1 Peter 2

1Pe 2:1-25.

EXHORTATIONS.

To guileless feeding on the word by the sense of their privileges as

new-born babes, living stones in the spiritual temple built on Christ

the chief corner-stone, and royal priests, in contrast to their former

state: also to abstinence from fleshly lusts, and to walk worthily in

all relations of life, so that the world without which opposes them may

be constrained to glorify God in seeing their good works. Christ, the

grand pattern to follow in patience under suffering for well-doing.

1. laying aside--once for all: so the Greek aorist

expresses as a garment put off. The exhortation applies to

Christians alone, for in none else is the new nature existing which, as

"the inward man"

(Eph 3:16)

can cast off the old as an outward thing, so that the Christian,

through the continual renewal of his inward man, can also exhibit

himself externally as a new man. But to unbelievers the demand is

addressed, that inwardly, in regard to the nous (mind),

they must become changed, meta-noeisthai (re-pent)

[STEIGER]. The "therefore" resumes the exhortation

begun in

1Pe 1:22.

Seeing that ye are born again of an incorruptible seed, be not again

entangled in evil, which "has no substantial being, but is an acting in

contrariety to the being formed in us" [THEOPHYLACT]. "Malice," &c., are utterly inconsistent

with the "love of the brethren," unto which ye have "purified your

souls"

(1Pe 1:22).

The vices here are those which offend against the

BROTHERLY LOVE inculcated above. Each succeeding

one springs out of that which immediately precedes, so as to form a

genealogy of the sins against love. Out of malice springs

guile; out of guile, hypocrises (pretending to be what we

are not, and not showing what we really are; the opposite of "love

unfeigned," and "without dissimulation"); out of hypocrisies,

envies of those to whom we think ourselves obliged to play the

hypocrite; out of envies, evil-speaking, malicious, envious

detraction of others. Guile is the permanent disposition;

hypocrisies the acts flowing from it. The guileless knows no

envy. Compare

1Pe 2:2,

"sincere," Greek, "guileless." "Malice delights in

another's hurt; envy pines at another's good; guile

imparts duplicity to the heart; hypocrisy (flattery) imparts

duplicity to the tongue; evil-speakings wound the character of

another" [AUGUSTINE].

2. new-born babes--altogether without "guile"

(1Pe 2:1).

As long as we are here we are "babes," in a specially tender relation

to God

(Isa 40:11).

The childlike spirit is indispensable if we would enter heaven. "Milk"

is here not elementary truths in contradistinction to more advanced

Christian truths, as in

1Co 3:2;

Heb 5:12, 13;

but in contrast to "guile, hypocrisies," &c.

(1Pe 2:1);

the simplicity of Christian doctrine in general to the childlike

spirit. The same "word of grace" which is the instrument in

regeneration, is the instrument also of building up. "The mother

of the child is also its natural nurse" [STEIGER].

The babe, instead of chemically analyzing, instinctively desires and

feeds on the milk; so our part is not self-sufficient rationalizing and

questioning, but simply receiving the truth in the love of it

(Mt 11:25).

desire--Greek, "have a yearning desire for," or "longing

after," a natural impulse to the regenerate, "for as no one needs to

teach new-born babes what food to take, knowing instinctively that a

table is provided for them in their mother's breast," so the believer

of himself thirsts after the word of God

(Ps 119:1-176).

Compare TATIUS' language as to Achilles.

sincere--Greek, "guileless." Compare

1Pe 2:1,

"laying aside guile." IRENÆUS says of

heretics. They mix chalk with the milk. The article, "the," implies

that besides the well-known pure milk, the Gospel, there is no

other pure, unadulterated doctrine; it alone can make us

guileless

(1Pe 2:1).

of the word--Not as ALFORD, "spiritual,"

nor "reasonable," as English Version in

Ro 12:1.

The Greek "logos" in Scripture is not used of the

reason, or mind, but of the WORD; the preceding context

requires that "the word" should be meant here; the adjective

"logikos" follows the meaning of the noun logos,

"word."

Jas 1:21,

"Lay apart all filthiness . . . and receive with

meekness the engrafted WORD," is exactly

parallel, and confirms English Version here.

grow--The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "grow unto

salvation." Being BORN again unto

salvation, we are also to grow unto salvation. The end to

which growth leads is perfected salvation. "Growth is the

measure of the fulness of that, not only rescue from destruction, but

positive blessedness, which is implied in salvation" [ALFORD].

thereby--Greek, "in it"; fed on it; in its

strength

(Ac 11:14).

"The word is to be desired with appetite as the cause of life, to be

swallowed in the hearing, to be chewed as cud is by rumination with the

understanding, and to be digested by faith" [TERTULLIAN].

3. Peter alludes to

Ps 34:8.

The first "tastes" of God's goodness are afterwards followed by fuller

and happier experiences. A taste whets the appetite

[BENGEL].

gracious--Greek, "good," benignant, kind; as God is

revealed to us in Christ, "the Lord"

(1Pe 2:4),

we who are born again ought so to be good and kind to the

brethren

(1Pe 1:22).

"Whosoever has not tasted the word to him it is not sweet it has not

reached the heart; but to them who have experienced it, who with the

heart believe, 'Christ has been sent for me and is become my

own: my miseries are His, and His life mine,' it tastes

sweet" [LUTHER].

4. coming--drawing near (same Greek as here,

Heb 10:22)

conversion.

stone--Peter (that is, a stone, named so by

Christ) desires that all similarly should be living stones

BUILT ON

CHRIST, THE TRUE FOUNDATION-STONE; compare his

speech in

Ac 4:11.

An undesigned coincidence and mark of genuineness. The Spirit

foreseeing the Romanist perversion of

Mt 16:18

(compare

Mt 16:16,

"Son of the LIVING God," which coincides with his

language here, "the LIVING stone"), presciently

makes Peter himself to refuse it. He herein confirms Paul's teaching.

Omit the as unto of English Version. Christ is positively

termed the "living stone"; living, as having life in Himself

from the beginning, and as raised from the dead to live evermore

(Re 1:18)

after His rejection by men, and so the source of life to us. Like no

earthly rock, He lives and gives life. Compare

1Co 10:4,

and the type,

Ex 17:6;

Nu 20:11.

disallowed--rejected, reprobated; referred to also by Christ

Himself: also by Paul; compare the kindred prophecies,

Isa 8:14;

Lu 2:34.

chosen of God--literally, "with (or 'in the presence

and judgment of') God elect," or, "chosen out"

(1Pe 2:6).

Many are alienated from the Gospel, because it is not everywhere in

favor, but is on the contrary rejected by most men. Peter answers that,

though rejected by men, Christ is peculiarly the stone of

salvation honored by God, first so designated by Jacob in his deathbed

prophecy.

5. Ye also, as lively stones--partaking of the name and life

which is in "THE LIVING

STONE"

(1Pe 2:4;

1Co 3:11).

Many names which belong to Christ in the singular are assigned to

Christians in the plural. He is "THE

SON," "High Priest," "King," "Lamb"; they, "sons,"

"priests," "kings," "sheep," "lambs." So the Shulamite called from

Solomon [BENGEL].

are built up--Greek, "are being built up," as in

Eph 2:22.

Not as ALFORD, "Be ye built up." Peter grounds his

exhortations,

1Pe 2:2, 11,

&c., on their conscious sense of their high privileges as living

stones in the course of being built up into a spiritual house (that

is, "the habitation of the Spirit").

priesthood--Christians are both the spiritual temple and

the priests of the temple. There are two Greek words for

"temple"; hieron (the sacred place), the whole building,

including the courts wherein the sacrifice was killed; and

naos (the dwelling, namely, of God), the inner shrine

wherein God peculiarly manifested Himself, and where, in the holiest

place, the blood of the slain sacrifice was presented before

Him. All believers alike, and not merely ministers, are now the

dwelling of God (and are called the "naos," Greek, not

the hieron) and priests unto God

(Re 1:6).

The minister is not, like the Jewish priest (Greek,

"hiercus"), admitted nearer to God than the people, but merely

for order's sake leads the spiritual services of the people.

Priest is the abbreviation of presbyter in the Church

of England Prayer Book, not corresponding to the Aaronic

priest (hiereus, who offered literal sacrifices).

Christ is the only literal hiereus-priest in the New Testament

through whom alone we may always draw near to God. Compare

1Pe 2:9,

"a royal priesthood," that is, a body of priest-kings, such as

was Melchisedec. The Spirit never, in New Testament, gives the name

hiereus, or sacerdotal priest, to ministers of the

Gospel.

holy--consecrated to God.

spiritual sacrifices--not the literal one of the mass, as the

Romish self-styled disciples of Peter teach. Compare

Isa 56:7,

which compare with "acceptable to God" here;

Ps 4:5; 50:14; 51:17, 19;

Ho 14:2;

Php 4:18.

"Among spiritual sacrifices the first place belongs to the general

oblation of ourselves. For never can we offer anything to God until we

have offered ourselves

(2Co 8:5)

in sacrifice to Him. There follow afterwards prayers, giving of thanks,

alms deeds, and all exercises of piety" [CALVIN].

Christian houses of worship are never called temples because the

temple was a place for sacrifice, which has no place in

the Christian dispensation; the Christian temple is the congregation of

spiritual worshippers. The synagogue (where reading of Scripture and

prayer constituted the worship) was the model of the Christian house of

worship (compare Note, see on

Jas 2:2,

Greek, "synagogue";

Ac 15:21).

Our sacrifices are those of prayer, praise, and self-denying services

in the cause of Christ

(1Pe 2:9,

end).

Connect these words with "offer up." Christ is both precious

Himself and makes us accepted [BENGEL]. As

the temple, so also the priesthood, is built on Christ

(1Pe 2:4, 5)

[BEZA]. Imperfect as are our services, we are not

with unbelieving timidity, which is close akin to refined

self-righteousness, to doubt their acceptance THROUGH CHRIST. After extolling the

dignity of Christians he goes back to CHRIST as

the sole source of it.

6. Wherefore also--The oldest manuscripts read, "Because that."

The statement above is so "because it is contained in

Scripture."

Behold--calling attention to the glorious announcement of His

eternal counsel.

elect--so also believers

(1Pe 2:9,

"chosen," Greek, "elect generation").

precious--in Hebrew,

Isa 28:16,

"a corner-stone of preciousness." See on

Isa 28:16.

So in

1Pe 2:7,

Christ is said to be, to believers, "precious," Greek,

"preciousness."

confounded--same Greek as in

Ro 9:33

(Peter here as elsewhere confirming Paul's teaching. See

Introduction;

also

Ro 10:11),

"ashamed." In

Isa 28:16,

"make haste," that is, flee in sudden panic, covered with the

shame of confounded hopes.

7. Application of the Scripture just quoted first to the

believer, then to the unbeliever. On the opposite effects of the same

Gospel on different classes, compare

Joh 9:39;

2Co 2:15, 16.

precious--Greek, "THE preciousness"

(1Pe 2:6).

To you believers belongs the preciousness of Christ just

mentioned.

disobedient--to the faith, and so disobedient in practice.

the stone which . . . head of . . .

corner--

(Ps 118:22).

Those who rejected the STONE were all the while in

spite of themselves unconsciously contributing to its becoming Head of

the corner. The same magnet has two poles, the one repulsive, the other

attractive; so the Gospel has opposite effects on believers and

unbelievers respectively.

8. stone of stumbling, &c.--quoted from

Isa 8:14.

Not merely they stumbled, in that their prejudices were

offended; but their stumbling implies the judicial punishment of

their reception of Messiah; they hurt themselves in stumbling over the

corner-stone, as "stumble" means in

Jer 13:16;

Da 11:19.

at the word--rather, join "being disobedient to the word"; so

1Pe 3:1; 4:17.

whereunto--to penal stumbling; to the judicial punishment

of their unbelief. See above.

also--an additional thought; God's ordination; not that God

ordains or appoints them to sin, but they are given up to

"the fruit of their own ways" according to the eternal counsel

of God. The moral ordering of the world is altogether of God. God

appoints the ungodly to be given up unto sin, and a reprobate

mind, and its necessary penalty. "Were appointed," Greek,

"set," answers to "I lay," Greek, "set,"

1Pe 2:6.

God, in the active, is said to appoint Christ and the elect

(directly). Unbelievers, in the passive, are said to be

appointed (God acting less directly in the appointment of the

sinner's awful course) [BENGEL]. God ordains the

wicked to punishment, not to crime [J. CAPPEL].

"Appointed" or "set" (not here "FORE-ordained") refers, not to the

eternal counsel so directly, as to the penal justice of God. Through

the same Christ whom sinners rejected, they shall be rejected; unlike

believers, they are by God appointed unto wrath as FITTED for it. The lost shall lay all the blame of their

ruin on their own sinful perversity, not on God's decree; the saved

shall ascribe all the merit of their salvation to God's electing love

and grace.

9. Contrast in the privileges and destinies of believers.

Compare the similar contrast with the preceding context.

chosen--"elect" of God, even as Christ your Lord is.

generation--implying the unity of spiritual origin and kindred

of believers as a class distinct from the world.

royal--kingly. Believers, like Christ, the antitypical

Melchisedec, are at once kings and priests. Israel, in a

spiritual sense, was designed to be the same among the nations of the

earth. The full realization on earth of this, both to the literal and

the spiritual Israel, is as yet future.

holy nation--antitypical to Israel.

peculiar people--literally, "a people for an

acquisition," that is, whom God chose to be peculiarly His:

Ac 20:28,

"purchased," literally, "acquired." God's "peculiar treasure"

above others.

show forth--publish abroad. Not their own praises

but His. They have no reason to magnify themselves above others

for once they had been in the same darkness, and only through God's

grace had been brought to the light which they must henceforth show

forth to others.

praises--Greek, "virtues," "excellencies": His glory,

mercy

(1Pe 2:10),

goodness (Greek,

1Pe 2:3;

Nu 14:17, 18;

Isa 63:7).

The same term is applied to believers,

2Pe 1:5.

of him who hath called you--

(2Pe 1:3).

out of darkness--of heathen and even Jewish ignorance, sin, and

misery, and so out of the dominion of the prince of darkness.

marvellous--Peter still has in mind

Ps 118:23.

light--It is called "His," that is, God's. Only the (spiritual)

light is created by God, not darkness. In

Isa 45:7,

it is physical darkness and evil, not moral, that God is said to

create, the punishment of sin, not sin itself. Peter, with

characteristic boldness, brands as darkness what all the world

calls light; reason, without the Holy Spirit, in spite of its

vaunted power, is spiritual darkness. "It cannot apprehend what faith

is: there it is stark blind; it gropes as one that is without eyesight,

stumbling from one thing to another, and knows not what it does"

[LUTHER].

10. Adapted from

Ho 1:9, 10; 2:23.

Peter plainly confirms Paul, who quotes the passage as implying the

call of the Gentiles to become spiritually that which Israel had been

literally, "the people of God." Primarily, the prophecy refers to

literal Israel, hereafter to be fully that which in their best days

they were only partially, God's people.

not obtained mercy--literally, "who were men not

compassionated." Implying that it was God's pure mercy, not

their merits, which made the blessed change in their state; a thought

which ought to kindle their lively gratitude, to be shown with

their life, as well as their lips.

11. As heretofore he exhorted them to walk worthily of their

calling, in contradistinction to their own former walk, so now he

exhorts them to glorify God before unbelievers.

Dearly beloved--He gains their attention to his exhortation by

assuring them of his love.

strangers and pilgrims--

(1Pe 1:17).

Sojourners, literally, settlers having a house in a city

without being citizens in respect to the rights of citizenship;

a picture of the Christian's position on earth; and pilgrims,

staying for a time in a foreign land. FLACIUS thus

analyzes the exhortation: (1) Purify your souls (a) as strangers

on earth who must not allow yourselves to be kept back by earthly

lusts, and (b) because these lusts war against the soul's salvation.

(2) Walk piously among unbelievers (a) so that they may cease to

calumniate Christians, and (b) may themselves be converted to Christ.

fleshly lusts--enumerated in

Ga 5:19,

&c. Not only the gross appetites which we have in common with the

brutes, but all the thoughts of the unrenewed mind.

which--Greek, "the which," that is, inasmuch as

being such as "war." &c. Not only do they impede, but they assail

[BENGEL].

the soul--that is, against the regenerated soul; such as were

those now addressed. The regenerated soul is besieged by sinful lusts.

Like Samson in the lap of Delilah, the believer, the moment that he

gives way to fleshly lusts, has the locks of his strength shorn, and

ceases to maintain that spiritual separation from the world and the

flesh of which the Nazarite vow was the type.

12. conversation--"behavior"; "conduct." There are two things in

which "strangers and pilgrims" ought to bear themselves well: (1) the

conversation or conduct, as subjects

(1Pe 2:13),

servants

(1Pe 2:18),

wives

(1Pe 3:1),

husbands

(1Pe 3:7),

all persons under all circumstances

(1Pe 2:8);

(2) confession of the faith

(1Pe 3:15, 16).

Each of the two is derived from the will of God. Our

conversation should correspond to our Saviour's condition; this is in

heaven, so ought that to be.

honest--honorable, becoming, proper

(1Pe 3:16).

Contrast "vain conversation,"

1Pe 1:18.

A good walk does not make us pious, but we must first be pious and

believe before we attempt to lead a good course. Faith first receives

from God, then love gives to our neighbor [LUTHER].

whereas they speak against you--now

(1Pe 2:15),

that they may, nevertheless, at some time or other hereafter

glorify God. The Greek may be rendered, "Wherein they

speak against you . . . that (herein) they may, by

your good works, which on a closer inspection they shall behold,

glorify God." The very works "which on more careful consideration, must

move the heathen to praise God, are at first the object of hatred and

raillery" [STEIGER].

evildoers--Because as Christians they could not conform to

heathenish customs, they were accused of disobedience to all legal

authority; in order to rebut this charge, they are told to submit to

every ordinance of man (not sinful in itself).

they shall behold--Greek, "they shall be eye-witnesses

of"; "shall behold on close inspection"; as opposed to their

"ignorance"

(1Pe 2:15)

of the true character of Christians and Christianity, by judging on

mere hearsay. The same Greek verb occurs in a similar sense in

1Pe 3:2.

"Other men narrowly look at (so the Greek implies) the

actions of the righteous" [BENGEL].

TERTULLIAN contrasts the early Christians and the

heathen: these delighted in the bloody gladiatorial spectacles of the

amphitheater, whereas a Christian was excommunicated if he went to it

at all. No Christian was found in prison for crime, but only for the

faith. The heathen excluded slaves from some of their religious

services, whereas Christians had some of their presbyters of the class

of slaves. Slavery silently and gradually disappeared by the power of

the Christian law of love, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to

you, do ye even so to them." When the pagans deserted their nearest

relatives in a plague, Christians ministered to the sick and dying.

When the Gentiles left their dead unburied after a battle and cast

their wounded into the streets, the disciples hastened to relieve the

suffering.

glorify--forming a high estimate of the God whom Christians

worship, from the exemplary conduct of Christians themselves. We must

do good, not with a view to our own glory, but to the glory

of God.

the day of visitation--of God's grace; when God shall

visit them in mercy.

13. every ordinance of man--"every human institution"

[ALFORD], literally, "every human

creation." For though of divine appointment, yet in the mode of

nomination and in the exercise of their authority, earthly governors

are but human institutions, being of men, and in relation to

men. The apostle speaks as one raised above all human things. But

lest they should think themselves so ennobled by faith as to be raised

above subordination to human authorities, he tells them to submit

themselves for the sake of Christ, who desires you to be subject,

and who once was subject to earthly rulers Himself, though having all

things subject to Him, and whose honor is at stake in you as His

earthly representatives. Compare

Ro 13:5,

"Be subject for conscience' sake."

king--The Roman emperor was "supreme" in the Roman provinces to

which this Epistle was addressed. The Jewish zealots refused obedience.

The distinction between "the king as supreme" and "governors sent by

him" implies that "if the king command one thing, and the subordinate

magistrate another, we ought rather to obey the superior"

[AUGUSTINE in GROTIUS].

Scripture prescribes nothing upon the form of government, but simply

subjects Christians to that everywhere subsisting, without entering

into the question of the right of the rulers (thus the Roman

emperors had by force seized supreme authority, and Rome had, by

unjustifiable means, made herself mistress of Asia), because the de

facto governors have not been made by chance, but by the providence

of God.

14. governors--subordinate to the emperor, "sent," or delegated

for the punishment--No tyranny ever has been so unprincipled as

that some appearance of equity was not maintained in it; however

corrupt a government be, God never suffers it to be so much so as not

to be better than anarchy [CALVIN]. Although bad

kings often oppress the good, yet that is scarcely ever done by public

authority (and it is of what is done by public authority that Peter

speaks), save under the mask of right. Tyranny harasses many, but

anarchy overwhelms the whole state [HORNEIUS]. The

only justifiable exception is in cases where obedience to the earthly

king plainly involves disobedience to the express command of the King

of kings.

praise of them that do well--Every government recognizes the

excellence of truly Christian subjects. Thus

PLINY, in his letter to the Emperor Trajan,

acknowledges, "I have found in them nothing else save a perverse and

extravagant superstition." The recognition in the long run mitigates

persecution

(1Pe 3:13).

15. Ground of his directing them to submit themselves

(1Pe 2:13).

put to silence--literally, "to muzzle," "to stop the mouth."

ignorance--spiritual not having "the knowledge of God," and

therefore ignorant of the children of God, and misconstruing their

acts; influenced by mere appearances, and ever ready to open their

mouths, rather than their eyes and ears. Their ignorance should

move the believer's pity, not his anger. They judge of things which

they are incapable of judging through unbelief (compare

1Pe 2:12).

Maintain such a walk that they shall have no charge against you, except

touching your faith; and so their minds shall be favorably disposed

towards Christianity.

16. As free--as "the Lord's freemen," connected with

1Pe 2:15,

doing well as being free. "Well-doing"

(1Pe 2:15)

is the natural fruit of being freemen of Christ, made free by

"the truth" from the bondage of sin. Duty is enforced on us to guard

against licentiousness, but the way in which it is to be

fulfilled, is by love and the holy instincts of Christian liberty. We

are given principles, not details.

not using--Greek, "not as having your liberty for

a veil (cloak) of badness, but as the servants of God," and

therefore bound to submit to every ordinance of man

(1Pe 2:13)

which is of God's appointment.

17. Honour all men--according to whatever honor is due in

each case. Equals have a respect due to them. Christ has dignified

our humanity by assuming it; therefore we should not dishonor, but be

considerate to and honor our common humanity, even in the very

humblest. The first "honor" is in the Greek aorist imperative,

implying, "In every case render promptly every man's due"

[ALFORD]. The second is in the present

tense, implying, Habitually and continually honor the king. Thus

the first is the general precept; the three following are its three

great divisions.

Love--present: Habitually love with the special and

congenial affection that you ought to feel to brethren, besides the

general love to all men.

Fear God . . . the king--The king is to be

honored; but God alone, in the highest sense, feared.

18. Servants--Greek, "household servants": not here the

Greek for "slaves." Probably including freedmen still

remaining in their master's house. Masters were not commonly

Christians: he therefore mentions only the duties of the

servants. These were then often persecuted by their unbelieving

masters. Peter's special object seems to be to teach them

submission, whatever the character of the masters might be. Paul

not having this as his prominent design, includes masters in his

monitions.

be subject--Greek, "being subject": the participle

expresses a particular instance of the general exhortation to good

conduct,

1Pe 2:11, 12,

of which the first particular precept is given

1Pe 2:13,

"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." The

general exhortation is taken up again in

1Pe 2:16;

and so the participle

1Pe 2:18,

"being subject," is joined to the hortatory imperatives going before,

namely, "abstain," "submit yourselves." "honor all men."

with--Greek, "in."

all--all possible: under all circumstances, such as are

presently detailed.

fear--the awe of one subject: God, however, is the ultimate

object of the "fear": fear "for the Lord's sake"

(1Pe 2:13),

not merely slavish fear of masters.

good--kind.

gentle--indulgent towards errors: considerate: yielding, not

exacting all which justice might demand.

froward--perverse: harsh. Those bound to obey must not make the

disposition and behavior of the superior the measure of the fulfilment

of their obligations.

19. Reason for subjection even to froward masters.

thankworthy--

(Lu 6:33).

A course out of the common, and especially praiseworthy in the

eyes of God: not as Rome interprets, earning merit, and so a work of

supererogation (compare

1Pe 2:20).

for conscience toward God--literally, "consciousness of God":

from a conscientious regard to God, more than to men.

endure--Greek, "patiently bear up under": as a

superimposed burden [ALFORD].

grief--Greek, "griefs."

20. what--Greek, "what kind of."

glory--what peculiar merit.

buffeted--the punishment of slaves, and suddenly inflicted

[BENGEL].

this is--Some oldest manuscripts read, "for." Then the

translation is, "But if when . . . ye take it patiently (it

is a glory), for this is acceptable."

acceptable--Greek, "thankworthy," as in

1Pe 2:19.

21. Christ's example a proof that patient endurance under

undeserved sufferings is acceptable with God.

hereunto--to the patient endurance of unmerited suffering

(1Pe 3:9).

Christ is an example to servants, even as He was once in "the form of a

servant."

called--with a heavenly calling, though slaves.

for us--His dying for us is the highest exemplification

of "doing well"

(1Pe 2:20).

Ye must patiently suffer, being innocent, as Christ also innocently

suffered (not for Himself, but for us). The oldest manuscripts

for "us . . . us," read, "you . . . for you."

Christ's sufferings, while they are for an example, were also primarily

sufferings "for us," a consideration which imposes an

everlasting obligation on us to please Him.

leaving--behind: so the Greek: on His departure to

the Father, to His glory.

an example--Greek, "a copy," literally, "a writing copy"

set by masters for their pupils. Christ's precepts and sermons were the

transcript of His life. Peter graphically sets before

servants those features especially suited to their case.

follow--close upon: so the Greek.

his steps--footsteps, namely, of His patience

combined with innocence.

22. Illustrating Christ's well-doing

(1Pe 2:20)

though suffering.

did--Greek aorist. "Never in a single instance did"

[ALFORD]. Quoted from

Isa 53:9,

end, Septuagint.

neither--nor yet: not even [ALFORD].

Sinlessness as to the mouth is a mark of perfection.

Guile is a common fault of servants. "If any boast of his

innocency, Christ surely did not suffer as an evildoer" [CALVIN], yet He took it patiently

(1Pe 2:20).

On Christ's sinlessness, compare

2Co 5:21;

Heb 7:26.

23. Servants are apt to "answer again"

(Tit 2:9).

Threats of divine judgment against oppressors are often used by

those who have no other arms, as for instance, slaves. Christ, who as

Lord could have threatened with truth, never did so.

committed himself--or His cause, as man in His

suffering. Compare the type,

Jer 11:20.

In this Peter seems to have before his mind

Isa 53:8.

Compare

Ro 12:19,

on our corresponding duty. Leave your case in His hands, not desiring

to make Him executioner of your revenge, but rather praying for

enemies. God's righteous judgment gives tranquillity and

consolation to the oppressed.

24. his own self--there being none other but

Himself who could have done it. His voluntary undertaking

of the work of redemption is implied. The Greek puts in

antithetical juxtaposition, OUR, and His OWN SELF, to mark the idea of His substitution for

us. His "well-doing" in His sufferings is set forth here as an

example to servants and to us all

(1Pe 2:20).

bare--to sacrifice: carried and offered up: a sacrificial

term.

Isa 53:11, 12,

"He bare the sin of many": where the idea of bearing on

Himself is the prominent one; here the offering in sacrifice

is combined with that idea. So the same Greek means in

1Pe 2:5.

our sins--In offering or presenting in sacrifice

(as the Greek for "bare" implies) His body, Christ offered in it

the guilt of our sins upon the cross, as upon the altar of God,

that it might be expiated in Him, and so taken away from us. Compare

Isa 53:10,

"Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin." Peter thus means by

"bare" what the Syriac takes two words to express, to

bear and to offer: (1) He hath borne our sins laid

upon Him [namely, their guilt, curse, and punishment]; (2) He hath so

borne them that He offered them along with Himself on the altar.

He refers to the animals upon which sins were first laid, and which

were then offered thus laden [VITRINGA].

Sin or guilt among the Semitic nations is considered as a burden lying

heavily upon the sinner [GESENIUS].

on the tree--the cross, the proper place for One on whom the

curse was laid: this curse stuck to Him until it was legally

(through His death as the guilt-bearer) destroyed in His body: thus the

handwriting of the bond against us is cancelled by His death.

that we being dead to sins--the effect of His death to "sin" in

the aggregate, and to all particular "sins," namely, that we should be

as entirely delivered from them, as a slave that is dead

is delivered from service to his master. This is our spiritful

standing through faith by virtue of Christ's death: our actual

mortification of particular sins is in proportion to the degree

of our effectually being made conformable to His death. "That we should

die to the sins whose collected guilt Christ carried away in His

death, and so LIVE TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS (compare

Isa 53:11.

'My righteous servant shall justify many'), the gracious

relation to God which He has brought in"

[STEIGER].

ye were healed--a paradox, yet true. "Ye servants (compare

'buffeted,' 'the tree,'

1Pe 2:20, 24)

often bear the strife; but it is not more than your Lord Himself

bore; learn from Him patience in wrongful sufferings.

25.

(Isa 53:6.)

For--Assigning their natural need of healing

(1Pe 2:24).

now--Now that the atonement for all has been made, the

foundation is laid for individual conversion: so "ye are

returned," or "have become converted to," &c.

Shepherd and Bishop--The designation of the pastors and

elders of the Church belongs in its fullest sense to the great

Head of the Church, "the good Shepherd." As the "bishop"

oversees (as the Greek term means), so "the eyes of

the Lord are over the righteous"

(1Pe 3:12).

He gives us His spirit and feeds and guides us by His word. "Shepherd,"

Hebrew, "Parnas," is often applied to kings, and

enters into the composition of names, as "Pharnabazus."