1 Peter 4:1-2

4:1 So, since Christ suffered ¹  in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, ²  4:2 in that he spends the rest of his time ³  on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires.

1 Peter 4:6

4:6 Now it was for this very purpose ⁴  that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, ⁵  so that though ⁶  they were judged in the flesh ⁷  by human standards ⁸  they may live spiritually ⁹  by God’s standards. ¹⁰ 

1 Peter 1:24

1:24 For

all flesh ¹¹  is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of the grass; ¹² 

the grass withers and the flower falls off,

1 Peter 3:18

3:18 ¹³ Because Christ also suffered ¹⁴  once for sins,

the just for the unjust, ¹⁵ 

to bring you to God,

by being put to death in the flesh

but ¹⁶  by being made alive in the spirit. ¹⁷ 

1 Peter 3:21

3:21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you ¹⁸  – not the washing off of physical dirt ¹⁹  but the pledge ²⁰  of a good conscience to God – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

[4:1]  ¹ tc Most mss (א² A P Ï) add ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν (Juper Jhmwn, “for us”); others (א* 69 1505 pc) add ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν (Juper Jumwn, “for you”), the first hand of א also has ἀποθανόντος (apoqanonto", “since he died”) instead of παθόντος (paqonto", “since he suffered”). But the reading without ὑπὲρ ἡ/ὑμῶν best explains the rise of the other readings, for not only is there confusion as to which pronoun belongs here, but the longer readings, being clarifications, are evidently motivated readings. The shortest reading is found in important and early Alexandrian and Western witnesses (Ì⁷² B C Ψ 0285 323 1739) and is strongly preferred.

[4:1]  ² 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.

[4:2]  ³ tn This verse may give the purpose or result of their “arming” themselves as called for in v. 1b and then the translation would be: “so that you may spend the rest of your time…” But it is better to take it as explanatory of the last phrase in v. 1: what it means to be finished with sin.

[4:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “since for this purpose the gospel was preached even to the dead,” referring to the purpose described in the clause to follow in v. 6b.

[4:6]  ⁶ sn In context the phrase those who are dead refers to those now dead who had accepted the gospel while they were still living and had suffered persecution for their faith. Though they “suffered judgment” in this earthly life (i.e., they died, in the midst of physical abuse from the ungodly), they will enjoy life from God in the spiritual, heavenly realm because of the gospel (v. 6b). It clearly does not assume a second chance for conversion offered to unbelievers who had died; why would Peter urge people to suffer in this life for the sake of the gospel if he believed that mercy would be extended to all the dead in the hereafter (cf. 2:7-8; 4:1-5, 12-19)?

[4:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “so that they may be judged…but may live.” Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[4:6]  ⁸ tn Or “in their earthly lives,” since “flesh” here denotes the physical, earthly life. The phrase “in the flesh” is retained to preserve the links with 3:18 and 4:1 which use the same wording.

[4:6]  ⁹ tn Grk “according to men.”

[4:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in spirit,” referring to the heavenly, eternal realm of existence (cf. 3:18).

[4:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “according to God.”

[1:24]  ⁷ sn Here all flesh is a metaphor for humanity – human beings as both frail and temporary.

[1:24]  ⁸ tn Or “a wildflower.”

[3:18]  ⁹ 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.

[3:18]  ¹⁰ 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 C^vid 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.

[3:18]  ¹¹ sn The reference to the just suffering for the unjust is an allusion to Isa 53:11-12.

[3:18]  ¹² tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two phrases more than can be easily expressed in English.

[3:18]  ¹³ 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).”

[3:21]  ¹¹ 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.

[3:21]  ¹² 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.

[3:21]  ¹³ tn Or “response”; “answer.”