Text -- 1 Peter 2:1-16 (NET)

2:1 So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2:2 And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, 2:3 if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness.

A Living Stone, a Chosen People

2:4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, 2:5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 2:6 For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” 2:7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 2:8 and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 2:10 You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy. 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, 2:12 and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.

Submission to Authorities

2:13 Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as supreme 2:14 or to governors as those he commissions to punish wrongdoers and praise those who do good. 2:15 For God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 2:16 Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:1

¹ tn Or “put away.”

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:2

¹ tn Here “And” has been supplied in the translation to show clearly the connection between vv. 1 and 2.

² tn Grk “getting rid of…yearn for.”

³ tn The word for spiritual in Greek is λογικός (logikos), which is a play on words with the reference in 1:23-25 to the living and enduring word (λόγος, logos) of God, through which they were born anew. This is a subtle indication that the nourishment for their growth must be the word of God.

⁴ tn Or “in, in regard to.” But the focus of “salvation” here, as in 1:5, 9, is the future deliverance of these who have been born anew and protected by God’s power.

⁵ tc The Byzantine text lacks εἰς σωτηρίαν (ei" swthrian, “to salvation”), while the words are found in the earliest and best witnesses (Ì⁷² א A B C K P Ψ 33 81 630 1241 1505 1739 al latt sy co). Not only is the longer reading superior externally, but since the notion of growing up [in]to salvation would have seemed theologically objectionable, it is easy to see why some scribes would omit it.

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:3

¹ tn Grk “have tasted that the Lord is kind.”

² sn A quotation from Ps 34:8.

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:4

¹ tn Grk “to whom coming…you are built up…” as a continuation of the reference to the Lord in v. 3.

² tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two phrases more than can be easily expressed in English.

³ tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:5

¹ tn Grk “unto a holy priesthood to offer.”

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:6

¹ tn Grk “it contains,” “it stands.”

² tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”

³ tn Grk “the one who believes.”

⁴ tn Grk either “in him” or “in it,” but the OT and NT uses personify the stone as the King, the Messiah whom God will establish in Jerusalem.

⁵ tn The negative (οὐ μή, ou mh) is emphatic: “will certainly not.”

⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:7

¹ tn Grk “to you who believe is the value,” referring to their perception of the stone in contrast to those who reject (vv. 7b-8). But the expression may also be translated as “to you who believe is this honor,” referring to the lack of shame cited in v. 6b.

² tn Grk “the value” or “the honor,” but the former is preferred since it comes from the same root as “priceless” in vv. 4, 6, and it is in contrast to the negative estimate of the stone by those who reject (vv. 7b-8).

³ tn Grk “the head of the corner.”

⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 (cf. Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11).

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:8

¹ tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” The latter phrase uses the term σκάνδαλον (skandalon), denoting an obstacle to faith, something that arouses anger and rejection.

² sn A quotation from Isa 8:14.

³ tn Grk “who stumble,” referring to “those who do not believe” in vs. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁴ tn Grk “to which they were also destined.”

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:9

¹ sn This verse contains various allusions and quotations from Exod 19:5-6; 23:22 (LXX); Isa 43:20-21; and Mal 3:17.

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:10

¹ tn Grk “who,” continuing the description of the readers from vs. 9. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

² sn The quotations in v. 10 are from Hos 1:6, 9; 2:23.

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:12

¹ tn Grk “keeping your conduct good.”

² tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.

³ tn Grk “in order that in what they malign you.”

⁴ tn Or “when he visits.” Grk “in the day of visitation,” denoting a time when God intervenes directly in human affairs, either for blessing (Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16; 19:44) or for judgment (Isa 10:3; Jer 6:15). This phrase may be a quotation from Isa 10:3, in which case judgment is in view here. But blessing seems to be the point, since part of the motive for good behavior is winning the non-Christian over to the faith (as in 3:1; also apparently in 3:15; cf. Matt 5:16).

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:13

¹ tn Or “every human being”; Grk “every human creation,” denoting either everything created for mankind (NRSV mg: “every institution ordained for human beings”) or every creature who is human. The meaning of the verb “be subject” and the following context supports the rendering adopted in the text.

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:14

¹ tn Grk “those sent by him.”

² tn Grk “for the punishment…and the praise.”

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:15

¹ tn Grk “because thus it is God’s will.”

NET Notes: 1Pe 2:16

¹ tn There is no main verb in this verse, but it continues the sense of command from v. 13, “be subject…, as free people…not using…but as slaves of God.”

² tn Traditionally, “servants” or “bondservants.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”