1 Peter 4:7

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. ¹ 

1 Peter 3:4

3:4 but the inner person ²  of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.

1 Peter 5:8

5:8 Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, ³  is on the prowl looking for someone ⁴  to devour.

1 Peter 1:13

1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action ⁵  by being fully sober, and set your hope ⁶  completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁷ 

1 Peter 2:24

2:24 He ⁸  himself bore our sins ⁹  in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning ¹⁰  and live for righteousness. By his ¹¹  wounds ¹²  you were healed. ¹³ 

[4:7]  ¹ tn Grk “for prayers.”

[3:4]  ² tn Grk “the hidden man.” KJV’s “the hidden man of the heart,” referring to a wife, could be seriously misunderstood by the modern English reader.

[5:8]  ³ sn This phrase may be an allusion to Ps 22:13.

[5:8]  ⁴ tc A few mss (B Ψ 0206^vid pc) lack the pronoun τινα (tina), while others have it. Those that have it either put the acute accent over the penult, making this an interrogative pronoun (“whom”; L P 322 323 614 630 945 1243 1739 2298 al), or leave off any accent, making this an indefinite pronoun (“someone”; Ï), or are too early to employ accents but nevertheless have the pronoun τινα (Ì⁷² א A). Generally speaking, the shorter and harder reading is to be preferred. In this instance, the omission of the pronoun would obviously be accommodated for by scribes, since both ζητέω (zhtew, “look, seek”) and καταπίνω (katapinw, “devour”) are transitive verbs. However, if the omission were original, one might expect the position of the pronoun to float in the mss – both before and after the infinitive καταπιεῖν (katapiein, “to devour”). Further, other terms might be expected as well, such as ἕνα ἐξ ὑμῶν ({ena ex Jumwn, “one of you”) or τινα ἐξ ὑμῶν (tina ex Jumwn, “a certain one/someone of you”). The uniformity of both the word and its location suggests that the shorter reading (found in but a few Greek mss) in this instance was a scribal mistake. As to whether the pronoun is interrogative or indefinite, since accents were not a part of the earliest mss, such Greek witnesses are of no help to us in this kind of problem. There would be little difference in meaning between the two in this context.

[1:13]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “having bound up…, being sober, set your hope…”

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 7).

[2:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:24]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 53:4, 12.

[2:24]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:24]  ⁹ tn Grk the singular: “wound”; “injury.”

[2:24]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 53:5.