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Easton's Bible Dictionary
This epistle is addressed to "the strangers scattered
abroad", i.e., to the Jews of the Dispersion (the Diaspora).
Its object is to confirm its readers in the doctrines they had been already taught.
Peter has been called "the apostle of hope," because this epistle abounds with
words of comfort and encouragement fitted to sustain a "lively hope." It contains
about thirty-five references to the Old Testament.
It was written from Babylon, on the Euphrates, which was at this time one of the
chief seats of Jewish learning, and a fitting centre for labour among the Jews.
It has been noticed that in the beginning of his epistle Peter names the provinces
of Asia Minor in the order in which they would naturally occur to one writing
from Babylon.
He counsels
(1) to steadfastness and perseverance
under persecution ( 1
Peter 1 - 2:10
);
(2) to the practical duties of a holy life ( 1
Peter 2:11 - 3:13
) ;
(3) he adduces the example of Christ and other motives to patience and holiness
( 1
Peter 3:14 - 4:19
); and
(4) concludes with counsels to pastors and people (1
Peter 5). |
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
a rock or stone
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The external evidence of authenticity of this epistle
is of the strongest kind and the internal is equally strong. It was addressed
to the churches of Asia Minor which had for the most part been founded by Paul
and his companions, Supposing it to have been written at Babylon, ( 1
Peter 5:13 ) it is a probable conjecture that Silvanus, By whom it was transmitted
to those churches, had joined Peter after a tour of visitation, and that his account
of the condition of the Christians in those districts determined the apostle to
write the epistle. (On the question of this epistle having been written at Babylon
commentators differ. "Some refer it to the famous Babylon in Asia, which after
its destruction was still inhabited by a Jewish colony; others refer it to Babylon
in Egypt, now called Old Cairo; still others understand it mystically of heathen
Rome, in which sense Babylon is certainly used in the Apocalypse of John." --Schaff.)
The objects of the epistle were --
(1) To comfort and strengthen the Christians in a season
of severe trial.
(2) To enforce the practical and spiritual duties involved in their calling
(3) To warn them against special temptations attached to their position.
(4) To remove all doubt as to the soundness and completeness of the religious
system which they had already received.
Such an attestation was especially needed by the Hebrew Christians, who were to
appeal from Pauls authority to that of the elder apostles, and above all to that
of Peter. |
The last, which is perhaps the very principal object, is kept in view throughout
the epistle, and is distinctly stated ( 1
Peter 5:12 ) The harmony of such teaching with that of Paul is sufficiently
obvious. Peter belongs to the school, or to speak more correctly, is the leader
of the school, which at once vindicates the unity of the law and the gospel, and
puts the superiority of the latter on its true basis-that of spiritual development.
The date of this epistle is uncertain, but Alford believes it to have been written
between A.D. 63 and 67.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Simon Peter was a native of Galilee. He was brought to
the Saviour early in His ministry by his brother Andrew (John 1:40 , 41). His
call to the office of apostle is recorded in Matthew 10:1 - 4 ; Mark 3:13 - 16.
He occupied a distinguished place among the Lord's disciples. In the four lists
of the apostles found in the New Testament his name stands first (Matthew 10:2
- 4 ; Mark 3:16 - 19 ; Luke 6:14 - 16 ; Acts 1:13). He is the chief figure in
the first twelve chapters of the Acts. It is Peter that preaches the first Christian
sermon (Acts 2), he that opens the door of the gospel to the Gentileworld in the
house of the Roman soldier, Cornelius, and has the exquisite delight of witnessing
scenes closely akin to those of Pentecost at Jerusalem (Acts 10:44 - 47). It was
given him to pronounce the solemn sentence on the guilty pair, Ananias and Sapphira,
and to rebuke in the power of the Spirit the profane Simon Magus (Acts 5:1 - 11
; 8:18 - 23). In these and the like instances Peter exhibited the authority with
which Christ had invested him (Matthew 16:19)--an authority bestowed upon all
the disciples (John 20:22 , 23)--the power to bind and to loose.
Two Epistles are ascribed to Peter. Of the Second doubt and uncertainty have existed
from the early ages to the present. The genuineness and authenticity of the First
are above suspicion.
I. CANONICITY OF 1 PETER
The proof of its integrity and trustworthiness is ample and altogether satisfactory.
It falls into parts: external and internal.
1. External Evidence
The historical attestation to its authority as an apostolic document is abundant.
Polycarp, disciple of the apostle John, martyed in 156 AD at 86 or more years
of age, refers to the Epistle in unmistakable terms. Irenaeus, a man who may well
be said to represent both the East and the West, who was a disciple of Polycarp,
quotes it copiously, we are assured. Clement of Alexandria, born circa 150 AD,
died circa 216 AD, cites it many times in his Stromata, one passage (1 Peter 4:8)
being quoted five times by actual count. "The testimony of the early-church is
summed up by Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, III, xxiii, 3). He places it among
those writings about which no question was ever raised, no doubt ever entertained
by any portion of the catholic church" (Professor Lumby in Bible Comm.).
2. Internal Evidence
The internal evidence in favor of the Epistle is as conclusive as the external.
The writer is well acquainted with our Lord's teaching, and he makes use of it
to illustrate and enforce his own. The references he makes to that teaching are
many, and they include the four Gospels. He is familiar likewise with the Epistles,
particularly James, Romans, and Ephesians. But what is especially noteworthy is
the fact that 1 Peter in thought and language stands in close relation with the
apostle's discourses as recorded in Acts. By comparing 1 Peter 1:17 with Acts
10:34; 1 Peter 1:21 with Acts 2:32-36 and 10:40,41; 1 Peter 2:7,8 with Acts 4:10,11;
1 Peter 2:17 with Acts 10:28, and 1 Peter 3:18 with Acts 3:14, one will perceive
how close the parallel between the two is. The inference from these facts appears
legitimate, namely, 1 Peter in diction and thought belongs to the same period
of time and moves in the same circle of truth as do the other writings of the
New Testament. The writer was an apostle, and he was Simon Peter. |
II. THE ADDRESS
Peter writes to the "elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion." James employs
the term "Dispersion" to designate believing Hebrews of the Twelve Tribes who
lived outside the land (James 1:1). The Jews included in it the whole body of
Israelites scattered among the Gentilenations (John 7:35). But we must not conclude
from this that the Epistle is directed to Christian Jews alone. Gentile believers
are by no means excluded, as 1 Peter 1:14,18,20; 2:10; 3:6; 4:3,4 abundantly attest.
Indeed, the Gentile element in the churches of Asia Minor largely predominated
at the time. The term "sojourners" represents a people away from home, strangers
in a strange land; the word is translated "pilgrims" in 2:11 and Hebrews 11:13--an
appropriate name for those who confess that they have here no continuing city,
but who seek one to come. While no doubt Peter had believing Israelites in mind
when he wrote, for he never forgot that his ministry belonged primarily to the
circumcision (Galatians 2:7,8), he did not neglect the more numerous Gentileconverts,
and to these he speaks as earnestly as to the others; and these also were "sojourners."
Three of the four provinces Peter mentions, namely, Pontus, Cappadocia, and Asia,
had representatives at the memorable Pentecost in Jerua (Acts 2:9; 1 Peter 1:1).
Many of these "sojourners of the Dispersion" may have believed the message of
the apostle and accepted salvation through Jesus Christ, and returned home to
tell the good news to their neighbors and friends. This would form a strong bond
of union between them and Peter, and would open the way for him to address them
in the familiar and tender manner of the Epistle.
Silvanus:
Silvanus appears to have been the bearer of the letter to the Christians of Asia
Minor: "By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I account him, I have written unto
you briefly" (1 Peter 5:12). It is an assumption to assert from these words that
Silvanus was employed in the composition of the letter. The statement denotes
rather the bearer than the writer or secretary. Silvanus was Paul's companion
in the ministry to the Asiatic churches, and since we do not read of him as going
with Paul to Jerusalem or to Rome, it is probable he returned from Corinth (Acts
18:5) to Asia Minor and labored there. He and Peter met, where no one knows, though
not a few think in Rome; as likely a guess perhaps is in Palestine. At any rate,
Silvanus gave Peter an account of the conditions in the provinces, the afflictions
and persecutions of believers, and the deep need they had for sympathy and counsel.
He would, accordingly, be of the greatest assistance to the apostle. This seems
to account for the peculiarity of language which Peter uses: "By Silvanus, our
faithful brother, I have written unto you," as if he had some share in furnishing
the contents of the Epistle.
III. PLACE AND TIME OF COMPOSITION
1. Babylon: Which?:
According to 1 Peter 5:13 the Epistle was written in Babylon. But what place is
meant? Two cities having this name were known in apostolic times. One was in Egypt,
probably on or near the present site of Cairo, and we are told that it was a "city
of no small importance." Epiphanius calls it "great Babylon" (Zahn). The absence,
however, of all tradition that would tend to identify this place with the Babylon
of the Epistle seems to shut it out of the problem. Babylon on the Euphrates is
regarded by many as the place here designated. Jews in considerable numbers still
dwelt in Babylon, notwithstanding the massacre of thousands in the reign of Claudius
and the flight of multitudes into other countries. There is much to be said in
favor of this city as the place meant, and yet the absence of tradition in its
support is a very serious difficulty. A third view regards it as symbolical of
Rome. Roman Catholics thus interpret it, and not a few Protestants so understand
it. Tradition which runs back into the first half of the 2nd century appears to
favor it, though much uncertainty and obscurity still surround the earliest ages
of our era, in spite of the unwearied researches of modern scholars. Papias, bishop
of Hierapolis, who lived in the first half of the 2nd century, appears to have
had no doubt that Peter was martyred in Rome, and that the Babylon of the Epistle
designates the Imperial City. There are very serious objections to this interpretation.
One is, that it is totally out of keeping with Peter's manner of writing. Preeminently
he is direct and matter-of-fact in his style. The metaphorical language he employs
is mostly drawn from the Old Testament, or, if from himself, it is so common of
use as to be well understood by all readers. It is altogether improbable that
this man, plain of speech almost to bluntness, should interject in the midst of
his personal explanations and final salutations such a mystical epithet with no
hint of what he means by it, or why he employs such a mode of speech.
2. Babylon Not Rome
Besides, there is no evidence that Rome was called Babylon by the Christians until
the Book of Revelation was published, i.e. circa 90-96 AD. But if 1 Peter is dependent
on the Apocalypse for this name of Babylon as Rome, Peter could not have been
its author, for he died years before that date. The Epistle was written about
64 AD, at the time when persecutions under the infamous Nero were raging, at which
time also the apostle himself bore his witness and went to his heavenly home,
even as his Master had forewarned him (John 21:18,19). While not unmindful of
the great difficulties that beset the view, nevertheless we are reclined to the
opinion that the Babylon of 1 Peter 5:13 is the ancient city on the Euphrates.
See PETER,
(SIMON). |
IV. DESIGN
The apostle had more than one object in view when he addressed the "elect" in
Asia Minor. The Lord Jesus had charged him, "Feed my lambs" "Tend my sheep"--"Feed
my sheep" (John 21:15-17). His two Epistles certify how faithfully he obeyed the
charge. With loving and tender hand he feeds the lambs and tends the whole flock,
warns against foes, guards from danger, and leads them into green pastures and
beside still waters. He reminds them of the glorious inheritance they are to possess
(1 Peter 1:3-9); he exhorts them to walk in the footsteps of the uncomplaining
Christ (1 Peter 2:20-25); to be compassionate, loving, tender-hearted, humble-minded,
and circumspect in their passage through this unfriendly world (1 Peter 3:8-12).
He sums up the main duties of Christian life in the short but pregnant sentences,
"Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king" (1 Peter 2:17).
But his supreme object is to comfort and encourage them amid the persecutions
and the sufferings to which they were unjustly subjected, and to fortify them
against the heavier trials that were impending.
1. Persecution
From the beginning the Christian church was the object of suspicion and of hatred,
and many of its adherents had suffered even unto death at the hands of both hostile
Jews and fanatical Gentiles. But these afflictions were generally local and sporadic.
There were churches of large membership and wide influence which were unmolested
(1 Corinthians 4:8-10), and which seem to have been able to get fair treatment
in heathen courts (1 Corinthians 6:1-6). But the condition brought to view in
1 Peter is altogether different. Trials and afflictions of the severest sort assail
them, and an enmity and hostility, bent on their destruction, pursue them with
tireless energy. The whole Christian body shared in the persecutions (5:9). The
trial was a surprise (4:12), both in its intensity, for Peter calls it "fiery,"
and for its unexpectedness. The apostle represents it as a savage beast of prey,
a roaring lion, prowling about them to seize and devour (5:8,9).
A variety of charges were brought against the Christians, but they were calumnies
and slanders, without any foundation in fact. They were spoken against as evil-doers
(1 Peter 2:12 kakopoion; malefici, Tacitus calls them). Their adversaries railed
against them (1 Peter 3:9); reviled them (1 Peter 3:16); spake evil of them (1
Peter 4:4); reproached them for the name of Christ (1 Peter 4:14). These are ugly
epithets. They show how bitter was the hatred and how intense the hostility felt
by the heathen toward the Christians who dwelt among them. If there had been any
justification for such antagonism in the character and the conduct of Christ's
people, if they were evil-doers, "haters of the human race," to be classed with
thieves and murderers and meddlers in other men's matters (1 Peter 4:14-16), as
they were accused of being and doing, we could understand the fierce opposition
which assailed them and the savage purpose to suppress them altogether, but the
only ground for the enmity felt against them was the refusal of the Christians
to join their heathen neighbors in their idolatries, their feasts, winebibbings,
revelings, carousings, lasciviousness and lusts in which once they freely shared
(1 Peter 4:2-4). The Asian saints had renounced all such wicked practices, had
separated themselves from their old companions in riotous living and revolting
debaucheries; they were witnesses against their immoralities, and hence, became
the objects of intense dislike and persecuting animosity. Peter bears testimony
to the high character, the purity of life and the self-sacrificing devotion of
these believers. In all Asia Minor no better company of men and women could be
found than these disciples of Jesus Christ; none more submissive to constituted
authority, none more ready to help their fellow-men in their distress and trouble.
The head and front of their offending was their separation from the ungodly world
about them, and their solemn witness against the awful sins done daily before
their eyes.
2. Example of Christ
How mightily does the apostle minister to his suffering friends! He bids them
remember the uncomplaining Christ when He was unjustly afflicted by cruel men
(1 Peter 2:19-25). He tells them how they may effectively put to silence their
accusers, and refute the calumnies and the slanders that are so cruelly circulated
against them, namely, by living such pure and godly lives, by being so meek, docile,
patient, stedfast, true and faithful to God, that none can credit the false accusations
(1 Peter 2:1-5; 2:13-17; 3:8,9,13-17; 5:6-11).
3. Relation to State
There is little or no evidence in the Epistle that the persecutions were inflicted
by imperial authority or that the state was dealing with the Christians as enemies
who were dangerous to the peace of society. In the provinces to which the letter
was sent there seems to have been complete absence of formal trial and punishment
through the courts. Peter does not speak of Iegal proceedings against the Christians
by the magistrates. On the contrary, he urges them to be subject to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king as supreme; or unto governors,
as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well
(1 Peter 2:13). They are to honor all men, to honor the king (1 Peter 2:17). This
submission would scarcely be pressed if the state had already proscribed Christianity
and decreed its total suppression. This the imperial government did later on,
but there is no evidence furnished by the apostle that in 64 AD--the date of the
Epistle--the government formally denounced Christians and determined to annihilate
them.
Peter exhorts his fellow-believers to silence their persecutors by their upright
conduct (1 Peter 2:15); they are thus to put them to shame who falsely accuse
them (1 Peter 3:16); and they are not to combat evil with evil nor answer reviling
with reviling, but contrariwise with blessing (1 Peter 3:9). The antagonism here
indicated obviously springs from the heathen populace; there is no hint of arraignment
before magistrates or subjection to legal proceedings. It is unbelievers who revile
and slander and denounce the people of God in the provinces.
Everything in the Epistle points to the time of Nero, 64 AD, and not to the time
of Domitian or Trajan, or even Titus. In Rome vast multitudes of Christians were
put to death in the most brutal fashion, so Tacitus relates, but the historian
asserts that there was a sinister report to the effect that Nero himself instigated
the burning of the city (July 19, 64), and "he (Nero) falsely diverted the charge
on to a set of people to whom the vulgar gave the name of Christians (or Chrestians),
and who were detested for the abominations which they perpetrated." See NERO.
Certain facts are clear from Tacitus' statements, namely, that at the time the
Christians were well known as a distinct sect; and that they were subjected to
the dreadful sufferings inflicted upon them because they were Christians; and
the persecutions at the time were instigated by the fear and the brutality of
the tyrant. Peter likewise recognizes the fact that believers were disliked and
calumniated by their heathen neighbors for the same reason--they were Christians:
"If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye" (1 Peter 4:14);
"But if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify
God in this name" (1 Peter 4:16). But the imperial government at the time does
not appear to have taken formal action for the overthrow of Christianity as a
system inimical to the empire. Of course, where direct charges of a criminal nature
were made against Christians, judicial inquiry into them would be instituted.
But in the Epistle what believers had to endure and suffer were the detraction,
the vituperation, the opprobrium and the vile and malignant slanders with which
the heathen assailed them. |
V. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE EPISTLE
It has certain very distinct marks, some of which may be noticed.
1. Freedom in Structure
It does not observe a close logical sequence in its structure, as those of Paul
so prominently display. There is truth in Dean Alford's statement, although perhaps
he pushes it rather far: "The link between one idea and another is found, not
in any progress of unfolding thought or argument, but in the last word of the
foregoing sentence which is taken up and followed out in the new one" (see 1 Peter
1:5,6,7,9,10, etc.). This peculiarity, however, does not interfere with the unity
of the epistle, it rather adds to it, and it gives to it a vividness which it
otherwise might not possess.
2. Hope
It is the epistle of hope. How much it makes of this prime grace! Peter seems
never to grow weary of describing it and exalting its radiant beauty and desirableness.
He calls it a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). It is born by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, and it calmly awaits the glorious inheritance that soon
will be enjoyed. It is a hope that will be perfected at the advent of Christ (1
Peter 1:13), and it is set on God, hence, cannot fail (1 Peter 1:21). With sickly,
dying hope we are quite familiar. The device which a certain state (South Carolina)
has inscribed on its Great Seal is, dum spiro spero ("while I live I hope"). Such
a hope may serve for a commonwealth whose existence is limited to this world,
but a man needs something more enduring, something imperishable. "It is a fearful
thing when a man and his hopes die together" (Leighton). A Christian can confidently
write, "when I am dying I hope," for his is a living hope that fills and thrills
the future with a blessed reality.
3. Inheritance
The Christian's glorious inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-5) is depicted in one of the
most comprehensive and suggestive descriptions of the believer's heritage found
in the Bible. It is declared to be "incorruptible." The word points to its substance.
It is imperishable. In it there is no element of decay. It holds in its heart
no germ of death. Like its author, the living God, it is unchangeable and eternal.
It is "undefiled." It is not stained by sin nor polluted by crime, either in its
acquisition or its possession. Human heritages generally are marred by human wrongs.
There is hardly an acre of soil that is not tainted by fraud or violence. The
coin that passes from hand to hand is in many instances soiled by guilt. But this
of Peter is absolutely pure and holy. It "fadeth not away." It never withers.
Ages do not impair its beauty or dim its luster. Its bloom will remain fresh,
its fragrance undiminished, forever. Thus our inheritance "is glorious in these
respects: it is in its substance, incorruptible: in its purity, undefiled: in
beauty, unfading" (Alford).
Now why does the apostle in the very opening of his Epistle give so lofty a place
to the saints' inheritance? He does so in order to comfort and encourage his fellow-believers
with the consolations of the Lord Himself, that they may bear stedfastly their
manifold sufferings and triumph over their weighty afflictions. Hence, he writes:
"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have
been put to grief in manifold trials, that the proof of your faith .... may be
found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter
1:6-9). He lifts their thoughts and their gaze up far above the troubles and distresses
around them to Him whose they are, whom they serve, who will by and by crown them
with immortal bliss.
4. Testimony of Prophets
The prophets and their study are described in 1 Peter 1:10,11: "Concerning which
salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you," etc. With Peter and his fellow-apostles the testimony
of the prophets was authoritative and final. Where they had a clear word from
the Old Testament Scriptures, they felt that every question was settled and controversy
was at an end.
(1) Salvation
The burden of the prophetic communications was salvation. The prophets spoke on
many subjects; they had to exhort, rebuke and entreat their wayward contemporaries;
to denounce sin, to announce judgment on the guilty and to recall them to repentance
and reformation. But ever and anon their vision was filled with the future and
its blessedness, their voices would swell with rapture as they saw and foretold
the great salvation to be brought to the world and the grace that would then so
copiously go out unto men; for the Messiah was to appear and to suffer, the just
for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.
(2) Spirit of Christ
The prophet's messages were the messages of the Spirit of Christ. It was He who
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow.
The prophets always disclaim any part in the origination of their messages. They
affirm in the most positive and solemn manner that their predictions are not their
own, but God's. Hence, they are called the Lord's "spokesmen," the Lord's "mouth"
(Exodus 4:15,16; 7:1,2; 2 Peter 1:21).
(3) Prophetic Study
They "sought and searched diligently." These terms are strong and emphatic. They
pored over the predictions which the Spirit had revealed through themselves; they
scrutinized them with eager and prolonged inquiry. Two points engaged their attention:
"What time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point
unto." The first "what" relates to the time of the Messiah's advent; the second
"what" to the events and circumstances which would attend His appearing--a fruitful
theme, one that engages the inquiry of nobler students--"which things angels desire
to look into." |
5. The Christian Brotherhood
The Christian brotherhood is described in 1 Peter 2:9,10: "But ye are an elect
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that
ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light." The brotherhood is the new Israel. The apostle describes
it in terms which were applied to the old Israel, but which include more than
the ancient Israel ever realized. The exalted conception is by one who was a strict
Jew, the apostle of the circumcision, and who held somewhat closely to the Mosaic
institutions to the end of his life. All the more significant on this account
is his testimony. The descriptive titles which he here gathers together and places
on the brow of the Christian brotherhood are of the most illustrious sort. A distinguished
man, a noble, a general, a statesman, will sometimes appear in public with his
breast covered with resplendent decorations which mark his rank or his achievements.
But such distinctions sink into insignificance alongside of this dazzling cluster.
This is the heavenly nobility, the royal family of the Lord of glory, decorated
with badges brighter far than ever glittered on the breast of king or emperor.
But even in this instance Peter reminds Christians of the glorious destiny awaiting
them that they may be strengthened and stimulated to stedfastness and loyalty
in the midst of the trials and afflictions to which they are subjected (1 Peter
2:11,12)
6. Spirits in Prison
A study of 1 Peter 3:18-20--"preached unto the spirits in prison"--should here
follow in the present cursory review of the characteristic features of the Epistle,
but anything like an adequate examination of this difficult passage would require
more space than could be given it. Suffice it to quote a sentence from Professor
Zahn (New Testament, II, 289) with which the writer agrees: "That interpretation
of 1 Peter 3:19 is in all probability correct, according to which a preaching
of Christ at the time of the Flood is referred to, i.e. a preaching through Noah,
so that Noah is here represented as a preacher of righteousness, as in 2 Peter
2:5."
See PRISON, SPIRITS IN. |
VI. ANALYSIS
A very general analysis of the Epistle is the following:
(1) Christian privileges, 1 Peter 1:1-2:10.
(2) Christian duties, 1 Peter 2:11-4:11.
(3) Persecutions and trials, 1 Peter 4:12-5:11.
(4) Personal matters and salutations, 1 Peter 5:12-14. |
The chief doctrines of Christianity are found in 1 Peter. The vicarious suffering
and death of the Lord Jesus Christ (2:24; 3:18); the new birth (1:3,13); redemption
by the blood of Christ (1:18,19), faith, hope, patient endurance under unjust
suffering, and holiness of life, are all pressed upon Christians with great earnestness
and force.
LITERATURE
Bible Dicts., DB, HDB, Davis, DB, EB, Sch-Herz, volume VIII; Intros: Westcott,
Salmon, Zahn; Vincent, Word Studies; Commentaries: Bible Commentary, Cambridge
Bible for Schools; Lillie, Jameson, Fausett and Brown, Alford, Bigg, Mayor (on
2 Peter), Johnstone (homiletical), New York, 1888; Hort, 1 Peter 1:1-2:17, New
York, 1898.
William G. Moorehead
Tags:
apostle peter, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, book of 1 peter, first epistle of peter, Godly living, hope, jews of the dispersion, new testament
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