Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson, Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 26 July 2015
17 Honor all: Love the brotherhood, keep being respectful toward God; keep honoring the king.
18 The slaves [should honor all] by submitting themselves with total respect to their masters -
not only to the good and gracious ones but also to the crooked ones ,
19 for this is gracefulness,
if, on account of a Godly conscience,
someone were to undertake grievous [things], suffering unjustly.
20 For, what [would be y’all’s] reputation
if, when you sin, you also were to endure being beaten?
But rather if, when you do good you also were to endure suffering,
this is gracefulness alongside God ,
21 Why, it is for this purpose that y’all were called,
because even the Christ suffered on our behalf, leaving behind an example
for you in order that y’all might adhere to His tracks –
22 “who never committed a sin,
nor was deceptiveness found in His mouth,”
23 who, while being insulted was not insulting back,
[and] while suffering was not threatening,
but He was giving [it] over to the One who judges justly .
In the recent Christian movie Courageous, one of the heroes, Javier, is faced with a ticklish situation. His boss offers him a chance at trying out for a manager position, which would be a big promotion, but as the boss outlines what he wants Javier to do, it becomes apparent that the boss is crooked and wants his managers to fudge on the records and give kick-backs out of the supposed business losses. Javier had a growing family and needed the pay raise that would come with the promotion, so he wrestled all night over whether or not to try out for it, but Javier was a Christian and knew that kind of shady business was morally wrong. In the end, when his boss calls him up, Javier is shaking with fear of being fired, but he courageously tells his boss that he is a Christian and cannot agree to lie on the accounting. Would you be willing to be fired over telling the truth?
In the year 2003, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore was deposed from office for defying a federal court order to remove a copy of the 10 Commandments that he had set up in the courthouse. The monument had offended some atheists, so the ACLU had gone after it. Justice Moore lost his job for taking a public stand for his faith and for making true, but politically frowned-upon statements connecting American jurisprudence to Biblical law. “I pledged to support not only the U.S. Constitution, but the Alabama Constitution as well, which provided in its preamble that the state 'established justice' by 'invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God.' The connection between God and our law could not be more clear”[1] (We will see if Oklahoma governor Marry Fallin suffers the same consequences for the same sort of thing this year.) Justice Moore, who, by the way was re-elected to the Alabama Supreme court in 2013, is also being vilified for his rulings against homosexuality. In 2002 he wrote, “disfavoring practicing homosexuals in [child] custody matters promotes the general welfare of the people of our State in accordance with our law...”[2] Would you have the courage to go on record speaking truth like that?
A century or so after Peter wrote his epistles in the Bible, Tertullian wrote in his Apologies (chapter 40) that the pagan Romans “considered Christians to be the cause of every public disaster, of every affliction with which the people are visited. If the Tiber rises as high as the city walls, if the Nile does not send its waters up over the fields, if the heavens give no rain, if there is an earthquake, if there is famine or pestilence, straightway the cry is, ‘Away with the Christians to the lion!’”
So, what do you do when it’s your own employer who hates you because you are a Christian?
· This word for “slave” is not the Greek word doulos for one who merely renders service contractually, but the word oikete, someone who for the rest of this life is under the authority of (and is a chattel slave of) the master of a household[3].
· One thing that may be hard for modern Americans to grasp is that such a slave was treated as a member of the household, housed, fed, expected to do chores to benefit the household, and was disciplined as though a child of the head-of-household, so, in many respects treated like a son or daughter, but without the prospect of ever becoming an equal, without the prospect of leaving, and without the privilege of having a share in the inheritance, rather these slaves would be themselves part of the inheritance deeded to the children.
· I believe that the total lack of an indicative verb in the Greek of v.18 makes it dependent on the imperatives of verse 17, and therefore the participle “submitting” in v.18 is a description of HOW a domestic servant can begin to go about obeying the command to “honor all.” The slave (and, I would argue by parallel circumstances, any employee today) starts “honoring all” by first submitting – righteously and cheerfully – to his (or her) master (or boss, in the case of employees).
· Greek lexicographer Joseph Thayer suggested that this word despotes, translated “master,” is a combination of the Greek word for “bind” and “husband.” I take it that this indicates a covenantal or contractually-tied relationship.
o The husband-wife relationship is based on covenantal promises with accompanying privileges for keeping the covenant and penalties for breaking the covenant, and is life-long, as was this sort of slavery.
o The Biblical master-slave relationship also was covenantal; it was mutually agreed-upon and had certain requirements and benefits to the slave (especially if the master was a mild-mannered, gracious man), as well as penalties for violating the covenant.
o Modern-day employment has many similarities to Biblical, covenantal slavery in that it
§ provides a living for those who can’t provide their own employment
§ by serving a boss who can provide the business savvy and employ the employee under the terms of a contract,
§ rewarding contractual faithfulness with specified salary and benefits,
§ and penalizing the interruption or violation of the contract.
§ Likewise there are covenantal limitations on employers, much as there were on Biblical slave-owners to penalize the abuse of an employee (or slave),
§ so there are significant similarities.
§ Please don’t get all hung up over the concept of slavery, but rather, as you think of this, think of your boss when we read the word “master.”
· In 1 Timothy 6:1-2 we read, “Let as many bondservants (douloi) as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor (time), so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed. And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.”
· And in Titus 2:9-10, “Exhort bondservants (doulous) to be obedient (υποτασσεσθαι) to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”
· Once in the position of a oikete chattel slave in the household, you couldn’t likely get out of that status. You were in it for the rest of your life, so you had to figure out how to get along with your master, whether he was a good guy with the graces of a Biblically-qualified elder[4], or whether he was harsh, unreasonable, forward, unjust, and crooked.
· Thankfully in most contemporary employment you can resign and find another job if you don’t like your boss, but consider the principles behind what Peter is saying:
o Do you treat your boss with honor?
o Do you work in such a way that your boss says, “Christians are sure good for our business,” or does your work cause your boss to blaspheme Christian doctrine and say, “Christianity teaches people to be lazy, stupid, and careless!”?
o Do you conscientiously discover and serve the best interests of your boss, or are you just checking off the to-do list?
o Are you submitting to your boss, or do you chafe under every difference of opinion?
o Do you talk back to your boss to put him in his place?
o Do you take liberties to pilfer from your company? Even little things like stealing pens for personal use or sampling food not offered to you?
o Are you adorning the doctrine of God our Savior in all things?
o Before you put in your two-week’s notice and say what a terrible boss you had, be sure that you are not characterized by a neglect of these Biblical standards of being an employee!
· But sometimes you have to suffer through no fault of your own...
· In my opinion, to translate the Greek word karis as “commendable,” “acceptable,” “worthy of thanks,” or “finding favor” moves away from the meaning of the Greek word, which is that of “an unearned gift” – and also moves away from the source of grace, which is God, not man.
· This “grace” (or free gift) has already been mentioned three times by Peter
o in chapter one: v.2 ...grace and peace be fulfilled in y’all...
o in v.10 “... prophets... prophecied concerning grace [going] into y’all... “
o and v.13 “Therefore...start hoping upon the grace which is being brought to y’all in the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
o And it will be mentioned again at the end of v. 20 (although it is unfortunate that the KJV renders the same Greek word with different English words in verses 19 and 20).
· It is a “gift” from God to be convicted in your “conscience” of what is right and to be willing to “suffer” for it when “crooked” leaders punish Godly behavior and reward crooked behavior.
o It takes the grace of God to be convinced that Jesus is a higher authority than your boss and to trust that Jesus will bring blessing out of your obedience to Him, and that if you get punished by your boss, it is o.k.
o You don’t have to hate your boss; you don’t have to get even; you simply did what was right and can move on in obedience.
· The Greek word for “griefs” is plural, and is something Peter had already noticed that these folks were undergoing in 1:6 “...it is vitally necessary to be grieved by various trials so that the refining of y’all’s faith... might result in praise and glory and value during Jesus Christ’s unveiling.”
· When the prophet Daniel decided to pray to the true God in defiance of the new law of the Persian king, he was prepared to suffer for it, and indeed, he suffered the indignity of being thrown to the lions in front of all his colleagues, and suffered a strange night in a cave full of hungry lions. But he was prepared to die for what he believed was right. Mercifully, God shut the lions’ mouths instead and delivered Daniel.
· I know of a guy who was arrested for abusing several little girls. He has been in prison for about half a year now. His sentencing was last week, and he was hoping that the judge would let him out of jail now that he has been in jail for six months. But the judge decided he would have to stay in jail for a couple more years. Does that make you feel sorry for him? Why not? Because he did something bad to all those girls and he deserves to be punished!
· I also heard about a man who had a nice little farm, but his neighbor wanted his farm, so the neighbor went to the police and said, “Sirs, my neighbor ripped a page out of the Quaran and flushed it down the toilet; I think you should do something about that.” Well, the police were incensed. “How dare anybody rip a page out of our holy book and flush it down the toilet!” And they swooped onto the farm and arrested the man and threw him and his family in jail. The man said, “Wait, why are you throwing us in jail?” and the police said, “You desecrated the Quaran! Your neighbor saw it!” The man said, “But we did no such thing. We are Christians and we are not disrespectful like that.” But the police kept the family in jail, and then gave the farm to the Muslim neighbor. Now, do you feel sorry for that Christian man? Why? Because he was punished even though he didn’t do anything wrong!
· Persecution like this is a theme throughout Peter’s first epistle, for instance:
o 1 Peter 3:14 “But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed... 3:17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil...” (NKJV)
o 4:15 “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters... 4:19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” (NKJV)
· Now, do you find it highly motivating to suffer injustice simply because you would be philosophically in the right? I didn’t think so. That’s why Peter gives us some more ammunition on the subject:
· “He who is holy (1:15)... called y’all out of darkness into His marvelous light” (2.9) that you may experience the free gift of God’s blessing in his presence “with/alongside Him” (2:20).
· But in order to be “alongside/with” Christ and follow Him, you must suffer, because that is the path He chose. He walked through suffering, and if you want to be with Him, you will have to walk through suffering too. Otherwise you will be on a different path and not be with Him.
· Christ’s suffering was not random or masochistic, however. It was purposeful.
o He suffered God’s wrath “instead of us/ for us/ on our behalf” in order to make a way for us to be forgiven of our sins and enjoy the grace of being in God’s presence alongside Him.
o Jesus used the same prepositional phrase “on behalf of you” at the “Last Supper” when He said, that the bread represented His body which was to be broken on the cross “for,” or “on behalf of” – you (1 Cor. 11:24)!
o (By the way, it doesn’t really make a difference whether your Bible says “you” or “us” in this verse, so don’t get hung up on that trivial textual variance.)
o If He hadn’t done that, we would perish in our sins and be banished from His presence forever. Jesus’ suffering was out of a conscientious desire to do what is right and also out of love that sought to bring us graciously into a blessed relationship with Him.
· Jesus’ suffering (and we include not only His suffering on the cross, but all the consequences of sin that He willingly suffered in the process of taking on human flesh and living as a human being) – His suffering provides an example.
o Just as Jesus did what was right and suffered in order to bring blessing to us, so we can also do what is right and endure whatever suffering will bring blessing to other people.
o The Greek word for “follow” here has an extra prefix added to it to make it more intense than the usual word for “follow.” This will require intense commitment to adhere to a Savior who leads through suffering and calls us to follow Him in suffering.
· In the next two verses there are three very specific ways that we can follow the example of Christ. This is not to say that we will ever be able to follow Him perfectly, but these three things are what we can aspire to and attain to some degree:
1. Avoiding sin and deceptiveness,
2. Not returning insults or seeking revenge, and
3. Trusting God to make things right.
· Thus at the beginning of the chapter Peter said that to “draw near” to the Lord, we have to “displace all wickedness and deceptiveness...”
· It is incredibly significant that Jesus never committed a sin. Peter is giving his own testimony as a man who lived with Jesus for years and observed what He was like, but Peter is also quoting the prophetic testimony of Isaiah 53 verse 9. Isaiah 53 is all about the sinless Lamb of God dying as a substitute for His people to save them, and only a sinless substitute with no sins of his own to atone for could do that. Peter clearly saw Jesus as the fulfillment of that prophecy from Isaiah and affirms the sinlesness of Jesus.
· This is our example to follow. We won’t be able to follow perfectly, but it is our goal.
· Peter has already addressed this to some extent in chapter 1:15-16 “...in accordance with the Holy One who called you, you yourselves should also start becoming holy in all [your] lifestyle, because it has been written, ‘Y’all shall be holy because I myself am holy.’” and in chapter 2:11ff “Loved ones, I am offering an encouragement like [I would to] temporary residents and pilgrims, to keep yourselves away from the fleshly desires which are at war against your soul, while keeping your lifestyle among the nations good, in order that, in that which they are trash-talking you about, as [though you were] evildoers, they might glorify God after observing [for themselves] some of your good works, during a day of supervision. [Therefore], submit to every human institution on account of the Lord, because the will of God is thus: to silence the ignorance of mindless men through y’all doing good, as free-men, yet not as those who maintain their freedom to be a cover-up for wickedness, but rather as servants of God.”
· So the first example we can follow Christ in is to turn away from sin and obey God. The second way we can follow Jesus’ example is to keep your big mouth shut.
· Most English translations use the word “revile” here, but I can’t remember when I heard the word “revile” in conversation, so I’d like to use the word “insult” instead.
· The specific OT example of what reviling looked like is recounted in Numbers 20:1-5, when the people of Israel started yelling at Moses for being such a failure as a leader: “And the people reviled Moses, saying, ‘Would we had died in the destruction of our brethren before the Lord! And wherefore have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, to kill us and our cattle? And [why] is this? Ye have brought us up out of Egypt, that we should come into this evil place; a place where there is no sowing, neither figs, nor vines, nor pomegranates, neither is there water to drink.’” (Brenton)
· In the New Testament (John 9:28), the Pharisees “reviled” the blind man who had been healed by Jesus. saying, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow [Jesus], we do not know where He is from.” (NKJV) In other words, “You are an idiot to follow Jesus instead of us; He’s a bastard; you know!”
· But Jesus refused to give tit for tat. Jesus obeyed God who said in Prov. 20:3a “It is a glory to a man to turn aside from insults[6]....” On the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them...”
· This was quite unlike the priests who “threatened” Peter and John after the healing of the lame man in order to try to intimidate the apostles so they would stop preaching about Jesus (Acts 4:17). Jesus did not make angry, vengeful threats against the people who condemned Him.
· This is the example we ourselves can follow. Peter says it explicitly later on in 1 Peter 3:8-9, “...be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” (NKJV) Return insults with blessings!
· Now, this does not mean that Jesus’ suffering at the time of His humiliation embodied the sum total of God’s action and character. He will come again as judge and then He will indeed “threaten the disobedient” Isa 66:14 (cf. Hab. 3:12, Zech. 9:14, etc.). But Jesus provided an example that we can actually follow when He was in his state of humiliation; He set an example of not threatening revenge nor of returning insults, but suffering injustice with patient trust in God to bring about justice in the best time and in the best way.
· That brings us to the third way we can imitiate Christ at the end of v.23:
· “The One who judges justly” being, of course, God the Father, whom Peter already mentioned in 1:17 as being “the One who judges against the work of each man without showing favoritism,” for, as the Apostle James rightly observed, “there is only One lawgiver and judge.” (4:12)
· Now, while we are suffering, we usually do not see how the justice of God is going to make everything right. We may be like those martyrs under the altar in heaven in the book of Revelation who cried out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10), but He will bring all to rights at the right time.
· Was God the Father worthy of Jesus’ trust as Jesus suffered and left it up to Him? You’d better believe it!
o The suffering Jesus endured on the cross brought the people Jesus loved out from under the wrath of God
o so that Jesus could bring us like a bride into His heavenly home.
o God the Father honored His Son by giving Him the name above every name
o and glorifying Him and giving Him the authority to return as judge of the earth to destroy every rebel that stands in the way of His will.
· Is God worthy of your trust when you are suffering unjustly? You’d better believe it!
· The picture painted by the Greek word paradidou, translated “committed/entrusted/gave over” is that something was placed in your hands and, instead of hanging on to it, you pass it on to the person next to you – who is, in this case, God Himself – the same preposition is used to describe the location of God to the righteous up in v.20! In football terms, it’s a “lateral pass.”
o On the cross, Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit [παρατίθεμαι] my spirit” Luke 23:46.
o It reminds me of the exhortation at the end of Peter’s letter (5:11) “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
o You want insomnia, heartburn, mouth and stomach ulcers, and headaches? Just try to control justice yourself and juggle your anxieties, but if you want to be free of those things, hand that bag of worries and bitterness off to God and let Him make it all right for you.
· The book of Revelation was also written around the time of the epistles of Peter, to the church that was being persecuted. We have many reassurances in that apocalyptic vision that God’s justice and mercy will win out in the end. I don’t have time to read them all[7], but I think it is particularly poignant that even those martyrs under the altar who seemed a little nervous about God’s justice eventually admitted that His justice it right on! You can trust God to bring about justice too. Rev. 5:6 And I heard another [voice] from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
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Patriarchal text |
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KJV |
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ESV |
NASB |
NIV |
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17 πάνταςAPM τιμήσατεAAM, τὴν ἀδελφότηταASF ἀγαπησᾶτε[ii], τὸν ΘεὸνASM φοβεῖσθεPNM, τὸν βασιλέαASM τιμᾶτεPAM. |
17 Honor all of them: Love the brotherhood, keep being respectful toward God; keep honoring the king. |
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. |
17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. |
17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. |
17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. |
17 Show |
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18 Οἱ οἰκέταιNPM, ὑποτασσόμενοιPPP-NPM ἐν παντὶDSM φόβῳ τοῖς δεσπόταις DPM, οὐ μόνον τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς καὶ ἐπιεικέσινDPM, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς σκολιοῖς. |
18 The slaves[iii] [should honor all[iv]] by submitting themselves with total respect to their masters[v], not only to the good and gracious ones but also to the crooked ones, |
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. |
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. |
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. |
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. |
18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. |
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19 τοῦτοNSN γὰρ χάριςNSF, εἰ[vi] διὰ συνείδησινASF [vii] Θεοῦ ὑποφέρειPAI τιςNSM λύπαςAPF, πάσχωνPAP-NSM ἀδίκως. |
19 for this is gracefulness[viii], if, on account of a Godly conscience, someone were to undertake grievous [things][ix], suffering unjustly. |
19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure griefx, suffering wrongfully. |
19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures griefx, suffering wrongfully. |
19 For this is a gracious thing, when, |
19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. |
19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under [the] painx |
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20 ποῖονI-NSN γὰρ κλέοςNSN, εἰ[x] ἁμαρτάνοντεςPAP-NPM καὶ κολαφιζόμενοιPPP-NPM ὑπομενεῖτεFAI ; ἀλλ᾿ εἰ ἀγαθοποιοῦντεςPAP-NPM καὶ πάσχοντεςPAP-NPM ὑπομενεῖτε, τοῦτο χάρις παρὰ Θεῷ. |
20 For, what [would be y’all’s] reputation[xi] if, when you sin, you also were to endure being beaten? But rather if, when you do good you also were to endure suffering[xii], this is gracefulness alongside God. |
20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted X for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. |
20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten X for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. |
20 For what credit is [it] if, when you sin and are beaten [for it], you endure? But if when you do good and suffer [for it] you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. |
20 For what credit is [there] if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. |
20 But |
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21 εἰς τοῦτοASN γὰρ ἐκλήθητεAPI, ὅτι καὶ[xiii] Χριστὸς [xiv]ἔπαθενAAI ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν[xv], ὑμῖν[xvi] ὑπολιμπάνωνPAP-NSM ὑπογραμμὸνASM ἵνα [xvii]ἐπακολουθήσητεAAS τοῖς ἴχνεσινDPN αὐτοῦ· |
21 Why, it is for this purpose that y’all were called[xviii], because even the Christ suffered on our behalf, leaving behind an example for you in order that y’all might adhere to His tracks[xix] – |
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving |
21 For to this you were called, because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving |
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. |
21 For you have been called for this
purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you |
21 X To this you were called, because Christ X suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. |
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22 ὃςNSM ἁμαρτίανASF οὐκ[xx] ἐποίησενAAI, οὐδὲ εὑρέθηAPI δόλος ἐν τῳ στόματι αὐτοῦ· |
22 “who never committed a sin, nor was deceptiveness found in His mouth[xxi],” |
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: |
22 "WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH"; |
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. |
22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; |
22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." |
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23 ὃς λοιδορούμενοςPPP-NSM οὐκ ἀντελοιδόρειIAI, πάσχωνPAP-NSM οὐκ ἠπείλειIAI, παρεδίδουIAI δὲ τῳ κρίνοντιPAP-DSM δικαίωςADV · |
23 who, while being insulted[xxii] was not insulting back, [and] while suffering was not threatening[xxiii], but He was giving [it] over to the One who judges justly[xxiv]. |
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: |
23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; |
23 X When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting [himself] to him who judges justly. |
23 |
23 When [they hurled their] insult |
[1] Moore, Roy S.; John Perry (2005). So Help Me God: The Ten Commandments, Judicial Tyranny, and the Battle for Religious Freedom. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman and Holman.
[2] http://caselaw.findlaw.com/al-supreme-court/1303306.html
[3] In Deut.15:17, a doulos contracted-servant might be put in charge of the oiketai chattel-slaves (Matt.24:45), and this lends more perspective to Jesus’ statement that a chattel-slave can’t serve more than one master (Luke 16:13), because he has no such choice; he is owned as household property by only one master.
[4] ἐπιεικέσιν “gracious” is one of the qualifications for eldership in 1 Tim. 3:3
[5] As I stated above, corporal discipline was common with slaves on the grounds that this was a member of his household who could be disciplined like a son or daughter. This, of course, could be overdone by harsh slave owners with little penalty under Roman law. This kind of kolaphizw beating implied being struck with fists.
[6] God’s word says that revilers will be punished along with thieves and drunkards and extortioners by not making it into the kingdom of God: 1 Corinthians 6:10 “thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (NKJV)
[7] viz. Revelation 11:17-18 and 16:5-7.
[i] Where the traditional
Patriarchal edition of the Greek Bible is challenged by the Textus Receptus or by the modern critical
editions, I note that. When an English translation adds words not in the Greek
text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out
text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one English version
chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I
underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either
departs too far from the root meaning of the Greek word or departs too far from
the grammar form of the original Greek word, I use strikeout. And when
an English version omits a significant word which is in the Greek text, I
insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X at the end of a word if the Greek
word is singular but the English translation is singular.) I have also tried to
use colors to help the reader see correlations between the Greek original and
the various translations.
[ii] The majority of manuscripts spell this word in the Aorist tense, however, since there is no manuscript older than the 8th Century which spells it Aorist, this reading is considered suspect by most modern scholars. The reading of the oldest-known texts here is Present Imperative, so that is the way the modern critical texts spell it. However, it doesn’t really make a difference in English translation. At the most, it could shade the meaning between an ingressive command “Start loving” (Aorist) and the progressive “Keep loving” (Present). In the last instance of this verb – in 1 Peter 1:22b, all known manuscripts agree on the Aorist imperative spelling.
[iii] This is not the Greek word for one who merely renders service contractually, but of someone who for the rest of this life is under the authority of and is a chattel slave of the master of a household. One thing that may be hard for modern Americans to grasp is that such a slave was treated as a member of the household, housed, fed, expected to benefit the household, and disciplined as a child of the head-of-household, but without the prospect of ever leaving and without the privilege of having a share in the inheritance after the death of the head-of-household, rather these slaves would be part of the inheritance deeded to the children of the head of household. Deut.15:17, a doulos contracted-servant might be put in charge of the oiketai chattel-slaves (Matt.24:45), and this lends more perspective to Jesus’ statement that a chattel-slave can’t serve more than one master (Luke 16:13), because he has no such choice; he is owned as household property by that master.
[iv] I believe the lack of an indicative verb in v.18 makes it dependent on the imperatives of verse 17, making the participle “submitting” in v.18 a description of HOW a slave can begin to go about obeying the command to “honor.” The slave (and, by parallel circumstances, the employee) starts “honoring all” by first submitting - righteously and cheerfully - to his (or her) master (or boss, in the case of the employee).
[v] Thayer suggests that this word translated “master” is a combination of the Greek word for “bind” and “husband.” This indicates a covenantally or contractually-tied relationship. cf. 1 Tim. 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10
[vi] True condition, so the ESV “when” is appropriate
[vii] A few manuscripts (P72, A, C, Ψ) clarify by adding “good”
[viii] To translate the Greek word karis as “commendable,” “acceptable,” “worthy of thanks,” or “finding favor” moves away from the meaning of the Greek word, which is that of “an unearned gift,” and its source, which is God. This “grace” (or free gift) has already been mentioned three times by Peter in chapter one (It is unfortunate that the KJV renders the same Greek word karis with a different English word in verse 19 and v.20.).
[ix] The Greek word is plural, and is something Peter had already noticed that these folks were undergoing in 1:6
[x] The future tense in the protasis and the interrogative in the apodosis seem to throw εἰ (which is usually reserved for known conditions) into a 3rd-class type of unknown conditional (ATR says it’s still 1st class).
[xi] This is a rare word in the Greek Bible, based on the verb kalew “call,” only appearing here and in Job 28:22 and 30:8, perhaps denoting the concept of a “reputation” without indicating whether this reputation was good or bad. Synonyms might be φήμη “saying” and ἀκοή “hearsay”.
[xii] cf. 1Pet. 3:14 & 17, and 4:15&19 and 1 Cor. 7:24 for para thew
[xiii] The fact that the kai preceeds the word “Christ” and the fact that Christ is the one who led the way into suffering lead me to translate this “even the Christ” rather than “Christ also,” the latter of which makes it sound like we lead with suffering and Christ follows. This is a fine distinction and not one I wish to make a big deal over.
[xiv] Jesus’ suffering includes not only His suffering on the cross, but all the consequences of sin that He willingly suffered in the process of taking on human flesh and living as a human being. A few mss (P81, א, Ψ) substitute “died” for “suffered” which, in Greek, merely involves switching the first and third letters of the word with each other. Scholars are agreed that this variation is not the original, but it doesn’t make a great deal of difference, because Jesus’ death was indeed the most significant part of His suffering.
[xv] Although a minority of the total Greek manuscripts, all manuscripts older than the 8th Century read ‘υμων (“you” instead of “us”), so the Byzantine text is questionable, but it does not make a difference whether or not in this verse the apostle explicitly included himself among those for whom Christ suffered, because Peter includes himself elsewhere.
[xvi] Nestle-Aland lists four Greek manuscripts dating between the 11th and 15th centuries which read ημιν. The reading of the Textus Receptus and of the KJV (“us”) appears to be based on these rather than on the thousands of earlier and later Greek manuscripts which read “y’all.” Again, it doesn’t create a problem, because the apostle also consciously followed in the suffering of Christ, whether or not he included himself explicitly in the wording here. cf. 1 Cor. 11:24
[xvii] Following two hapex legomena, this intensive word for “follow” appears to be used primarily for religious adherence. Note the contrast in the Septuagint Pentateuch between being a “follower” of idols and a “follower” of God: Leviticus 19:4,31; 20:6; Deut. 12:30; Joshua 6:8; 14:8,9,14; Job 26:3; Isaiah 55:3; Mark 16:20; 1 Timothy 5:24 (this is all the rest of the occurrences of epakolouth- in the Greek Bible).
[xviii] “Called” cf. 1:15, 2:9 & 20
[xix] The word translated “tracks/steps” appears most often in the Greek Bible in translating the Hebrew phrase “soles of the feet” (Deut. 11:24) or “palms of the hand” (2 Ki 9:35) - Also the “wheel-rims” of a chariot (Judges 5:28) and the “hooves” of cattle (Ezek. 32:13). It is the hard contact-point of the body with the ground and therefore also the physical track made in the earth by this part of the body (Gen. 42:9-12 – spying out the roadways) and extends figuratively to a way of life exemplified by a person (Rom. 4:12 – “walking in the steps of our father Abraham’s faith”).
[xx] The “no” here actually negates the verb “committed,” not the object “sin,” so I translated it “never committed” rather than “no sin.”
[xxi] Peter quotes Isaiah 53:9 (... ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ) adding his personal testimony that not only did Jesus do no violent sin (חמס the Masoretic word in Isa 53:9), not only was Jesus not “lawless” (the LXX of Isa 53:9), Jesus didn’t even commit any kind of sin (hamartia here in 1 Peter 2:22).
[xxii] OT example of what reviling looked like is recounted in Numbers 20:1-5. A NT example comes in John 9:28-29. cf. scriptural injunction and judicial sentence against loidoria in Prov. 20:3 & 1 Cor 6:10
[xxiii] Unlike the priests in Acts 4:17. This does not preclude authorized threats at other comings of Christ (Isa. 66:14, Hab. 3:12, Zech. 9:14, etc.).
[xxiv] This being God the Father (1 Pet. 1:17, James 4:12, Rev. 6:10, 11:17-18, 16:5-7) who is already standing “by” (para in v.20). Cf. 1 Pet. 5:11. Clement of A. rendered “unrighteously” which changes the meaning!