1 Peter 5:1

CHAPTER V.

Directions to the elders to feed the flock of God, and not

to be lord over God's heritage, that when the chief Shepherd

does appear, they may receive a crown of glory, 1-4.

The young are to submit themselves to the elder, and to humble

themselves under the mighty hand of God, and cast all their

care upon him, 6-7.

They should be sober and watchful, because their adversary the

devil is continually seeking their destruction, whom they are

to resist, steadfast in the faith, 8, 9.

They are informed that the God of all grace had called them to

his eternal glory, 10- 11.

Of Silvanus, by whom this epistle was sent, 12.

Salutations from the Church at Babylon, 13.

The apostolic benediction, 14.

NOTES ON CHAP. V.

Verse 1 Peter 5:1. The elders which are among you] In this place the term πρεσβυτεροι, elders or presbyters is the name of an office. They were as pastors or shepherds of the flock of God, the Christian people among whom they lived. They were the same as bishops, presidents, teachers and deacons, Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 5:17. And that these were the same as bishops the next verse proves.

Who am also an elder] συμπρεσβυτερος. A fellow elder; one on a level with yourselves. Had he been what the popes of Rome say he was-the prince of the apostles; and head of the Church, and what they affect to be-mighty secular lords, binding the kings of the earth in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron; could he have spoken of himself as he here does? It is true that the Roman pontiffs, in all their bulls, each style themselves servus servorum Dei, servant of the servants of God, while each affects to be rex regum, king of kings, and vicar of Jesus Christ. But the popes and the Scriptures never agree.

A witness of the sufferings of Christ] He was with Christ in the garden; he was with him when he was apprehended. and he was with him in the high priest's hall. Whether he followed him to the cross we know not; probably he did not, for in the hall of the high priest he had denied him most shamefully; and, having been deeply convinced of the greatness of his crime, it is likely he withdrew to some private place, to humble himself before God, and to implore mercy. He could, however, with the strictest propriety, say, from the above circumstances, that he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ.

A partaker of the glory] He had a right to it through the blood of the Lamb; he had a blessed anticipation of it by the power of the Holy Ghost; and he had the promise from his Lord and Master that he should be with him in heaven, to behold his glory; John 17:21; John 17:24.