1 Peter 4:3-7

4:3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians ¹  desire. ²  You lived then ³  in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, ⁴  and wanton idolatries. ⁵  4:4 So ⁶  they are astonished ⁷  when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. ⁸  4:5 They will face a reckoning before ⁹  Jesus Christ ¹⁰  who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 4:6 Now it was for this very purpose ¹¹  that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, ¹²  so that though ¹³  they were judged in the flesh ¹⁴  by human standards ¹⁵  they may live spiritually ¹⁶  by God’s standards. ¹⁷ 

Service, Suffering, and Judgment

4:7 For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer. ¹⁸ 

[4:3]  ¹ tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.

[4:3]  ² tn Grk “to accomplish the desire of the Gentiles.”

[4:3]  ³ tn Grk “having gone along,” referring to the readers’ behavior in time past.

[4:3]  ⁴ 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.

[4:3]  ⁵ tn The Greek words here all occur in the plural to describe their common practice in the past.

[4:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “in/by which,” referring to the change of behavior described in v. 3. The unbelievers are astonished by the readers’ moral transformation. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:4]  ⁷ tn Or “are surprised, are taken aback.” The same verb occurs in 4:12.

[4:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “blaspheming,” giving the result of their astonishment. Here the target of their “blasphemy/vilification” is not God but the Christian.

[4:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “give an account to.”

[4:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (Jesus Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:6]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “according to men.”

[4:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in spirit,” referring to the heavenly, eternal realm of existence (cf. 3:18).

[4:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “according to God.”

[4:7]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “for prayers.”