_Wherefore laying aside_ The sequence of thought goes on, as is seen in the "new-born babes" of the next verse, from the thought of the "regeneration" of believers expressed in chap. 1Pe 1:3; 1 Peter 1:23. As entering on a new and purer life they are to "lay aside" (compare the use of the kindred no... [ Continue Reading ]
_as newborn babes_ The Greek noun, like the English, implies the earliest stage of infancy. See Luke 1:41; Luke 1:44; Luke 2:12; Luke 2:16. _the sincere milk of the word_ The English version tries to express the force of the original but has had recourse to a somewhat inadequate paraphrase. Literall... [ Continue Reading ]
_if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious_ Better, IF YE TASTED, as referring more definitely to the experiences of the first period of their life as Christians. The word "tasted" as applied to those experiences follows naturally, as in Hebrews 6:4, on the imagery of the milk. The Greek wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_To whom coming, as unto a living stone_ The whole imagery changes, like a dissolving view, and in the place of the growth of babes nourished with spiritual milk, we have that of a building in which each disciple of Christ is as a "living stone" spontaneously taking its right place in the building t... [ Continue Reading ]
_ye also, as lively stones_ Better, AS LIVING STONES, there being no reason for a variation in the English, to which there is nothing corresponding in the Greek. The repetition of the same participle gives prominence to the thought that believers are sharers in the life of Christ, and that, in the b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture_ As the words are not quoted in exact accordance either with the LXX. or with the Hebrew, it is natural to see in them a citation from Isaiah 28:16, freely made from memory. _a chief corner stone_ The words, as in Psalms 118:22; Ephesians 2:20, point... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto you therefore which believe he is precious_ More accurately, UNTO YOU THEREFORE THAT BELIEVE THERE IS THE HONOUR. The last words stand in direct connexion with the "shall not be ashamed" of the previous verse, and are not a predicate asserting what Christ is, but declare that honour, not shame... [ Continue Reading ]
_which stumble at the word_ The "word," as before, is the sum and substance of the Gospel. Men opposing themselves to that word, looking on it as an obstacle to be got rid of, were as those who rush upon a firm-fixed stone, and who falling over it are sorely bruised. _whereunto also they were appoin... [ Continue Reading ]
_But ye are a chosen generation_ The glories that attach to the company of believers in Christ are brought before us in a mosaic of Old Testament phraseology. The "chosen generation" comes from Isaiah 43:20, the "royal priesthood" from the LXX. of Exodus 19:6, where the English version has more accu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which in time past were not a people_ The reference is to the children of Gomer, with their strange ill-omened names, Lo-Ammi and Lo-Ruhamah (Hosea 1:2.): but it may be a question whether the citation is made directly from the prophet, or is traceable to St Paul's use of it in Romans 9:25. In favou... [ Continue Reading ]
_Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims_ This is manifestly the beginning of a fresh section of the Epistle. Somewhat after the manner of St Paul, the Apostle, alter having allowed his thoughts to travel through the mysteries of redemption, reaches, as it were, the highest region of... [ Continue Reading ]
_having your conversation honest among the Gentiles_ On "conversation," see note on chap. 1 Peter 1:15. There is perhaps no better equivalent for the Greek word than "honest;" but it carries with it the thought of a nobler, more honourable, form of goodness than the English adjective. The special st... [ Continue Reading ]
_Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man_ The precept, like those of Romans 13:1-7, points to this as the line of action which the circumstances of the time made most important, in order that the character of Christ's disciples might be vindicated against the widely-spread suspicion that they we... [ Continue Reading ]
_as unto them that are sent by him_ The tense of the Greek participle indicates that obedience was to be paid to those who, from time to time, were the local representatives of the central supreme authority. The identity of thought with Romans 13:3-4, will be noticed as another interesting coinciden... [ Continue Reading ]
_For so is the will of God_ Better, FOR THUS IT IS THE WILL OF GOD. This was to be the chief, if not the only, _apologia_of Christians to the charges brought against them. They were accused of being evil-doers. They were to be conspicuous for well-doing. In the Greek for "put to silence" we have the... [ Continue Reading ]
_as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke_ The English text gives the impression that the word "free" is closely connected with the preceding verse. In the Greek, however, the adjective is in the nominative and cannot be in apposition with the preceding participle for "well-doing" which is in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Honour all men_ The universality of the precept is not to be narrowed by any arbitrary restriction of its range to those to whom honour was due. St Peter had been taught of God "not to call any man common or unclean" (Acts 10:28). The fact that there were in every man traces of the image of God aft... [ Continue Reading ]
_Servants, be subject to your masters_ The counsels thus opening are carried on to the close of the chapter. The fulness with which slaves are thus addressed, here and in Ephesians 6:5-8, Col 3:22, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, indicates the large proportion of converts that belonged to that class. Nearly all th... [ Continue Reading ]
_For this is thankworthy_ The word _charis_, commonly translated "grace," is here used in the sense, which attaches also to the Latin _gratia_, as in _ago tibi gratias_, and the French _mille graces_, of thanks or cause for thanks. So in Luke 6:32 the same word is used in "what _thank_have ye," wher... [ Continue Reading ]
_if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently_ Literally, IF WHEN YE ARE BUFFETED, BEING IN FAULT, YE SHALL ENDURE IT. The common practice of Roman life, as of all countries in which slavery has prevailed, made the blow with the hand, the strict meaning of "buffeting" (Mark 14... [ Continue Reading ]
_For even hereunto were ye called_ The thoughts of the Apostle travel from the teaching of Christ which he had heard to the life which he had witnessed. The very calling to be a disciple involved the taking up the cross and following Him (Matthew 10:38; Matthew 16:24; Luke 14:27). It was the very la... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth_ It is suggestive as indicating the line of prophetic interpretation in which the Apostle had been led on, that as soon as he begins to speak of the sufferings of Christ, he falls, as it were, naturally into the language of Isaiah 53:9, as he fou... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again_ Here again, though we have no direct quotation, it is impossible to overlook the allusive reference to the silence of the sufferer as portrayed in Isaiah 53:7. Personal recollection was, however, the main source of the vivid picture which the Apostle dra... [ Continue Reading ]
_who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree_ Here again we have an unmistakeable reference to the language of Isaiah 53:12. The Apostle, though he has begun with pointing to the sufferings of Christ as an example, cannot rest satisfied with speaking of them only under that aspect. He... [ Continue Reading ]
_For ye were as sheep going astray_ The sequence of thought is suggested by the "all we like sheep have gone astray" of Isaiah 53:6, but the imagery could scarcely fail to recall to the mind of the Apostle the state of Israel "as sheep that had no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36), and the parable of the los... [ Continue Reading ]