all flesh 3 is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of the grass; 4
the grass withers and the flower falls off,
1:25 but the word of the Lord 5 endures forever. 6
And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.
the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep 15 his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit.
5:1 So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you:
1 sn For obedience and for sprinkling indicates the purpose of their choice or election by God.
2 tn Grk “be multiplied to you.”
3 sn Here all flesh is a metaphor for humanity – human beings as both frail and temporary.
4 tn Or “a wildflower.”
5 sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.
6 sn A quotation from Isa 40:6, 8.
7 tn Grk “unto a holy priesthood to offer.”
9 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.
10 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).
11 tn Grk “the head of the corner.”
12 sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 (cf. Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11).
11 tn Grk “as Sarah obeyed.”
12 tn Grk “whose children you become.”
13 tn Grk “doing good and not fearing any intimidation.”
13 tn Grk “stop.”
15 tn Grk “which also, [as] an antitype, now saves you, [that is] baptism.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
16 tn Grk “the removal of the dirt of the flesh,” where flesh refers to the physical make-up of the body with no moral connotations.
17 tn Or “response”; “answer.”
17 tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.
18 tn Grk “to accomplish the desire of the Gentiles.”
19 tn Grk “having gone along,” referring to the readers’ behavior in time past.
20 tn According to BDAG 857 s.v. πότος the term refers to a social gathering at which wine is served, hence “drinking parties” (cf. TEV, NASB). However, the collocation with the other terms in v. 4 suggests something less sophisticated and more along the lines of wild and frenzied drinking bouts.
21 tn The Greek words here all occur in the plural to describe their common practice in the past.