Bible Commentaries
1 Peter

1 Peter

INTRODUCTION

AUTHOR OF THE EPISTLES OF PETER

Simon Peter, author of the epistles which bear his name (1 Peter 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1), was the son of Jonah (Matthew 16:17), occasionally designated as John (John 21:15-17), from a variant spelling of Joanes, the Greek name of his father. He was a brother of Andrew, with whom, along with James and John, the sons of Zebedee, he was engaged in the prosperous business of commercial fishing in the waters of the Sea of Galilee. His life, for the most part, was spent in that vicinity, first at Bethsaida (John 1:44), and later at Capernaum, where it appears that he occupied a house in which his mother-in-law also lived. (Matthew 8:14-15.) He was of humble circumstances, and with little or no formal education, a fact noted by the Jewish Sanhedrin when, with John, he was arrested, brought before that tribunal, and straitly charged to speak no more in the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:13.)

Peter was a married man, a fact to be gathered from references to his mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15); and it is implied that his wife accompanied him when at length he left his home to go forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom. (1 Corinthians 9:5.) Peter and his brother Andrew were first disciples of John the Baptist, froth whom they received testimony regarding Jesus (John 1:36); and shortly after, through the influence of Andrew, Peter was brought to Jesus, henceforth to be his disciple and servant. (John 1:40-42.)

The author of the epistles of Peter was one of the original twelve appointed as apostles of the Lord (Mark 3:13-19), and he was thereafter ever to occupy a most prominent and important place in the events of the Saviour’s life. In all of the lists of apostles his name appears first. (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:13-19 ; Luke 6:12-16; Acts 1:13.) With James and John, he enjoyed

an intimacy with the Lord not vouchsafed to the other nine apostles. These three were privileged to be present when Jairus’ daughter was raised (Mark 5:22-23; Mark 5:35-43 : to view the marvelous transformation scene (Matthew 17:1 ff); and to witness the agony of dreadful Gethsemene (Matthew 26:37).

In a tragic moment, sombrely described by the Lord as "the hour and the power of darkness," the apostle, under the stress of great temptation. yielded shamefully to the flesh and three times denied, with oaths, tile one for whom but a few short hours before he had so vigorously asserted his readiness to go to prison and to death. (Luke 22:31-34; Luke 22:54-60.) At the crowing of the cock, a token earlier announced, the sad, sorrowful eyes of the Saviour fell upon the wayward disciple, and he remembered his earlier protestations of undying faithfulness, and his heart broke under their steady gaze. As the full significance of his awful act dawned upon him, "he went out and wept bitterly." (Luke 22:62.)

In consequence of his penitence, he was fully and freely forgiven, and restored to his position in the apostolic band. The women, to whom Jesus appeared following his resurrection were instructed to bear the news to that disciple by name. (Mark lb :7.) In an appearance to Peter, the apostle was led three times to express his love for the Lord, and as many times instructed to "feed my sheep." (John 21:15-17.) He was privileged, on tile day of Pentecost, to preach the gospel for the first time in the name of the risen Lord (Acts 2:14 ff.), and later at Caesarea, to "open the door of faith" to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48), for which purpose the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" had been delivered unto him some months before (Matthew 16:19).

Often, during the early days of the church, Peter was seized, imprisoned, beaten, and otherwise maltreated for his fidelity to the cause of Christ. Begotten again "unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3), he ever thereafter served his Lord with fortitude, zeal and faithfulness. He was impulsive, impetuous, warm hearted, disarming, sometimes vascillating, but always humble, devoted, courageous and true. The devotion which he felt to the cause to which he had dedicated his all is nowhere better evidenced than when, with John, he was forbidden to speak again in the name of Jesus, he replied, "’Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard." (Acts 4:13-20.)

The final mention of the apostle in Acts is in connection with the council held in Jerusalem (Acts 15), though later reference is made to him in Galatians 2:11, when he was with Paul in Antioch. Here, the curtain falls, and nothing more is certainly known of the colorful apostle other than the brief references to himself in his epistles. For the history of his subsequent labors we are dependent on tradition which, in this case, is most undependable. Of the time and place of his death, we have no reliable information. Clement of Rome, a hundred years following the last scriptural reference to Peter, says that he "through zeal undertook not one or two but numerous labors, and so having borne witness went to the place that was due to him." (Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:4.) There is a tradition that he was crucified head downward; and the prophecy regarding him in John 21:18 implies a violent death. The claim of the Romanists, that the last years of his life were spent in Rome in a papal seat are fanciful and false. There is no reliable evidence that Peter was ever in Rome.

DESIGN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRST PETER

"I have written unto you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God: stand ye fast therein." (1 Peter 5:12.) The design of the epistle was thus (a) to exhort; (b) to testify with reference to "the true grace of God; and (c) to encourage the saints to greater stedfastness therein. Written to people who were then passing through a "fiery trial" of persecution, the purpose of the epistle was to confirm them in the faith of the gospel strengthen them to greater endurance in the conflicts in which they struggled; and to comfort them with the assurance that in being "partakers of Christ’s sufferings," they would, "at the revelation of his glory," be privileged "to rejoice with exceeding joy." (1 Peter 4:12-13.) To this end many motives are advanced for the consolation of the saints and to encourage them to greater fortitude and patience in the "manifold trials" which beset them. Christ, as an example of patient resignation in suffering, is offered, and the readers urged to "follow" his steps. (1 Peter 2:21.) Helpless and alone before their cruel and bitter enemies Peter, a fellowsufferer, thus recalled for them the experiences of him who "when he was reviled, reviled not again when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." (1 Peter 2:23.)

The keywords of first Peter are, therefore, patience and hope, --resignation in suffering, and an expectation of deliverance in the by and by. As grounds for such, the sufferings of Christ, the redemption thus obtained, the agony of the cross, the triumph of the resurrection, and the glory of the exaltation are often alluded to.

Knowing that those to whom he wrote were constantly being subjected to the evil influences of false and designing teachers who sought to lead the saints to use their freedom as "a cloak of wickedness" (1 Peter 2:16), he urged constant and unceasing vigilance against all such. Then, as now, there were those who sought to "turn the grace of God into lasciviousness," and who contended that when saved by grace one is released from the obligations of law and is no longer answerable for his conduct in the flesh; and these Peter wrote to refute, and to exhibit a true analysis of the grace of God.

There is little of a purely local or provincial character in First Peter, the themes treated being of general and universal application and therefore as applicable to us of this day as to those originally addressed. Penned by one far along in years and with the realization that he must soon put off his "earthly tabernacle" (2 Peter 1:2), Peter disregarded earthly and temporal matters and wrote vividly and feelingly of the eternal interests of the soul.

GENUINENESS OF FIRST PETER

The genuineness of a book or other literary production relates to the question of authorship--whether it actually proceeds from and was produced by the source or author to whom it is ascribed. Of many books this question is, at best, of secondary importance, such books being judged by the character of their contents, and not by the author whose name they bear. With reference to the books of the Bible, however, the question of genuineness--authorship--is, for many reasons, an exceedingly vital and important one. In many instances the authority of the book itself derives from the question of authorship; and in every case the reliability of the book is involved. Where a book is ascribed to a definite writer the historicity of the book depends on the truthfulness of the ascription. In every instance, therefore, the question of authorship is of the essence of the trustworthiness and credibility of the book itself.

Proof of the genuineness of the first epistle of Peter is the most ancient and abundant of all the books of the New Testament. This evidence may be gathered up under three heads: (1) testimony of the letter itself; (2) internal evidence; (3) testimony of early writers.

(1) The epistle purports to be from the pen of Peter, his signature being affixed thereto, and appearing at the beginning "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ . . . " (1 Peter 1:1.) In view of the fact that the book claims to have been produced by that apostle, to attribute it to the authorship of another is to assign to the whole of it the character of a forged document, a spurious production. It is not possible to accept the book as a reliable and authentic production while denying that it was produced by him whose name it bears.

(2) Internal evidence of the Petrine authorship of First Peter is so abundant and overwhelming as to strike the reasonable mind with the force of a demonstration. Intimately interwoven into its very warf and woof are indications of genuineness impossible for a forger or an imitator to have achieved. A careful consideration of all the facts and a detailed examination of the text points irresistibly to Peter as the only possible author. In verse after verse of the book we see vividly portrayed the influence of events in the public ministry of our Lord in which Peter participated, or was present--an influence that could have been obtained in no other way. The evidence thus derived is all the stronger because it is undesigned. Without mentioning, or, for that matter, even hinting at the events which then occurred, the apostle, by the use of terms and modes of expression, reveals the indelible influence which the Lord wrought upon him in his public ministry.

For example, Jesus said to him, "Thou art Peter (petros) and upon this rock (petra) I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18.) Why else but for the influence of this statement upon him should he later describe Christ as "a chief corner stone" of a spiritual house wherein his followers are "living stones"? (1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 1:4-8.) In the same context in which the Saviour referred to him as a rock, he called him an offence. The two references Peter took and joined together in the vivid and striking phrase, "a rock of offence." (1 Peter 2:8.) When the Lord bade him pay the temple tax (Matthew 17:24), he reminded him that the children are free ; and Peter was later to admonish those to whom he wrote that "though free" they were to be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake. When that disciple inquired of the Lord if it is sufficient to forgive seven times, and was told that it must be seventy times seven--that is, to infinity, he was later to write, "love covereth a multitude of sins." (Matthew 18:22 1 Peter 4:8.) In an object lesson in humility he had seen his Lord gird himself with a towel and wash the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-6); and he later bade Christians "to tie humility on them like a slave’s apron" (1 Peter 5:5). Jesus often used the word "adversary" as an opposer (Matthew 5:25; Luke 18:3), a word which readily found its way into the apostle’s vocabulary in the striking sentence, "Be sober, be watchful; your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8.) He had seen--from afar--the Lord’s submission to the shame of Pilate’s Hall, and lie therefore wrote with feeling of him "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." (1 Peter 2:23.) He had seen the ragged timber on which the Lord died, and to him it was a "tree" up to which the Saviour bore our sins. (1 Peter 2:24, margin.) Three times bidden to feed the flock of God (John 21:15-17), he came to regard Christ as "the Shepherd and Bishop of souls, and his disciples as the flock of God. (1 Peter 2:25; 1 Peter 5:2.) Many such allusions to events with which the apostle was perfectly familiar abound in the book, and constitute to the candid mind evidence of an irresistible nature touching the genuineness of First Peter.

TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING

While sufficient data from which to determine the exact time of the composition of the First Epistle of Peter does not exist, it is possible, from numerous incidental and inferential references in the book to fix the date within reasonably well defined limits.

(1) There are numerous points of correspondence between the Ephesian letter of Paul and First Peter--similarities that can be accounted for on the hypothesis that the letter to the church in Ephesus was in the hands of Peter prior to the writing of his own epistle. The following instances from the first chapter (and they are equally numerous in the other portions) will exhibit this dependence: 1 Peter 1:3, Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:1, Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:1, Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 1:15, Ephesians 4:1; 1 Peter 1:12, Ephesians 3:5; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:5, Ephesians 1:19; 1 Peter 1:14, Ephesians 2:3. It is now quite generally believed that the Ephesian letter was written near the close of the two years’ imprisonment of Paul in Rome, A.D. 63. Inasmuch as the evidence tends to establish Peter’s familiarity with that Epistle, it follows that First Peter was not written prior to A.D. 63.

(2) At the time Peter wrote the letter, John Mark was with him in Babylon. (1 Peter 5:13.) When the Colossian letter was written (A.D. 62, 63), Mark was with Paul in Rome, but was about to begin a journey into Asia Minor. (Colossians 4:10.) Four or five years later he was still in Asia Minor, but on the verge of returning to Rome with Timothy. (2 Timothy 4:11.) It is, therefore, reasonable to conclude that within this interval, 63-67, Mark journeyed to Babylon and was in that city when the First Epistle of Peter was penned. The date of the epistle may then be confined between these limits.

(3) A time of trial was impending. The time had come for judgment to. begin at the house of God. (1 Peter 4:17.) Persecution was not to be longer regarded as "a strange thing" (1 Peter 4:12), but as the "home portion" of the saints henceforth. It was the outbreak before the storm, advance persecution before the beginning of any determined and legalistic effort to exterminate Christianity. We may, therefore, with reasonable probability, fix the date of the epistle on the eve of the Neronian persecution--A.D. 65.

The place of composition, though designated by name, has occasioned much controversy. Near the close of the epistle, Peter wrote, "She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Mark my son." (1 Peter 5:13.) The identity and location of the place styled "Babylon" in this message has been, and is, a matter of much dispute. Places suggested have been (a) Babylon in Egypt (b) Jerusalem; (c) Rome; (d) Babylon on the Euphrates. Those who propose Jerusalem or Rome assign to the word "Babylon" a figurative meaning. There is, however, no evidence that Jerusalem was ever called Babylon; and it was long after Peter penned these words that such a designation was applied to Rome. We may, therefore, be reasonably certain that Peter referred to neither of these places in the foregoing passage. Babylon in Egypt was a small, unimportant, insignificant place; there were but few Jews there; and there is no evidence that a church was established there until long after the apostolic age. It is exceedingly unlikely that such was the "Babylon" to which the apostle alluded. There thus seems sufficient reason to conclude that the view that the epistle was written from the world famous Babylon on the Euphrates is the correct one, and it is accordingly adopted here. (For additional comments see note in the commentary on 1 Peter 5:13.)