3:18 21 Because Christ also suffered 22 once for sins,
the just for the unjust, 23
to bring you to God,
by being put to death in the flesh
but 24 by being made alive in the spirit. 25
4:1 So, since Christ suffered 29 in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, 30
1 tn Grk “whom not having seen, you love.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
2 tn Grk “in whom not now seeing…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
3 tn Grk “in whom not now seeing but believing, you exult.” The participles have been translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.
4 tn Grk “glorified.”
5 tn Grk “probing.” The participle continues the sentence from v. 10 but has been translated as an indicative for English style.
6 tn Or “time or circumstances,” focusing not on the person but on the timing and circumstances of the fulfillment.
7 tn Grk “the sufferings unto Christ,” i.e., sufferings directed toward him, what he was destined to suffer.
8 tn Grk “the glories after these things.”
9 tn Grk “the time of your sojourn,” picturing the Christian’s life in this world as a temporary stay in a foreign country (cf. 1:1).
13 tn Grk “unto a holy priesthood to offer.”
17 tn Grk “it contains,” “it stands.”
18 tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”
19 tn Grk “the one who believes.”
20 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.
21 tn The negative (οὐ μή, ou mh) is emphatic: “will certainly not.”
22 sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.
21 tn Grk “the hidden man.” KJV’s “the hidden man of the heart,” referring to a wife, could be seriously misunderstood by the modern English reader.
25 tn Grk “as Sarah obeyed.”
26 tn Grk “whose children you become.”
27 tn Grk “doing good and not fearing any intimidation.”
29 sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.
30 tc The variants here are legion (B. M. Metzger produces eight variants in a nice layout of the evidence [TCGNT 622]). Most of these variants involve pronouns, prepositions, or word order changes, but the major problem involves whether Christ “suffered” (ἔπαθεν, epaqen) or “died” (ἀπέθανεν, apeqanen). The witnesses that read ἀπέθανεν are Ì72 א A Cvid Ψ 0285 33 614 630 945 1241 1505 1739; the witnesses that read ἔπαθεν are B L P 81 Ï. Although the external evidence slightly favors ἀπέθανεν, such may be a secondary reading. Intrinsically, ἔπαθεν both fits the context better, especially the verbal link between v. 17 and v. 18 (note in particular the introductory causal ὅτι [{oti, “because”] and the emphatic καί [kai, “also”]), and fits the author’s style (1 Peter never uses ἀποθνῄσκω [apoqnhskw], but uses πάσχω [pascw] 11 other times, more than any other NT book). However, scribes would most likely realize this, and might conform the verb in v. 18 to the author’s typical usage. It may be argued, however, that scribes tended to alter the text in light of more common NT idioms, and did not have as much sensitivity to the literary features in the immediate context. In this instance, it may not be insignificant that the NT collocates ἀποθνῄσκω with ἁμαρτία (Jamartia, “sin”) seven other times, though only once (1 Cor 15:3) with a meaning similar to what would be demanded here, but collocates πάσχω with ἁμαρτία in only one other place, 1 Pet 4:1, where the meaning also detours from what is seen here. All in all, a decision is difficult, but ἔπαθεν is to be preferred slightly.
31 sn The reference to the just suffering for the unjust is an allusion to Isa 53:11-12.
32 tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two phrases more than can be easily expressed in English.
33 sn Put to death in the flesh…made alive in the spirit. The contrast of flesh and spirit is not between two parts of Christ’s person (material versus immaterial) but between two broader modes of existence: the realm of unregenerate earthly life versus eternal heavenly life. The reference may not be to the Holy Spirit directly, but indirectly, since the Spirit permeates and characterizes the spiritual mode of existence. However, ExSyn 343 (n. 76) states “It is often objected that the Holy Spirit cannot be in view because the two datives of v 18 (σαρκί, πνεύματι [sarki, pneumati]) would then have a different syntactical force (sphere, means). But if 1 Pet 3:18 is a hymnic or liturgical fragment, this can be no objection because of ‘poetic license’: poetry is replete with examples of grammatical and lexical license, not the least of which is the use of the same morpho-syntactic categories, in parallel lines, with entirely different senses (note, e.g., the dat. expressions in 1 Tim 3:16).”
33 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.
34 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.
35 tn Or “response”; “answer.”
37 tc Most
38 sn Has finished with sin. The last sentence in v. 1 may refer to Christ as the one who suffered in the flesh (cf. 2:21, 23; 3:18; 4:1a) and the latter part would then mean, “he has finished dealing with sin.” But it is more likely that it refers to the Christian who suffers unjustly (cf. 2:19-20; 3:14, 17). This shows that he has made a break with sin as vs. 2 describes.
41 tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.
42 tn Grk “to accomplish the desire of the Gentiles.”
43 tn Grk “having gone along,” referring to the readers’ behavior in time past.
44 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.
45 tn The Greek words here all occur in the plural to describe their common practice in the past.
45 tn Grk “in the revelation of his glory.”
46 tn The verb “be glad” is used also in 1:6 and 1:8. The verbs of v. 13b are used together in Matt 5:12 and Rev 19:7.
49 tc Many
50 tn Grk “the Spirit of glory and of God.”
51 sn A quotation taken from Isa 11:2.