1 Peter 4:14

εἰ ὀνειδίζεσθε ἐν ὀνόματι Χριστοῦ, cf. Psalms 89:50-51 “Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants … wherewith they have reproached (ὠνείδισαν) the footsteps of thine anointed” (τοῦ χριστοῦ σου), cf. also Hebrews 11:26 τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τοῦ χριστοῦ as preferred by Moses to all the treasures of Egypt, and Hebrews 13:13 “bearing His reproach,” also Psalms 69:9 “the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” This verse is an unmistakable echo of the beatitude in Matthew 5:11. This is the only passage where the actual phrase ὄνομα Χριστοῦ occurs, and it is probably employed because it is as χριστιανοί that they are likely to suffer, but cf. Mark 9:41 ἐν ὀνόματι ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἐστε and see note on 1 Peter 4:16.

τὸ τῆς δόξης καὶ τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς�. So BKL very many cursives, lat. vg. Syr. vg. Clem. Al. Cyr. Al. Tert. Fulg., but the lat. vg. and Sy. vg. omit καὶ.

But אAP many good cursives, Ath. Did. Cyp. (twice) add καὶ δυνάμεως after δόξης and have various modifications, e.g. good cursives, many versions and Cyprian omit καὶ τὸ and the best cursives Syr. hl. and Cyr. have ὄνομα either instead of or combined with πνεῦμα.

Syrp. reads quia nomen et spiritus gloriae et virtutis (= δυνάμεως) dei. Sah.: spiritus gloriae et virtutis dei. Vged.: quoniam quod est honoris gloriae et virtutis dei et qui est ejus spiritus, where quod may agree with nomen understood, or τὸ τῆς δόξης was taken in the sense “that which appertains to the glory.”

At the end of the verse the T.R. with KLP Vulg. Syr. hl. * Theb. and Cyp. (twice) adds κατὰ μὲν αὐτοὺς βλασφημεῖται κατὰ δὲ ὑμᾶς δοξάζεται, and in lat. codd. and Cyp. this is introduced with quod evidently agreeing with nomen. This addition (not found in אAB some cursives Vulg. some codd. Syr. vg. hl. txt. Memph. Arm. Ephr. Tert.) was evidently intended as an explanation of ὀνειδίζεσθε ἐν ὀνόματι Χρίστου. ὅτι τὸ (ὄνομα) τῆς δόξης ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς�. Its phraseology is borrowed from Romans 2:24 (from Isaiah 52:5) (cf. James 2:7; Revelation 13:6; Revelation 16:9), coupled with 1 Peter 4:16 of this chapter δοξαζέτω τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ.

It is possible that some of the numerous various readings in this passage were liturgical insertions borrowed from early forms of the Lord’s Prayer. In Luke 11:2 D reads ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς (d super nos). This addition of ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς Dr Hort (following Sanday) suggests may be a trace of a clause sometimes used in the Lord’s Prayer, probably when the prayer was used at “the laying on of hands,” ἐλθέτω τὸ πνεῦμά σου (τὸ ἅγιον) ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς (καὶ καθαρισάτω ἡμᾶς). This addition is found in Cod. Ev. 604 = 700 Gregory, and the first part of it seems certainly to have been known to Tertullian (adv. Marcion. iv. 26 where the argument implies that Marcion used this form) and Gregory Nyss. (de Orat. Dom.), also Maximus (VII cent.).

Dr Chase, however (Texts and Studies, The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church), argues that there were two separate developments of petitions in the Lord’s Prayer, (a) a clause asking that the Holy Spirit may come upon us, used at the laying on of hands, and thence passing into a liturgical form used in eucharistic prayers (e.g. in the Didache), (b) at Baptism the clause Hallowed be Thy Name was expounded as being the Name τὸ ἐπικληθὲν ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς or ὃ κατεσκήνωσας ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν (see the Eucharistic thanksgiving, Didache X.) cf. Jeremiah 7:12; Nehemiah 3:9.

The preceding liturgical doxology in 1 Peter 4:11 might not unnaturally suggest reminiscences of the Lord’s Prayer and account for such insertions as καὶ δυνάμεως (lat. virtutis), δόξα καὶ δύναμις being one of the earliest forms of doxology added to the Lord’s Prayer (e.g. in the Didache).

The absence of πνεῦμα or its equivalent in some texts and the substitution or addition of ὄνομα may suggest that the original reading was merely τὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ or τὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ ὄνομα. If no substantive was expressed ὄνομα would be supplied from the preceding verse while πνεῦμα would be a natural insertion from Isaiah 11:2 ἀναπαύσεται ἐπʼ αὐτὸν πνεῦμα Κυρίου, and such an insertion might further be facilitated by liturgical forms of the Lord’s Prayer. If the original reading was θεουονομα it might easily be altered into θεουπνευμα θεουπνα, the letters ον being omitted from their similarity to the preceding ου.

τὸ τῆς δόξης. The A.V. and R.V. supply πνεῦμα. There is no parallel for the phrase τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς δόξης (but cf. ὁ θεὸς τῆς δόξης, Acts 7:2; τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης, 1 Corinthians 2:8). The Holy Spirit is however described as τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς�, and as His work is to “glorify” Christ by revealing Him (John 16:14) He might in that sense be described as τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς δόξης. Or τῆς δόξης may be taken as a title of Christ. So Mayor on James 2:1 adopts a suggestion of Bengel that τῆς δόξης means that Jesus Christ is the true Shekinah or visible manifestation of God, just as He is the Λόγος or Word of God. In support of this view Bengel quotes this passage in 1 Pet. and Ephesians 1:17, ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Κ. ἡμῶν Ἰ. Χ. ὁ πατὴρ τῆς δόξης, and Luke 2:32, to which Mayor adds John 1:14; Hebrews 1:3, etc. According to this view τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς δόξης would mean “the Spirit of Christ who is the visible manifestation of God,” and the passage might thus be quoted in support of the clause in the Creed, “who proceedeth from the Father and the Son.” But if πνεῦμα governs τῆς δόξης, καί should be translated “even,” otherwise the second τό would strictly imply that the Spirit of God is another Spirit.

It is therefore better to take τὸ τῆς δόξης as a substantival expression meaning “the mark or characteristic of the glory.” For the neuter article thus used with a genitive, cf. Matthew 21:21, τὸ τῆς σύκης; James 4:14, τὸ τῆς αὔριον; 2 Peter 2:22, τὸ τῆς παροιμίας; cf. τὰ τῆς σαρκός, Romans 8:5; τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης, Romans 14:19. St Peter regards suffering as the necessary mark or characteristic of glory under present conditions. As members of Christ Christians will ultimately share in the revelation of His glory, i.e. manhood perfected and summed up in Christ. Here and now they participate in the preliminary stages of that glory by personal fellowship in His sufferings. To be reproached in the name of Christ is an indication that the glory is already resting upon them. So it was of His approaching sufferings that the Incarnate Christ said “now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him” (John 13:31), cf. Colossians 1:24; Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Ephesians 3:13.

The above idea of suffering as a characteristic of glory would be equally intended if St Peter was referring to the Shekinah as the glory which was resting upon his readers. St Paul uses ἡ δόξα in that sense in Romans 9:4 (? cf. Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 9:5; 2 Peter 1:17). It is possible also that James 2:1 may mean that Jesus Christ is present as the true Shekinah among those who are gathered together in His name (Matthew 18:20), cf. Pirke Aboth, iii. 3: Whenever two men sit together and are occupied with the words of the Torah, the Shekinah is with them.

There are also probable allusions to the Shekinah in passages where σκηνὴ and σκηνοῦν are used apparently as a transliteration of the Hebrew word שׁכן, שְׁכִינָה e.g. John 1:14, ὁ λόγος ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ. Revelation 21:3, ἰδοὺ ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν�ʼ αὐτῶν.

So in this passage St Peter goes on to describe the sufferings of Christians as a judgment which begins with the House of God, apparently meaning the temple and referring to Ezekiel 9:6 “begin at my sanctuary.” Similarly in speaking of their sufferings as a πύρωσις or “trial by fire” he may be alluding to Malachi 3:1-5 where the Lord is described as visiting His temple like a refiner’s fire. St Peter has already described His readers as being built up as a πνευματικὸς οἶκος, 1 Peter 2:5, and the reference to “the House of God” in 1 Peter 4:17 would be more intelligible if he had just described Christians as the resting-place of the Shekinah. This interpretation might give some support to the view that ὄνομα should be understood with τὸ τῆς δόξης. In the O.T. “The Name of God” (see Westcott, Epp. S. Jn, 232) denotes the manifestation of Himself which God has been pleased to give, and “the Name” and “the glory” are closely allied.

Thus 1 Kings 8:20, Solomon’s Temple is built for “the Name of the Lord,” and 1 Peter 4:11, “the glory of the Lord filled the House.” So St Peter may mean that in bearing “the Name of Christ” Christ as the Shekinah is resting upon them, and the present manifestation of “Christ in them” is their fellowship in His sufferings.

It may be of interest to compare Revelation 13:6 where the Beast who makes war against the Saints is described as “blaspheming the Name of God and His tabernacle” (σκηνή), which Andreas explains thus σκηνὴ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ ἐν σαρκὶ τοῦ λόγου σκήνωσις καὶ ἡ ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις� (cf. Revelation 7:15).