1 Peter 1:16

1:16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” ¹ 

1 Peter 5:13

5:13 The church ²  in Babylon, ³  chosen together with you, ⁴  greets you, and so does Mark, my son.

1 Peter 1:3

New Birth to Joy and Holiness

1:3 Blessed be ⁵  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 2:24

2:24 He ⁶  himself bore our sins ⁷  in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning ⁸  and live for righteousness. By his ⁹  wounds ¹⁰  you were healed. ¹¹ 

1 Peter 5:12

Final Greetings

5:12 Through Silvanus, ¹²  whom I know to be a faithful brother, ¹³  I have written to you briefly, in order to encourage you and testify ¹⁴  that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. ¹⁵ 

1 Peter 2:11

2:11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,

1 Peter 2:6

2:6 For it says ¹⁶  in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, ¹⁷  and whoever believes ¹⁸  in him ¹⁹  will never ²⁰  be put to shame.” ²¹ 

1 Peter 5:1

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:

1 Peter 4:17

4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house ²²  of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate ²³  of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?

[1:16]  ¹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:2.

[5:13]  ² tn Grk “the one in Babylon,” which could refer to some individual woman (“she who is in Babylon”) since the Greek article (here “the one”) is feminine. But it is much more likely to be a veiled reference to a church (the Greek word “church” is also feminine in gender).

[5:13]  ³ sn Most scholars understand Babylon here to be a figurative reference to Rome. Although in the OT the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia was the seat of tremendous power (2 Kgs 24-25; Isa 39; Jer 25), by the time of the NT what was left was an insignificant town, and there is no tradition in Christian history that Peter ever visited there. On the other hand, Christian tradition connects Peter with the church in Rome, and many interpreters think other references to Babylon in the NT refer to Rome as well (Rev 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21). Thus it is likely Peter was referring to Rome here.

[5:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “chosen together,” implying the connection “with you” in context.

[1:3]  ³ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (euloghtos) and the author’s intention at this point in the epistle must both come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. Two factors of the author’s style come into play. At this point the author is describing the reality of believers’ salvation and will soon explain believers’ necessary response; this is in emulation of Pauline style which generally follows the same logical order (although the author here discusses the reality in a much more compressed fashion). On the other hand, when imitating the Pauline greeting, which is normally verbless, the author inserts the optative (see v. 2 above). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the fact that the author in the immediate context has used the optative when imitating a Pauline stylized statement would argue for the optative here. The translation uses the term “blessed” in the sense “worthy of praise” as this is in keeping with the traditional translation of berakah psalms. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3.

[2:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:24]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 53:4, 12.

[2:24]  ⁶ tn The verb ἀπογίνομαι (apoginomai) occurs only here in the NT. It can have a literal meaning (“to die”; L&N 74.27) and a figurative meaning (“to cease”; L&N 68.40). Because it is opposite the verb ζάω (zaw, “to live”), many argue that the meaning of the verb here must be “die” (so BDAG 108 s.v.), but even so literal death would not be in view. “In place of ἀποθνῃσκιεν, the common verb for ‘die,’ ἀπογινεθαι serves Peter as a euphemism, with the meaning ‘to be away’ or ‘to depart’” (J. R. Michaels, 1 Peter [WBC 49], 148). It is a metaphorical way to refer to the decisive separation from sin Jesus accomplished for believers through his death; the result is that believers “may cease from sinning.”

[2:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:24]  ⁸ tn Grk the singular: “wound”; “injury.”

[2:24]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 53:5.

[5:12]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “the faithful brother, as I think.”

[5:12]  ⁷ tn These are participles (“encouraging and testifying”) showing purpose. The pronoun object “you” is omitted in Greek but implied by the context.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “in which stand fast.” For emphasis, and due to constraints of contemporary English, this was made a separate sentence in the translation.

[2:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “it contains,” “it stands.”

[2:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”

[2:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “the one who believes.”

[2:6]  ⁹ 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.

[2:6]  ¹⁰ tn The negative (οὐ μή, ou mh) is emphatic: “will certainly not.”

[2:6]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.

[4:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “to begin from the house.”

[4:17]  ⁸ tn Or “the end.”