1 Peter 1:4

Contextual Overview

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ³God is good, cowboys. God's mercy gave us something to hold on to that won't ever let go of us. This is the new life we've been given. It's full of hope and wonder through Jesus's ride back from death. ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead, ³ Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through [the] resurrection of Jesus Christ from among [the] dead, ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became the father of us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again to a living hope, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead, ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has begotten us anew to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten vs againe vnto a liuely hope, by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

an: 1 Peter 3:9, Matthew 25:34, Acts 20:32, Acts 26:18, Galatians 3:18, Ephesians 1:11, Ephesians 1:14, Ephesians 1:18, Colossians 1:12, Hebrews 9:15

incorruptible: 1 Corinthians 9:25, 1 Corinthians 15:52-54

undefiled: Revelation 21:27

fadeth: 1 Peter 5:4, Isaiah 40:7, Isaiah 40:8, Ezekiel 47:12, James 1:11

reserved: Psalms 31:19, Colossians 1:5, Colossians 3:3, Colossians 3:4, 2 Timothy 4:8

for you: or, for us

Reciprocal: Genesis 14:20 - blessed Genesis 21:10 - heir Leviticus 25:28 - he shall Numbers 34:2 - an inheritance Deuteronomy 12:9 - General Psalms 37:18 - their Psalms 47:4 - choose Psalms 73:24 - receive Psalms 92:15 - To show Psalms 119:111 - Thy testimonies Proverbs 8:21 - to inherit Isaiah 66:22 - so shall Jeremiah 3:19 - goodly heritage Matthew 6:20 - General Mark 10:21 - treasure Luke 10:42 - which Luke 16:12 - that which is your Romans 5:2 - wherein Romans 6:23 - but the Romans 8:17 - if children 1 Corinthians 15:42 - it is 2 Corinthians 5:1 - an Ephesians 4:4 - as Philippians 3:14 - the high Philippians 3:20 - our Philippians 4:7 - through Colossians 1:27 - the hope 2 Thessalonians 2:14 - to 1 Timothy 6:19 - lay Titus 1:2 - hope Hebrews 1:14 - heirs Hebrews 10:34 - in yourselves that ye have Hebrews 12:28 - a kingdom James 2:5 - heirs James 5:2 - Your riches 1 Peter 1:13 - the grace 1 Peter 3:15 - the hope Revelation 21:7 - inherit Revelation 22:5 - and they

Cross-References

Genesis 1:10
God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10
God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10
And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10
And God called the drie lande ye earth, and the gatheryng together of waters called he the seas: and God sawe that it was good.

Genesis 1:10
God named the dry land "earth," and he named the water that was gathered together "seas." And God saw that this was good.

Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10
And God clepide the drie place, erthe; and he clepide the gadryngis togidere of watris, the sees. And God seiy that it was good;

Genesis 1:10
And God called the drie land, Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called hee, Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:10
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

To an inheritance incorruptible,.... This is a further explanation of the "lively hope", or hope laid up in heaven, which regenerate ones are begotten to: it is an "inheritance"; a large estate, and rich possession, they are born heirs apparent to; what is not to be got by industry, or obtained by the works of the law; for they that are of the law are not heirs; but what is the pure bequest and free gift of God, as a Father to his children; for an inheritance is proper and peculiar to children, nor does it belong to any but them; and it comes to them through the death of the testator, Christ, and of it the Holy Spirit is the pledge and earnest: and here it is said to be

incorruptible; it is free from corruption in itself; nor can it be corrupted by others, by moth, or rust, or other things, as gold, silver, and garments may, which are a part of earthly inheritances; nor can it be enjoyed by corrupt persons, either corrupted with sin, or clothed with frailty and mortality; wherefore, in order to inherit it, corruption must put on incorruption, in every sense; other epithets and commendations of it follow:

and undefiled; it is in its own nature pure and holy, and free from any defilement of sin; nor are there any of those impurities in it which Jews and Mahometans dream of in their vainly expected earthly paradise; nor will it be possessed by any but undefiled persons, such as are made so through the blood and righteousness of Christ:

and that fadeth not away; as do world, and the glory of it, and all inheritances and possessions in it; here is no continuing city, but there is one to come; in this inheritance are durable riches, everlasting habitations, an house eternal in the heavens, glories in it that will never wither and die, and pleasures which will never end, and which will be enjoyed without decrease or loathing:

reserved in heaven for you; the Alexandrian copy reads, "for us"; and the Ethiopic version renders it, "for us and you"; for all the saints; for all who are the elect, according to the foreknowledge of God, and who are begotten again to a lively hope; for these this inheritance is prepared, laid up, and secured in the hands or Christ their feoffee, who has it in trust for them, and with whom they are co-heirs; and it is safe for them "in heaven"; out of the reach of men and devils: this serves both to commend the inheritance, to set forth the excellency of it, lying in such a place as heaven; for the situation of an inheritance adds oftentimes to the valuableness of it; and also the safety and security of it; it is safe, being in heaven, and more so as it is in Christ's hands there. The Jews are wont to call the future state an inheritance of the land of the living: they say u

"this is called נחלה, "an inheritance"; and add, but in this world a man has no inheritance, nor continuance;''

so they interpret that phrase, "by the God of thy father", in

Genesis 49:25 thus w

"this is אחסנא, "the inheritance" of the superior place, which is called "heaven";''

and sometimes they style it אחסנתא עלאה, "the superior inheritance", or "the inheritance above" x; all which agrees with Peter's language.

u Tzeror Hammor, fol. 150. 3. w Zohar in Gen. fol. 131. 2. x Zohar in Exod. fol. 34. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To an inheritance - Through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus we now cherish the hope of that future inheritance in heaven. On the word inheritance, see the Acts 20:32 note; Ephesians 1:11, Ephesians 1:14, Ephesians 1:18 notes; Colossians 1:12 note. Christians are regarded as the adopted children of God, and heaven is spoken of as their inheritance - as what their Father will bestow on them as the proof of his love.

Incorruptible - It will not fade away and vanish, as that which we inherit in this world does. See the word explained in the notes at 1 Corinthians 9:25. The meaning here is, that the inheritance will be imperishable, or will endure forever. Here, to whatever we may be heirs, we must soon part with the inheritance; there it will be eternal.

And undefiled - See the Hebrews 7:26; Hebrews 13:4 notes; James 1:27 note. The word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. As applied to an inheritance, it means that it will be pure. It will not have been obtained by dishonesty, nor will it be held by fraud; it will not be such as will corrupt the soul, or tempt to extravagance, sensuality, and lust, as a rich inheritance often does here; it will be such that its eternal enjoyment will never tend in any manner to defile the heart. “How many estates,” says Benson, “have been got by fraudulent and unjust methods; by poisoning, or in some other way murdering the right heir; by cheating of helpless orphans; by ruining the fatherless and widows; by oppressing their neighbors, or grinding the faces of the poor, and taking their garments or vineyards from them! But this future inheritance of the saints is stained by none of these vices; it is neither got nor detained by any of these methods; nor shall persons polluted with vice have any share in it.” Here no one can be heir to an inheritance of gold or houses without danger of soon sinking into indolence, effeminacy, or vice; there the inheritance may be enjoyed forever, and the soul continually advance in knowledge, holiness, and the active service of God.

And that fadeth not away - Greek ἀμάραντον amaranton. This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, though the word ἀμαράντινος amarantinos occurs in 1 Peter 5:4, applied to a crown or garland. The word is properly applied to that which does not fade or wither, in contradistinction from a flower that fades. It may then denote anything that is enduring, and is applied to the future inheritance of the saints to describe its perpetuity in all its brilliance and splendor, in contrast with the fading nature of all that is earthly. The idea here, therefore, is not precisely the same as is expressed by the word “incorruptible.” Both words indeed denote perpetuity, but that refers to perpetuity in contrast with decay; this denotes perpetuity in the sense that everything there will be kept in its original brightness and beauty. The crown of glory, though worn for millions of ages, will not be dimmed; the golden streets will lose none of their luster; the flowers that bloom on the banks of the river of life will always be as rich in color, and as fragant, as when we first beheld them.

Reserved in heaven for you - Margin, “us.” The difference in the text and the margin arises from the various readings in mss. The common reading is “for you.” The sense is not materially affected. The idea is, that it is an inheritance appointed for us, and kept by one who can make it sure to us, and who will certainly bestow it upon us. Compare the Matthew 25:34 note; John 14:2 note; Colossians 1:5 note.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Peter 1:4. To an inheritance — Called an inheritance because it belongs to the children of God. Eternal life cannot be a gift to any but these; for, even in heaven, the lot is dealt out according to law: if children, then heirs; if not children, then not heirs.

Incorruptible — αφθαρτον. It has no principles of dissolution or decay in it; and, therefore, must be totally different from this earth.

Undefiled — αμιαντον. Nothing impure can enter it; it not only has no principles or seeds of dissolution in itself, but it can never admit any; therefore its deterioration is impossible.

Fadeth not away — αμαρνατον. It cannot wither, it is always in bloom; a metaphor taken from those flowers that never lose their hue nor their fragrance. From the Greek αμαραντος we have our flowers called amaranths, because they preserve their hue and odour for a long time.

Reserved in heaven — Such a place as that described above is not to be expected on earth; it is that which was typified by the earthly Canaan, and in reference to which the patriarchs endured all trials and difficulties in this life, as seeing Him who is invisible.