1 Peter 5

1Pe 5:1-14.

EXHORTATIONS TO

ELDERS,

JUNIORS, AND

ALL IN

GENERAL.

PARTING

PRAYER.

CONCLUSION.

1. elders--alike in office and age

(1Pe 5:5).

I . . . also an elder--To put one's self on a level

with those whom we exhort, gives weight to one's exhortations (compare

2Jo 1, 2).

Peter, in true humility for the Gospel's sake, does not put forward his

apostleship here, wherein he presided over the elders. In

the apostleship the apostles have no successors, for "the signs of an

apostle" have not been transmitted. The presidents over the presbyters

and deacons, by whatever name designated, angel, bishop, or

moderator, &c., though of the same ORDER as the

presbyters, yet have virtually succeeded to a superintendency of

the Church analogous to that exercised by the apostles (this

superintendency and priority existed from the earliest times after the

apostles [TERTULLIAN]); just as the Jewish

synagogue (the model which the Church followed) was governed by a

council of presbyters, presided over by one of themselves, "the chief

ruler of the synagogue." (Compare VITRINGA

[Synagogue and Temple, Part II, chs. 3 and 7]).

witness--an eye-witness of Christ's sufferings, and so

qualified to exhort you to believing patience in suffering for

well-doing after His example

(1Pe 4:19; 2:20).

This explains the "therefore" inserted in the oldest manuscripts, "I

therefore exhort," resuming exhortation from

1Pe 4:19.

His higher dignity as an apostle is herein delicately implied,

as eye-witnessing was a necessary qualification for apostleship:

compare Peter's own speeches,

Ac 1:21, 22; 2:32; 10:39.

also--implying the righteous recompense corresponding to the

sufferings.

partaker of the glory--according to Christ's promise; an earnest

of which was given in the transfiguration.

2. Feed--Greek, "Tend as a shepherd," by discipline and

doctrine. Lead, feed, heed: by prayer, exhortation, government, and

example. The dignity is marked by the term "elder"; the

duties of the office, to tend or oversee, by

"bishop." Peter has in mind Christ's injunction to him, "Feed

(tend) My sheep . . . Feed (pasture) My lambs"

(Joh 21:16).

He invites the elders to share with him the same duty (compare

Ac 20:28).

The flock is Christ's.

which is among you--While having a concern for all the

Church, your special duty is to feed that portion of it "which is among

you."

oversight--Greek, "bishopric," or duty of bishops, that

is, overseer.

not by constraint--Necessity is laid upon them, but willingness

prevents it being felt, both in undertaking and in fulfilling the duty

[BENGEL]. "He is a true presbyter and minister of

the counsel of God who doeth and teacheth the things of the Lord, being

not accounted righteous merely because he is a presbyter, but because

righteous, chosen into the presbytery" [CLEMENT OF

ALEXANDRIA].

willingly--One oldest manuscript, Vulgate, Syriac, and

Coptic, add, "as God would have it to be done"

(Ro 8:27).

not for filthy lucre--

(Isa 56:11;

Tit 1:7).

of a ready mind--promptly and heartily, without selfish motive

of gain-seeking, as the Israelites gave their services

willing-heartedly to the sanctuary.

3. being lords--Greek, "lording it": implying pride and

oppression. "Not that we have dominion over your faith."

God's heritage--Greek, "the inheritances," that

is, the portions of the Church committed severally to your

pastoral charge [BENGEL]. It is explained by "the

flock" in the next clause. However, in

1Pe 5:2,

"flock of God which is among you," answering to "(God's)

heritages" (plural to express the sheep who are God's portion

and inheritance,

De 32:9)

committed to you, favors English Version. The flock, as one

whole, is God's heritage, or flock in the singular. Regarded

in relation to its component sheep, divided among several

pastors, it is in the plural "heritages." Compare

Ac 1:17, 25,

"part" (the same Greek). BERNARD OF

CLAIRVAUX, wrote to Pope Eugene, "Peter could not

give thee what he had not: what he had he gave: the care over

the Church, not dominion."

being--Greek, "becoming."

ensamples--the most effective recommendation of precept

(1Ti 4:12).

Tit 2:7,

"patterns." So Jesus. "A monstrosity it is to see the highest rank

joined with the meanest mind, the first seat with the lowest life, a

grandiloquent tongue with a lazy life, much talking with no fruit"

[BERNARD].

4. And--"And so": as the result of "being ensamples"

(1Pe 5:3).

chief Shepherd--the title peculiarly Christ's own, not Peter's

or the pope's.

when . . . shall appear--Greek, "be manifested"

(Col 3:4).

Faith serves the Lord while still unseen.

crown--Greek, "stephanos," a garland of

victory, the prize in the Grecian games, woven of ivy, parsley,

myrtle, olive, or oak. Our crown is distinguished from

theirs in that it is "incorruptible" and "fadeth not away," as

the leaves of theirs soon did. "The crown of life." Not a

kingly "crown" (a different Greek word, diadema):

the prerogative of the Lord Jesus

(Re 19:12).

glory--Greek, "the glory," namely, to be

then revealed

(1Pe 5:1;

1Pe 4:13).

that fadeth not away--Greek, "amaranthine" (compare

1Pe 1:4).

5. ye younger--The deacons were originally the younger

men, the presbyters older; but subsequently as presbyter

expressed the office of Church ruler or teacher, so Greek

"neoteros" means not (as literally) young men in age, but

subordinate ministers and servants of the Church. So Christ uses

the term "younger." For He explains it by "he that doth serve,"

literally, "he that ministereth as a deacon"; just as He explains "the

greatness" by "he that is chief," literally, "he that ruleth,"

the very word applied to the bishops or presbyters. So

"the young men" are undoubtedly the deacons of the Church of Jerusalem,

of whom, as being all Hebrews, the Hellenistic Christians

subsequently complained as neglecting their Grecian widows,

whence arose the appointment of the seven others, Hellenistic

deacons. So here, Peter, having exhorted the presbyters, or

elders, not to lord it over those committed to them, adds, Likewise ye

neoters or younger, that is, subordinate ministers and deacons,

submit cheerfully to the command of the elders [MOSHEIM]. There is no Scripture sanction for "younger"

meaning laymen in general (as ALFORD

explains): its use in this sense is probably of later date. The

"all of you" that follows, refers to the congregation

generally; and it is likely that, like Paul, Peter should notice,

previous to the general congregation, the subordinate ministers

as well as the presbyters, writing as he did to the same region

(Ephesus), and to confirm the teaching of the apostle of the Gentiles.

Yea--to sum up all my exhortations in one.

be subject--omitted in the oldest manuscripts and versions, but

TISCHENDORF quotes the Vatican manuscript

for it. Then translate, "Gird

(1Pe 1:13; 4:1)

fast on humility (lowliness of mind) to one another." The verb is

literally, "tie on with a fast knot"

[WAHL]. Or, "gird on humility as the

slave dress (encomboma)": as the Lord girded Himself with a

towel to perform a servile office of humility and love, washing His

disciples' feet, a scene in which Peter had played an important part,

so that he would naturally have it before his mind. Compare similarly

1Pe 5:2

with Joh 21:15-17.

Clothing was the original badge of man's sin and shame. Pride caused

the need of man's clothing, and pride still reigns in dress; the

Christian therefore clothes himself in humility

(1Pe 3:3, 4).

God provides him with the robe of Christ's righteousness, in order to

receive which man must be stripped of pride.

God resisteth the proud--Quoted, as

Jas 4:6,

from Pr 3:34.

Peter had James before his mind, and gives his Epistle inspired

sanction. Compare

1Pe 5:9

with Jas 4:7,

literally, "arrayeth Himself against." Other sins flee from God: pride

alone opposeth itself to God; therefore, God also in turn opposes

Himself to the proud [GERHARD in

ALFORD]. Humility is the vessel of all graces

[AUGUSTINE].

6. under the mighty hand--afflicting you

(1Pe 3:15):

"accept" His chastisements, and turn to Him that smiteth you. He

depresses the proud and exalts the humble.

in due time--Wait humbly and patiently for His own fit time. One

oldest manuscript and Vulgate read, "In the season of

visitation," namely, His visitation in mercy.

7. Casting--once for all: so the Greek aorist.

care--"anxiety? The advantage flowing from humbling ourselves

under God's hand

(1Pe 5:6)

is confident reliance on His goodness. Exemption from care goes along

with humble submission to God.

careth for you--literally "respecting you." Care is a

burden which faith casts off the man on his God. Compare

Ps 22:10; 37:5; 55:22,

to which Peter alludes;

Lu 12:22, 37;

Php 4:6.

careth--not so strong a Greek word as the previous

Greek "anxiety."

8. Peter has in mind Christ's warning to himself to watch

against Satan, from forgetting which he fell.

Be sober . . . vigilant--"Care," that is,

anxiety, will intoxicate the soul; therefore be sober, that is,

self-restrained. Yet, lest this freedom from care should lead

any to false security, he adds, "Be vigilant" against "your adversary."

Let this be your "care." God provides, therefore do not be anxious. The

devil seeks, therefore watch [BENGEL].

because--omitted in the oldest manuscripts The broken and

disjointed sentences are more fervid and forcible.

LUCIFER OF CAGLIARI reads as

English Version.

adversary--literally, "opponent in a court of justice"

(Zec 3:1).

"Satan" means opponent. "Devil," accuser or

slanderer

(Re 12:10).

"The enemy"

(Mt 13:39).

"A murderer from the beginning"

(Joh 8:44).

He counteracts the Gospel and its agents. "The tempter."

roaring lion--implying his violent and insatiable thirst for

prey as a hungry lion. Through man's sin he got God's justice on his

side against us; but Christ, our Advocate, by fulfilling all the

demands of justice for us, has made our redemption altogether

consistent with justice.

walketh about--

(Job 1:7; 2:2).

So the children of the wicked one cannot rest. Evil spirits are

in

2Pe 2:4;

Jude 6,

said to be already in chains of darkness and in hell. This probably

means that this is their doom finally: a doom already begun in

part; though for a time they are permitted to roam in the world (of

which Satan is prince), especially in the dark air that surrounds the

earth. Hence perhaps arises the miasma of the air at times, as physical

and moral evil are closely connected.

devour--entangle in worldly "care"

(1Pe 5:7)

and other snares, so as finally to destroy. Compare

Re 12:15, 16.

9.

(Lu 4:13;

Eph 6:11-17;

Jas 4:7.)

steadfast--Compare established in the truth,"

2Pe 1:12.

Satan's power exists only in respect to the unbelieving; the faithful

he cannot hurt

(1Jo 5:18).

Faith gives strength to prayer, the great instrument against the foe

(Jas 1:6,

&c.).

knowing, &c.--"encouragement not to faint in afflictions": your

brethren suffer the same; nothing beyond the common lot of Christians

befalls you

(1Co 10:13).

It is a sign of God's favor rather than displeasure, that Satan is

allowed to harass you, as he did Job. Your fellow Christians have the

same battle of faith and prayer against Satan.

are--are being accomplished according to the appointment

of God.

in the world--lying in the wicked one, and therefore necessarily

the scene of "tribulation"

(Joh 16:33).

10. Comforting assurance that God will finally "perfect" His

work of "grace" in them, after they have undergone the necessary

previous suffering.

But--Only do you watch and resist the foe: God will perform the

rest [BENGEL].

of all grace--(Compare

1Pe 4:10).

The God to whom as its source all grace is to be referred; who in grace

completes what in grace He began. He from the first "called (so the

oldest manuscripts read for "us") unto (with a view to) glory." He will

not let His purpose fall short of completion. If He does so in

punishing, much more in grace. The three are fitly conjoined: the

call, the glory to which we are called, and the way

(suffering); the fourth is the ground of the calling, namely,

the grace of God in Christ.

and in union with whom, believers are called to glory. The

opposite is "in the world"

(1Pe 5:9;

Joh 16:33).

after that ye have suffered--Join to "called you":

suffering, as a necessary preliminary to glory, was

contemplated in God's calling.

a while--short and inconsiderable, as compared with the

glory.

perfect, &c.--The two oldest manuscripts, and Vulgate and

Coptic versions, read, "shall perfect (so that there

shall be nothing defective in you), stablish, strengthen," and

omit "settle," literally, "ground," or "fix on a foundation." ALFORD reads it in spite of the oldest manuscripts The

authority of the latter I prefer; moreover the climax seems to require

rather a verb of completing the work of grace, than, as the

Greek means, founding it. The Greek has, "shall

HIMSELF perfect you": though you are called on to

watch and resist the foe, God Himself must really

do all in and through you. The same God who begins must Himself

complete the work. The Greek for "stablish" (so as to be

"steadfast in the faith,"

1Pe 5:9)

is the same as "strengthen,"

Lu 22:32.

Peter has in mind Christ's charge, "When thou art converted,

strengthen thy brethren." His exhortation accords with his name

Peter, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will

build My Church." "Stablish," so as not to waver. "Strengthen" with

might in the inner man by His Spirit, against the foe.

11. To him--emphatic. To Him and Him alone: not to ourselves.

Compare "Himself," see on

1Pe 5:10.

glory and--omitted in the oldest manuscripts and versions.

dominion--Greek, "the might" shown in so

"perfecting," you,

1Pe 5:10.

12. Silvanus--Silas, the companion of Paul and Timothy: a

suitable messenger by whom to confirm, as Peter here does,

Paul's doctrine of "the true grace of God" in the same churches

(compare

2Pe 3:16).

We never meet with Silvanus as Paul's companion after Paul's last

journey to Jerusalem. His connection with Peter was plainly subsequent

to that journey.

as I suppose--Join "faithful unto you

[STEIGER], as I suppose." Silvanus may have stood

in a close relation to the churches in Asia, perhaps having taken the

oversight of them after Paul's departure, and had afterwards gone to

Peter, by whom he is now sent back to them with this Epistle. He did

not know, by positive observation, Silvanus' faithfulness to

them; he therefore says, "faithful to you, as I suppose,"

from the accounts I hear; not expressing doubt.

ALFORD joins "I have written unto you,"

which the Greek order favors. The seeming uncertainty, thus, is

not as to Silvanus' faithfulness, which strongly marked by the

Greek article, but as to whether he or some other would prove to

be the bearer of the letter, addressed as it was to five provinces,

all of which Silvanus might not reach: "By Silvanus, that

faithful brother, as expect, I have Written to you"

[BIRKS].

briefly--Greek, "in few (words)," as compared with the

importance of the subject

(Heb 13:22).

exhorting--not so much formally teaching doctrines, which

could not be done in so "few words."

testifying--bearing my testimony in confirmation (so the

Greek compound verb implies) of that truth which ye have already

heard from Paul and Silas

(1Jo 2:27).

that this--of which I have just written, and of which Paul

before testified to you (whose testimony, now that he was no longer in

those regions, was called in question probably by some; compare

2Pe 3:15, 16).

2Pe 1:12,

"the present truth," namely, the grace formerly promised by the

prophets, and now manifested to you. "Grace" is the keynote of

Paul's doctrine which Peter now confirms

(Eph 2:5, 8).

Their sufferings for the Gospel made them to need some attestation and

confirmation of the truth, that they should not fall back from it.

wherein ye stand--The oldest manuscripts read imperatively,

"Stand ye." Literally, "into which (having been already

admitted,

1Pe 1:8, 21; 2:7, 8, 9)

stand (therein)." Peter seems to have in mind Paul's words

(Ro 5:2;

1Co 15:1).

"The grace wherein we stand must be true, and our standing in it true

also" [BENGEL]. Compare in "He began his Epistle

with grace

(1Pe 1:2),

he finishes it with grace, he has besprinkled the middle with grace,

that in every part he might teach that the Church is not saved but by

grace."

13. The . . . at Babylon--ALFORD,

BENGEL, and others translate, "She that is elected

together with you in Babylon," namely, Peter's wife, whom he

led about with him in his missionary journeys. Compare

1Pe 3:7,

"heirs together of the grace of life." But why she should be

called "elected together with you in Babylon," as if there had

been no Christian woman in Babylon besides, is inexplicable on this

view. In English Version the sense is clear: "That portion of

the whole dispersion

(1Pe 1:1,

Greek), or Church of Christianized Jews, with Gentile converts,

which resides in Babylon." As Peter and John were closely associated,

Peter addresses the Church in John's peculiar province, Asia, and

closes with "your co-elect sister Church at Babylon

saluteth you"; and John similarly addresses the "elect lady," that is,

the Church in Babylon, and closes with "the children of thine

elect sister (the Asiatic Church) greet thee"; (compare

Introduction

to Second John). ERASMUS explains, "Mark who

is in the place of a son to me": compare

Ac 12:12,

implying Peter's connection with Mark; whence the mention of him in

connection with the Church at Babylon, in which he labored under

Peter before he went to Alexandria is not unnatural. PAPIAS reports from the presbyter John [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 3.39], that Mark

was interpreter of Peter, recording in his Gospel the facts related to

him by Peter. Silvanus or Silas had been substituted for John Mark, as

Paul's companion, because of Mark's temporary unfaithfulness. But now

Mark restored is associated with Silvanus, Paul's companion, in Peter's

esteem, as Mark was already reinstated in Paul's esteem. That Mark had

a spiritual connection with the Asiatic' churches which Peter

addresses, and so naturally salutes them, appears from

2Ti 4:11;

Col 4:10.

Babylon--The Chaldean Babylon on the Euphrates. See

Introduction,

ON THE PLACE OF WRITING this Epistle, in proof

that Rome is not meant as Papists assert; compare LIGHTFOOT sermon. How unlikely that in a

friendly salutation the enigmatical title of Rome given in

prophecy (John,

Re 17:5),

should be used! Babylon was the center from which the Asiatic

dispersion whom Peter addresses was derived.

PHILO [The Embassy to Gaius, 36] and

JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 15.2.2; 23.12]

inform us that Babylon contained a great many Jews in the apostolic age

(whereas those at Rome were comparatively few, about eight thousand

[JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 17.11]); so it

would naturally be visited by the apostle of the circumcision. It was

the headquarters of those whom he had so successfully addressed on

Pentecost,

Ac 2:9,

Jewish "Parthians . . . dwellers in Mesopotamia" (the

Parthians were then masters of Mesopotamian Babylon); these he

ministered to in person. His other hearers, the Jewish "dwellers

in Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia," he now ministers to

Rome is DIONYSIUS, bishop of Corinth, in the

latter half of the second century. The desirableness of representing

Peter and Paul, the two leading apostles, as together founding the

Church of the metropolis, seems to have originated the tradition.

CLEMENT OF ROME [First

Epistle to the Corinthians, 4.5], often quoted for, is really

against it. He mentions Paul and Peter together, but makes it as a

distinguishing circumstance of Paul, that he preached both in

the East and West, implying that Peter never was in the West. In

2Pe 1:14,

he says, "I must shortly put off this tabernacle," implying his

martyrdom was near, yet he makes no allusion to Rome, or any intention

of his visiting it.

14. kiss of charity--

Ro 16:16,

"an holy kiss": the token of love to God and the brethren.

Love and holiness are inseparable. Compare the instance,

Ac 20:37.

Peace--Peter's closing salutation; as Paul's is, "Grace be with

you," though he accompanies it with "peace be to the brethren." "Peace"

(flowing from salvation) was Christ's own salutation after the

resurrection, and from Him Peter derives it.

be with you all that are in Christ Jesus--The oldest manuscripts

omit "Jesus." In

Eph 6:24,

addressed to the same region, the same limitation of the salutation

occurs, whence, perhaps, Peter here adopts it. Contrast, "Be with

you all,"

Ro 16:24;

1Co 16:23.

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