1 Peter 1:13

1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action ¹  by being fully sober, and set your hope ²  completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ³ 

1 Peter 5:5

5:5 In the same way, you who are younger, ⁴  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. ⁵ 

1 Peter 5:12

Final Greetings

5:12 Through Silvanus, ⁶  whom I know to be a faithful brother, ⁷  I have written to you briefly, in order to encourage you and testify ⁸  that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. ⁹ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn Grk “binding up the loins of your mind,” a figure of speech drawn from the Middle Eastern practice of gathering up long robes around the waist to prepare for work or action.

[1:13]  ² tn Grk “having bound up…, being sober, set your hope…”

[1:13]  ³ tn Grk “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 7).

[5:5]  ⁴ 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.

[5:5]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Prov 3:34 (cf. Jas 4:6).

[5:12]  ⁷ sn The phrase Through Silvanus means either that Silvanus was the secretary (amanuensis) who assisted Peter in writing or composing the letter (cf. Rom 16:22) or that he carried the letter to the churches. The latter sense is more likely since this is the meaning of the Greek wording when it is used elsewhere (cf. Acts 15:23; Ignatius, Letter to the Romans 10:1; Letter to the Philadelphians 11:2; Letter to the Smyrnaeans 12:1; Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians 14), though it is perhaps possible that both ideas could be incorporated by this expression. For a detailed argument regarding this issue, see E. R. Richards, “Silvanus Was Not Peter’s Secretary: Theological Bias in Interpreting διὰ Σιλουανοῦ…ἔγραψα,” JETS 43 (September 2000): 417-32.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “the faithful brother, as I think.”

[5:12]  ⁹ tn These are participles (“encouraging and testifying”) showing purpose. The pronoun object “you” is omitted in Greek but implied by the context.

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in which stand fast.” For emphasis, and due to constraints of contemporary English, this was made a separate sentence in the translation.