1 Peter 5:1-5

Leading and Living in God’s Flock

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: 5:2 Give a shepherd’s care to ¹  God’s flock among you, exercising oversight ²  not merely as a duty ³  but willingly under God’s direction, ⁴  not for shameful profit but eagerly. 5:3 And do not lord it over ⁵  those entrusted to you, ⁶  but be examples to the flock. 5:4 Then ⁷  when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades away.

5:5 In the same way, you who are younger, ⁸  be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. ⁹ 

¹ tn Grk “shepherd,” “tend,” “pastor.”

² tc A few important mss (א* B sa) lack ἐπισκοποῦντες (episkopounte", “exercising oversight”), but the participle enjoys otherwise good ms support (Ì⁷² א² A P Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat). A decision is difficult because normally the shorter reading is preferred, especially when found in excellent witnesses. However, in this instance the omission may be due to a hesitation among some scribes to associate oversight with elders, since the later church viewed overseer/bishop as a separate office from elder.

³ tn Or “not under compulsion/coercion.”

⁴ tn Grk “according to God.”

⁵ tn Grk “not as lording it over…but being examples.” The participles continue the command of v. 2 by describing how the shepherding should be carried out.

⁶ tn Grk “the ones allotted,” referring to those God has given over to their care.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the logical sequence of events.

⁸ sn In this context younger and elder are terms that combine two meanings: relative age and an official structure of leadership in the church. As in v. 1, elder here denotes those who exercise spiritual leadership, who for the most part are older in years. Likewise younger means the rest of the community, who for the most part are younger in age, who are urged to accept the authority of their leaders.

⁹ sn A quotation from Prov 3:34 (cf. Jas 4:6).