first letter of John, where we read that “the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding.” (1 John 5:20)
2:4-7 The author intends the “stone” which the builders rejected to refer to Jesus Christ (Acts 4:11. See also Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17.) But has the writer forgotten that Jesus named Peter himself as the “rock” upon which the church would be founded? (Matthew 16:18)
The Old Testament references cited in this passage are Isaiah 28:16 (v.6), and Psalm 118:22 (v.7) The Isaiah passage contains the expression, “He that believes shall by no means be ashamed.” But the author of 1 Peter has added the words “in him” after “believes” in order to suggest a closer tie between the Old Testament passage and the role he has in mind for Jesus. We often find that the New Testament authors have quoted not from the original Hebrew scriptures, but from the Greek Septuagint translation. In some cases, such as this one, the quotation is “enhanced” by additions or modifications that attempt to make the Old Testament passage relate more closely to the events in Jesus’s life.
2:8 This is a partial quotation from Isaiah 8:14-15. The writer is again trying to suggest that these words refer prophetically to Jesus as Christ. However, in Isaiah they are spoken of Yahweh, the LORD, and not of Jesus or even of the messiah in general. This is another common tactic of the Christian apologists, to take Old Testament passages that refer to God, and apply them to Jesus.
2:9-10 Verse 10 would suggest that the letter is addressed to a Gentile audience. Verse 9 then, would confer the chosen status of Israel upon the Gentile Christians as the new “chosen” people of God. This trick allows Christian writers to more plausibly claim that Old Testament passages referring to the nation of Israel, actually apply to the (non-Jewish) Christians, as the “true” Israel. It is impossible to claim that the Old Testament is prophetic without resorting to these sorts of strategems.
2:11 The author addresses his readers as “aliens and exiles,” thus reinforcing the popular impression of Christians as a separatist movement whose members refused to take part in the normal civic activities expected of citizens of the empire.
Although Christians have supposedly been saved from sin by having died vicariously with Christ (Romans 6:5-7), the authors of the New Testament epistles feel compelled to continually urge their brethren to refrain from various kinds of immoral behavior. Paul made similar exhortations to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:18) and the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 4:3), and a similar concern is expressed in Ephesians 5:3-4.
2:12-14 As Paul did in Romans 13:1, the author of 1 Peter urges his readers to obey the authorities and to conduct themselves in such a manner as to receive the approval of the pagan community, so as not to be spoken of as evildoers. A common criticism of the early Christians was that they kept to themselves and did not participate in the normal activities of citizens of the empire, causing them to be viewed as suspicious, and perhaps a bit subversive.
2:17 The advice here is to “honor everyone.” Paul, however, was not so generous, as he called for those who preach a different theology to be not honored, but accursed. (1 Corinthians 16:22; Galatians 1:8-9) Even Jesus himself taught his followers to hate their own family members (Luke 14:26) in violation of the fifth commandment to honor one’s father and mother. When the return of Jesus was expected momentarily, treating everyone honorably was apparently not deemed necessary, but as time passed and the expectation of Jesus’s return was pushed more and more into the future, Christians were faced with the task of deciding how to live with other groups in society, and a bit more give and take was required.
Due to the uncertain dating of the letter, it is not possible to tell which emperor is meant here. As noted earlier, Nero would have been reigning toward the end of the actual Peter’s life, but given his persecution of Christians after the fire in 64 A.D., it seems unlikely that Peter would have counseled obedience to him. Thus, a different emperor, and a later date for the letter seem more plausible, making authorship by the real Peter impossible.
2:18 The advice for slaves to be obedient to their masters echoes the similar guidance in Ephesians 6:5 and Colossians 3:22. However the word used here is different (oiketai versus douloi) and suggests “house slaves,” i.e., the servants of the household. But like the other two passages, this one also does not suggest that there is anything amiss with the institution of slavery. And unlike the corresponding passages in Ephesians and Colossians, there is nothing here to suggest that masters owe their slaves any sort of just or fair treatment in return for obedience.
2:19-20 Picking up the theme of 1:6, the author declares not only that the followers of Jesus will continue to suffer, but that God actually approves of this. There is obviously no reward expected for doing the right thing. Instead, it is considered a high virtue to suffer for one’s righteous acts. Any reward is postponed until the kingdom of heaven arrives. In contrast to the revolutionary attacks by Jesus against established authority, the Christian movement as portrayed in this letter and others has evolved into a conservative defender of the status quo, teaching that injustice must be tolerated without complaint, and that the established authorities are to be obeyed without question.
2:21 The suggestion here is that Christ suffered as an example to be imitated, not as an innocent sacrifice to relieve his followers from suffering on their own. This is an odd interpretation, given that the Greek preposition hyper in this usage means “on behalf of” or “for the sake of,” not “as an example to.”
2:22 Jesus is again described as being without sin. See the comment to 1:19 for examples of Jesus’s sins as recorded in the gospels.
2:24 The “tree” is obviously a reference to the cross, and is used not only here but also in Acts 5:30 and 13:29. And Acts 10:39 refers to Jesus as the one “whom they slew and hanged on a tree.” However, in Deuteronomy 21:23 we find that “everyone that is hanged on a tree is cursed of God.” Therefore, Jesus must have been cursed of God. The Christians cannot escape from this by appealing to linguistic arguments, because the words for “hanged” and “tree” are the same in both instances (using the Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy). The apologists may retort that the curse was part of the punishment that Christ took upon himself for the sins of the world, but if so it was a very short-lived curse. The Deuteronomy passage seems to envision something more permanent.
3:1 This advice to wives, that they should be submissive to their husbands, is similar to that found in Ephesians 5:22-24, and in Colossians 3:18. In Paul’s letters (i.e., those accepted as genuine), he did not comment on this specific aspect of the husband and wife relationship, but he did write that women should keep silent in the churches, and save any questions for later, when they can ask their husbands at home. (1 Corinthians 14:34-35) See also 1 Timothy 2:11-12. It is not possible to hold modern views about gender equality and at the same time accept the Bible’s teaching on the relationship between the sexes.
What is especially astounding about this passage in 1 Peter is that it teaches wives to be submissive even when their husbands are non-believers. The rationale is that by their exemplary behavior, these Christian wives can win over their infidel husbands. But it sets up a difficult moral dilemma that the author leaves hanging: If a husband orders his wife to commit a sinful act, should she obey her husband as suggested here? Or if a non-Christian husband orders his wife to abandon her Christian faith and follow paganism, should she submit to his command? Or should she disobey the husband and hold firm to her Christian belief? The answer is not given. A similar dilemma arises with the advice to obey the established earthly authorities (2:13, as well as Romans 13:1).
3:3-4 Christian women are to be concerned more with inner beauty than with outward appearance. Similar advice is found in 1 Timothy 2:9-10. “Neither Peter nor Paul would have approved of the modern woman’s virtuosity in cosmetics.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, vol.12, p.122)
3:7 Labelling the woman as the “weaker” sex was not distinctively Christian. This view reflected the prevailing culture throughout the ancient world.
3:9 This advice echoes that of Jesus in his sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:39), as well as Paul in Romans 12:14.
3:10-12 The quotation is from Psalm 34:12-16. But the assertion that God’s ears are open to the prayers of the righteous rings hollow when considered in light of other passages. We are told that God does not hear sinners (John 9:31), but unfortunately everyone is a sinner (Romans 3:23), and no one at all is righteous (Romans 3:10). So apparently no one qualifies for their prayer to be heard.
3:15 The author urges his readers to “be prepared” to defend their belief to anyone who challenges them. But according to Mark 13:11, no preparation is needed, and Christians need not worry beforehand what they should say when brought up before the authorities, because the Holy Spirit will speak through them.
3:17 “It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” But to suffer for doing evil is just, while to suffer for doing good is unjust. So this maxim implies that injustice is better than justice, which the Greeks would no doubt have recognized as an irrational perversion of sound moral principles.
3:18 Again we have Christ’s suffering portrayed as an example that his followers should imitate, instead of a sacrificial act that relieved his people from the need to suffer. It is right for Christians to suffer, because that’s what Christ did, and Christians should be like Christ. This portrayal is not at all consistent with the notion of Jesus’s sacrifice as atonement for the sins of mankind, as for example, in Romans 3:25 or Hebrews 9:25-26. The point of a sacrifice is that the sacrificial victim stands in the place of the one who has sinned, and relieves the sinner from the need to suffer on his own.
3:19-20 This passage has been the subject of many different interpretations, but the most common, and most natural, is that between his crucifixion and resurrection, Christ descended to the world of the dead and preached the gospel to the souls imprisoned there. See also 4:6, where “the gospel was preached even to those who are dead.” These souls would have included those who died during the days of Noah and the flood. This is apparently an attempt to answer the question of how those who died before Jesus are to be brought into the Christian scheme of salvation. But there is no indication that these dead souls include any nationalities other than the Jews, so it is hardly a universal solution.
3:21 The reader is told that “baptism . . . now saves you.” But Christians are variously told that belief in Jesus saves them (Acts 10:43; John 3:16), or that eating Jesus’s flesh and drinking his blood saves them (John 6:54), or that confession and repentance saves them (Acts 3:19; 1 John 1:9), or that good works save them (James 2:24; Romans 2:6), and now that baptism saves them. Are all of these required? Or only one? Or some combination? The Bible is not clear on even this most basic of theological questions: What must a person do in order to be saved from his or her sins?
4:1 “Whoever has suffered in the flesh has stopped sinning.” Taken at face value, this assertion is contradicted by ordinary experience. But it is also contradicted by the words of Paul, who preached to the Galatians while suffering physically (Galatians 4:13-14), yet this suffering in the flesh did not stop him from sinning, as we see in Romans 7:19.
4:6 This preaching of the gospel to the dead may refer to the time when Christ went and preached to the imprisoned spirits. (See the comment to 3:19-20.) But it is still unclear as to who exactly is included in this captive audience. Were they the pre-Christian dead? Or were they just the Christians who had already died waiting for Jesus to return? It is impossible to tell how inclusive “the dead” is intended to be, and any attempt to make it specific is based largely on speculation.
4:7 The author writes that “the end of all things is at hand.” Jesus also told his listeners that the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God was “at hand.” (Mark 1:15; Matthew 4:17) John the Baptist had preached the same message (Matthew 3:1-2). Even under the assumption that 1 Peter was actually written by the disciple Peter, its composition would still have occurred two or three decades after Jesus died. If at that point the end of all things was still “at hand” we must wonder how long something can be “at hand” while still not arriving. Is the end of all things still “at hand” even now, in the twenty-first century? Or were the New Testament writers simply wrong?
4:8 It now appears that “love” can save us – or at least that it can cover a “multitude of sins.” Unfortunately, there is no catalog of the specific sins that love can cover, so an individual would have no way of knowing whether his own sins were covered by his love for others, or whether a residue would remain requiring the additional measures cited in the comment to 3:21.
4:12 The suffering which Christians have come to expect has been intensified so that it is now a “fiery ordeal” (or “trial by fire”). Wasn’t this supposed to be the very outcome that Christians were supposed to be saved from? According to Tacitus, the emperor Nero blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome in 64 A.D. and had some of them burned as human torches. However, there is no way to know whether the author of 1 Peter intended this warning to be taken so literally.
4:16 This is one of the few times that the term “Christian” appears in the New Testament. Other than this verse, it appears only twice – in Acts 11:26 and 26:28.
4:17 Another failed prediction as to the day of judgment, which allegedly had already arrived.
4:18 This quotation is taken from Proverbs 11:31, but again the writer uses the Greek translation of the Old Testament rather than the Hebrew original, which is reflected in the modern English translations – e.g., the NIV has: “If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!” But the righteous receive their reward in heaven, not on earth, as we read in Matthew 5:10-12.
5:1 The reference to “elders” whose responsibility is to tend God’s flock, suggests a level of church organization that was not present during Peter’s lifetime, and lends credence to the idea that the letter was written sometime after his death. The author’s claim to be a “witness” of Christ’s sufferings “cannot be used to prove Petrine authorship. The word translated ‘witness’ (martus) means one who testifies rather than one who sees at first hand.” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, p.1269.)
5:5 Obedience to the church’s elders is urged. Such advice would be unnecessary if Jesus’s return were expected at any moment, as there would be no need for any administrative structure for the church. Throughout this letter there is no sense of urgency that the return of Jesus and the kingdom of God are expected anytime soon, despite the somewhat perfunctory declaration in 4:7.
The maxim quoted in the final portion of this verse is from Proverbs 3:34, and is also quoted in James 4:6.
5:8-9 The reader is warned to watch out for the devil, who is always lurking and seeking someone to devour. However, the image of the lion is inapt, since a “roaring lion” is likely to scare off its prey before having a chance to devour it. This verse recalls James 4:7, which also urges its readers to resist the devil.
“The devil” as a character is limited to the New Testament, and specifically to the non-Pauline writings. There is no reference to “the devil” anywhere in the Old Testament, nor in the genuine letters of Paul. Paul prefers to speak of “Satan” rather than “the devil,” and in the Old Testament, even Satan appears only sparingly, mostly in the book of Job, where Satan and God conspire to inflict various torments upon Job in order to test his reaction. The popular conception which identifies Satan with “the devil” and portrays him as God’s arch-adversary is strictly a New Testament innovation, not present in the Hebrew scriptures.
5:10 It was very awkward for the early Christians to explain how they could be favored by God when their earthly existence was fraught with oppression, ostracism, and persecution. The author assures his readers that their suffering will only last “a little while,” after which they will be restored to a position of strength. As previously noted, the “little while” has lasted far longer than the lives of those to whom the letter was addressed. See also the comment to 1:6-7.
5:12 This Silvanus is generally regarded as the person of the same name mentioned in Paul’s letters (2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:1), and the same as Silas who is mentioned several times in Acts (e.g., Acts 15:22; 16:19-29). However, The Oxford Bible Commentary (p.1270) argues that there is no positive reason for believing this, and that this Silvanus may be an entirely different person from the one mentioned in Paul and Acts. For “Peter” to say that he has written “through” Silvanus (“by” in RSV and KJV) could mean that Silvanus was merely the bearer of the letter, or that he was the scribe who took the dictation.
5:13 “Babylon” is thought to be code for Rome. The reference to Babylon in Revelation 16:19 is believed to have a similar meaning. “My son Mark” cannot be identified with any certainty. The prevailing view is that he is the same Mark, or John Mark, mentioned in Acts 12:12; 12:25; 15:37. But again, there is no positive evidence for such an identification, especially considering how common the name Mark (Latin Marcus) was in the Roman empire.