Bibelkommentare

THE EPISTLES GENERAL OF

PETER.

The First Epistle of St. Peter.

BY

THE REV. A. J. MASON, M.A., D.D.

INTRODUCTION

TO

THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF

PETER.

I. The Author.—The authorship of this Epistle can hardly be called a matter of question. If it be not St. Peter’s own, we have no choice but to set it down as an impudent forgery. It claims directly, and in the simplest form, to be the writing of the chief Apostle of our Lord (1Peter 1:1). The author asserts himself to be a “witness of the sufferings of Christ” (1Peter 5:1), and yet does it so modestly and with such absence of detail as would be inconceivable in a forger acquainted with St. Peter’s history. The enthusiastic and impassioned style of the Letter corresponds with the character of St. Peter as we find it recorded in history; and in several marked points not only the doctrinal statements, but even the literary style and turn of the sentences, recalls the style of St. Peter’s speeches in the Acts. The fact that the Letter was written in Greek (for the adjectives alone are sufficient disproof of the theory that it is a translation from an Aramaic original) is no objection to the Petrine authorship. Galilee was a half-Greek country, studded with Greek cities; St. Peter’s brother bore a Greek name. No Galilean of the middle classes (to which St. Peter evidently belonged) could have been ignorant of the language; indeed, there is sufficient evidence that Greek was as much used in Galilee as Aramaic.

It seems that no question was entertained until the nineteenth century with regard to the genuineness of the Epistle by any church, or by any individual, whether orthodox or heretical. The Epistle was, indeed, rejected by Marcion, but distinctly on the ground that it was St. Peter’s. Origen speaks of it as one of the books whose authority had never been disputed. The Second Epistle of St. Peter, which, even if not genuine, cannot be dated later than the early part of the second century, refers back to it, and refers to it expressly as the work of St. Peter. St. Clement of Rome, writing (probably) A.D. 95, though he does not directly quote from it with marks of citation, has expressions such as “His marvellous light,” and several others less marked, which seem certainly to indicate his acquaintance with it. St. Polycarp (about 115 A.D.), bishop of one of the churches to which the Epistle was addressed, within the compass of one short letter to the Philippians, cites it again and again—e.g., “In whom, though ye never saw Him, ye believe, and believing ye rejoice;” “not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing;” and many other passages. St. Polycarp’s friend Papias (according to Eusebius) made use of this Epistle too, and seems to have made special comments on the connection between St. Peter and St. Mark. Besides traces of the use of it to be found in Hermas, Theophilus, and others, it is freely quoted, and by name, by Irenæus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and all subsequent writers. In fact, it would be difficult to imagine stronger external evidence in its favour. M. Renan, to take one example of an historical critic whose theology is not that of St. Peter, writes: “If, as we are happy to believe, this Epistle is really Peter’s, it does honour to his good sense, his straightforwardness, and his simplicity;” and he gives many good reasons for his belief.

There is but one argument against the genuineness of the Epistle to which any weight at all can be assigned, and even this loses all its force when it is examined. “As for the eclectic and conciliatory tendencies observed in the Epistle of Peter,” writes M. Renan (Antéchrist, p. ix.), “they constitute no objection to any but those who, like Christian Baur and his disciples, imagine the difference between Peter and Paul to have been one of absolute opposition. Had the hatred between the two parties of primitive Christianity been as profound as is thought by that school, the reconciliation would never have been made. Peter was not an obstinate Jew like James.” Without necessarily agreeing in this description of James, we may well accept the statement that St. Peter was a man peculiarly susceptible of impressions, and (even putting out of view the two Epistles in our Canon) his admiration, and indeed his awe of St. Paul are visible to any reader of the Acts and the Epistle to the Galatians. No writer recognises them more frankly than M. Renan (Saint Paul, pp. 85, 86). Now, on the one hand, it is very easy to exaggerate the Pauline character of this Epistle. It contains no one doctrine, such as Justification by Faith, which is essentially bound up with the name of St. Paul. On the matter of the free admission of Gentiles into the Church (which indirectly forms a large element in this Epistle) St. Peter had made up his mind long years before he came much under the influence of St. Paul (Acts 10:34; Acts 11:17; Acts 15:11). But on the other hand, there were special reasons why, in this Epistle, all St. Peter’s sympathy for his co-Apostle should come out. He was using, either as his secretary or as his letter-bearer—perhaps in both capacities—that liberal-minded Silas (1Peter 5:12), who, after being chosen by the Church of Jerusalem as their own exponent to the Gentiles of Antioch, had attached himself to St. Paul, accompanied him in the most momentous of his missionary travels, and had (apparently) devoted himself to the edification and extension of those Asiatic churches which the two had founded together. St. Mark, too, dear to St. Peter as his own “son” in the faith (1Peter 5:13), had been but recently again (after early misunderstandings) a chosen companion of St. Paul, and was probably not very long returned from a mission on which that Apostle had despatched him into Asia Minor (Colossians 4:10). And, moreover, all St. Peter’s chivalrous nature would be aroused by the manner in which the churches of all that region, or any rate the Jewish element in them, were beginning to revolt (as at Corinth also) against their founder when his back was turned.

II. The Place, Time, and Occasion of the Epistle.—The place from which the Letter was written was, we may say without any hesitation, Rome. If this be not the case, we must understand the “Babylon” of 1Peter 5:13 to mean the Eastern Babylon; and it is neither very probable in itself that St. Peter should have visited that city, and there have been met by St. Silas and St. Mark, nor is there any trace of a tradition, however meagre, that he ever travelled in those parts. On the other hand, were it not for the abuse made of the fact by the supporters of the Papacy, no one would ever have questioned the universal and well-authenticated tradition which affirms that St. Peter was, along with St. Paul, co-founder of the Church of Rome. The whole subject has been, of late years, sifted to the bottom by various German and other writers, especially by Dr. Hilgenfeld in repeated articles between 1872 and 1877 in his Zeitschrift. Though every conceivable difference may be found between these authors respecting the dates and duration of St. Peter’s sojourn at Rome, very few are so hardily sceptical as to reject altogether evidence as strong, early, and wide, as that on which we believe that Hannibal invaded Italy. This fact being then certain, the only question is whether Eusebius is right—or St. Clement of Alexandria, and even Papias, whom he appears to be quoting—in suggesting that “Babylon” in this Epistle meant Rome.[15]

[15] The words occur in a passage describing the origin of the Gospel of St. Mark, which ends thus, “and that [St. Peter] ratified the book for the churches to study (Clement, in the sixth of his Hypotyposes, has put the story in our hands, and his account is substantiated also by the Bishop of Hierapolis named Papias), and that Peter mentions Mark in his former Epistle, which also they say that he composed at Rome itself, and that he means this when he calls the city in a figurative kind of way ‘Babylon,’ in these words, The co-elect one in Babylon greeteth you, and Mark my son”—(Eus. Hist. Eccl. II. xv. 2.)

About this there can be no difficulty. Not only is Rome so styled in the Apocalypse, and some few years later in the Jewish Sibylline Oracles, but M. Renan quotes passages from various Rabbinical writings where the same name occurs with the same meaning. The Jews delighted in substituting symbolical names and epithets even in plain prose speech (e.g., Jerub-besheth for Jerub-baal, Haman the Agagite; St. Peter himself, if the Second Epistle be his, seems to do the same when he calls Balaam “the son of Bosor”); and the detestation of Rome, natural to a Jew at all times, and heightened by Christianity when once the persecution began, found vent for itself in all manner of names culled from the Old Testament, such as Nineveh and Edom, as well as Babylon.

If, then, Rome be the place from which St. Peter wrote, how can we find approximately the time? It cannot be put earlier than the year 64, for two reasons especially: (1) because it shows a deep acquaintance with the Epistle (so-named) to the Ephesians,[16] the date of which Isaiah 62 or 63; (2) because direct persecution had broken out against the Christians as Christians, and this did not take place until after the great fire at Rome in July, 64. The phenomena of the letter will not bear interpreting by the theory of simple disaffection, however deep and spiteful, of the populace against the Christians. They are liable at any moment, even away in Asia, to be called upon to give an account for their faith in the law courts (1Peter 3:15). If any of them is proved to be a Christian, he will very likely “suffer”—suffer capital punishment—for that crime (1Peter 4:16). The whole piece is burdened with persecution of a most systematic kind on every side. There is, however, one side-question which causes some difficulty. St. Paul is not mentioned as joining in the salutation to the churches which he had founded. Why so? No more probable conjecture can be made than that, shortly after writing his Epistles to the Asiatic Churches, St. Paul was tried and liberated, and made that journey into the far West on which he had long set his heart, and which St. Clement of Rome, who must have known well, says that he took. By this journey he escaped death in the outbreak of Nero’s persecution; and St. Peter, arriving at Rome about the same time, finds him gone, and Silas and Mark just coming back to headquarters from their work in Asia, with reports of division and disorder which required immediate attention. Accordingly St. Peter issues this circular letter which we have before us.

[16] Compare 1Peter 1:1-2 with Ephesians 1:4; 1Peter 1:3 with Ephesians 1:3; 1Peter 1:4-5 with Ephesians 1:11; Ephesians 1:18; 1Peter 1:12 with Ephesians 3:10; 1Peter 1:14 with Ephesians 2:2-3; 1Peter 2:5 with Ephesians 2:20-22; 1Peter 2:18 with Ephesians 6:5; 1Peter 3:1 with Ephesians 5:22; 1Peter 3:22 with Ephesians 1:20-21; 1Peter 4:3 with Ephesians 2:2; and other passages. The connection with Silvanus, and with Mark, is sufficient to explain St. Peter’s close familiarity with an Epistle which had been destined (largely) for the same readers as his own. His deep knowledge of the Epistle to the Romans (which is traceable in very many passages is a strong argument in favour of the identification of “Babylon” with Rome. There are some indications also of an acquaintance with the Epistles to the Thessalonians, again perhaps through Silvanus. It is noteworthy, as showing the position which St. Peter held amidst conflicting parties, that the document which, next after the Epistles to the Romans and Ephesians, has most influenced this Letter, is the Epistle of St. James; for instance, compare 1Peter 1:6-7 with James 1:2-3; 1Peter 1:24 with James 1:10-11; 1Peter 4:8 with James 5:20; 1Peter 5:5-9 with James 4:6-10; et al.

Opinions are much divided as to whether the Letter was addressed primarily to Jewish or to Gentile Christians, or to both indifferently. Either answer is beset with difficulties, but the question will be found fully discussed in the Notes on the chief passages (1Peter 1:1; 1Peter 1:14; 1Peter 1:17-18; 1Peter 2:9-10; 1Peter 4:3, et al.), in which it will be seen that the annotator adheres to the usually received opinion that St. Peter keeps to his original intention of going to the circumcision only. The pact between the Apostles was, indeed, not of that rigid nature which would preclude the possibility of his writing to the Gentiles, even as St. Paul wrote to Jews; still, it seems more natural on the whole to suppose that he adhered to the pact. The letter is throughout exactly what the author describes it as being (1Peter 5:12). He “exhorts and testifies that this is God’s true grace.” That is, he insists upon the Jewish Christians recognising fully that St. Paul’s gospel was all that it ought to be (1Peter 1:12; 1Peter 1:25), and exhorts them to consequent unity and brotherly love. The presence of persecution both increases the temptation to fall away and also heightens the heinousness of such desertion, therefore every warning and every encouragement is pointed by the mention of sufferings and of the reward that is coming when Christ returns. The analysis of the Letter, which is somewhat hard to make, may be seen in the marginal notes.

In the preparation, of the Notes, the writer has not only had the usual printed commentaries and books of reference, but every now and then has had the advantage of manuscript notes of lectures (such as will scarcely be heard in Cambridge again) by Bishop Lightfoot.

(1) Peter, an apostle.—The authoritative tone of this Epistle is shown at the outset. The writer assumes his full titles; not (as in the Second Epistle) his merely human name of Simeon, nor his humble capacity of “servant,” but the Rock-name which Christ had given him, and the official dignity of an “Apostle of Jesus Christ”—i.e., one charged with full legatine authority from Christ (John 17:18; John 20:21)—a vicar of Christ to the Church, and not only a representative of the Church to Godwards. Observe also that while St. Paul constantly adds “by the will of God,” or some similar phrase, by way of justifying his assumption of the title, St. Peter has no need to do more than mention it; his claim was never questioned. Again, though St. Silas and St. Mark are with him, they are not associated in the initial greeting, as they would probably have been by St. Paul (e.g., 1Thessalonians 1:1 and 2Thessalonians 1:1). “Apostle” though Silas was (see 1Thessalonians 2:6), and “faithful brother” to the recipients of the Letter (1Peter 5:12), his support would have added but little weight to the utterances of the Rock-Apostle. And yet, with all this quiet assumption of dignity, St. Peter knows no higher title to bestow on himself than that which he held in common with the other eleven—“an Apostle;” not “the Apostle,” nor “bishop of bishops,” nor (which means the same thing) “servant of servants.”

To the strangers scattered throughout . . .—Literally, to the elect, sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus. The persons for whom the Letter is destined are very clearly specified. In John 7:35 we have “the dispersion of the Greeks,” where it clearly means “those of the dispersed Jews who live among the Greeks,” so here “the dispersion of Pontus,” or “the Pontine dispersion,” will mean “those of, the dispersed Jews who live in Pontus.” In James 1:1 the same word is used, and, in fact, it seems to have been the recognised name for all Jews who did not live in Palestine. The word rendered by “sojourners” means people who are resident for a time among strangers: it might, for instance, describe English people who have taken houses in Paris without becoming naturalised; and, as it is here in so close a connection with geographical words, it seems forced to interpret it metaphorically (as in 1Peter 2:11). Palestine, not Heaven, is the home tacitly contrasted; Pontus, not earth, is the place of sojourn. This, then, is clear, that the Apostle of the Circumcision is writing to those of the Circumcision. The addition of the words “the blood of Jesus Christ” is the only thing which shows that they are Christian Jews.

Pontus, Galatia . . .—The provinces which between them make up the whole, or nearly so, of what we call Asia Minor, are named in no order that can be assigned a meaning, or that indicates the quarter whence the Letter was written. Possibly the circumstances which called for the writing of the Epistle may have been most striking in Pontus. Notice that at any rate the churches of Galatia and Asia owed their origin to St. Paul. Of the founding of the rest we know nothing; perhaps they were founded by St. Silas: but Jewish settlers from Cappadocia and Pontus had heard St. Peter’s first sermon on the Church’s birthday (Acts 2:9). A few years later and Pliny finds the whole upper shore of Asia Minor overrun and swallowed up by Christians.

(2) Elect.—A true chosen people. This word marks them off from the rest of the Jewish settlers in those parts. It is an evasion of the difficulty to say that they were elect only in the mass, as a body. The election was individual and personal. God selected these particular Hebrews out of the whole number, and made them Christians; but what He elected them to is abundantly shown in the next words. For all their election they are not certain of salvation, and their title of “elect” implies no more than the fact that God has put them into the visible Church. (See Notes on 1Thessalonians 1:4, and 2Peter 1:10.)

According to the foreknowledge of God.—The origin of this election, the aim, and the means employed are now touched upon, and connected with the three Divine Persons respectively. (1) The origin. Their election is not accidental, nor yet something done on the spur of the moment, an afterthought of God. but “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”—i.e., in execution of His fore-arranged scheme. The word implies not simply a perception of the future, but the forming of a decision. (Comp. the same word in 1Peter 1:20, and in Romans 8:29; Romans 11:2.) Though the thought is common also to St. Paul, St. Peter was familiar with it before St. Paul’s conversion. (See Acts 2:23.) (2) The means. The preconcerted scheme of God embraced not only the choice of these particular persons for a blessing, but the lines on which the choice was to work itself out—“in a course of sanctification by the Spirit.” The words and the thought are identical with those of 2Thessalonians 2:13, but probably so far differ in exact meaning that there “the Spirit” is the spirit sanctified, here it is the Spirit which sanctifies. (Comp. also 1Thessalonians 4:7.) We see that even the blessing of “obedience and sprinkling”—much more that of glory hereafter—is unattainable except in the path of sanctification. (3) The end. That to which God had elected them was not in the first instance the participation of the joys of the post-resurrection life, but the benefits of redemption on this side of the grave. While other “sojourners of the Pontine dispersion” were allowed to remain in the disobedience which characterised the Jews, and trusting to the efficacy of membership in the covenant people, these had, in accordance with God’s plan, been admitted to “obedience”—i.e., the reception of the gospel facts and precepts (see Note on 2Thessalonians 1:8), and to the—

Sprinkling of the blood.—This important phrase must be compared with Hebrews 9:19; Hebrews 12:24, which passages were, perhaps, suggested by it, unless, indeed, the idea had become the common property of the Church already. There is nothing in St. Paul’s writings to compare with it. As the people themselves are “sprinkled,” and not their houses, the reference cannot be to the Paschal sprinkling (Exodus 12:22), but, as in Hebrews, to the scene under Mount Sinai in Exodus 24:8, where, once for all, the old covenant was inaugurated by the sprinkling of the people. It was to that same scene that our Lord referred when He said of the Eucharistic cup, “This is My blood of the new covenant.” Thus, “elect unto the sprinkling of the blood,” seems to mean “selected for admission into the new covenant inaugurated by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood.” But whereas the old covenant was inaugurated by sprinkling the people collectively and once for all, the new is inaugurated anew and anew by individual application; so that the Eucharistic cup was not (according to the Quaker theory) to be drunk once for all by the Apostles then present as the representatives of the whole subsequent Church. Neither does this inauguration by sprinkling come but once for all in the individual’s lifetime, but as often as the covenant is broken by his sin he comes to renew it again. Doubtless the participation of the Holy Communion is the act of “sprinkling” here before St. Peter’s mind, it being the one act which betokens membership in the new covenant-people, the new Israel. Of course the application of blood in both covenants rests on the notion of a death-forfeit being remitted.

Of Jesus Christ.—He does not say “of the new testament,” but substitutes the name of the Victim in whose blood the covenant is inaugurated—Jesus. And who is this Jesus? The Christ! The Messiah! As though Israel at Sinai had been sprinkled with the blood of Moses. What a contrast between the other Jews of Pontus, with their Messianic expectations, and these “elect sojourners” sprinkled with Messiah’s blood!

Be multiplied.—This occurs again only in 2Peter 1:2; Jude 1:2. (Comp. Daniel 4:1.) It contains an exhortation to progress. There are some good things of which we cannot have too much.

(3-12) PANEGYRIC OF THE GOSPEL FROM A HEBREW POINT OF VIEW.—The Apostle thanks God for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That fact is a regeneration of us, and a pledge of future glory, in view of which such afflictions as beset the Asiatic Hebrews were seen to serve a purpose, and that purpose the very “salvation” which had formed the theme of the Old Testament.

(3) Blessed.—A form consecrated to God alone (e.g., Mark 14:61; Romans 9:5; 2Corinthians 11:31), a completely different word from the “blessed,” or happy, of the Beatitudes; and differing from the “blessed” of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:28; Luke 1:42) in that this form implies that blessing is always due on account of something inherent in the person, while that only implies that a blessing has been received. The idea of blessing God (literally, speaking Him well, Psalm 100:3) is, of course, wholly Hebrew.

Of our Lord Jesus Christ.—No longer only “the Lord God of Israel,” as, e.g., 1Chronicles 29:10; 2Chronicles 6:4; Luke 1:68; He is now in a nearer, tenderer relation to these members of the new covenant. He is the Father of the Messiah, and yet the God whom Jesus adores (John 20:17).

Which according to his abundant mercy.—This is the reason for which God deserves blessing from us. The word “according” never means exactly the same as “in” or “by”; here it rather shows that the particular instance was in keeping with what might have been expected, had we but known, from the “much pity” which God must have felt for creatures so forlorn. Our regeneration was no sudden capricious favour.

Hath begotten us again.—Rather, begat us again—the historical moment being here given as that of the resurrection of Christ. This great word, which is St. Peter’s own, being only found again in 1Peter 1:20, evidently contains the whole meaning of the being “born from above” or “begotten all over again” of John 3:3, of the “fresh creation” of 2Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, of the “regeneration” of Titus 3:5, of the “begotten of God” in St. John’s Epistle, and (to a certain extent) of the “brought He us forth” of James 1:18. It seems to indicate that, if it takes effect, it makes a complete change not only in the condition and prospects of the man, but in the man himself: such a change, for example, as would pass over an animal if it were suddenly to receive the powers of a human being. It is no metaphor when the change from the natural man to a man united with the Incarnate God is described as an act of creation parallel only to those of the creation of matter and force (Genesis 1:1-2), the creation of life (Genesis 1:21), and the creation of humanity (Genesis 1:27), for, according to St. Peter’s teaching, we are thus actually made “partakers of the divine nature” (2Peter 1:4).

Unto a lively hope.—Or, into a living hope. Before this regeneration there was nothing to look forward to—at best a kind of dead-alive surmise that there might be something beyond the weary world. But as the animal we have imagined would find himself suddenly new-begotten into a state in which he was conscious of himself and of God, so we found ourselves new-begotten into a state of definite and most energetic expectation of whole sæcula sæculorum—worlds beyond worlds—of bliss before us.

By the resurrection of Jesus Christ.—Mystically speaking, the moment of our emergence into this new glow of expectation was that when the Messiah Jesus, who had been cut off, emerged from among the dead. Then we saw it all! St. Peter, indeed, is speaking, so far as himself was concerned, not mystically, but literally, as his history before and after the Resurrection shows. To him, and to the other Apostles, the Resurrection was a regeneration, and they became new beings. To subsequent Christians precisely the same effect takes place when (suddenly or gradually) the fact of the Resurrection is acknowledged and its significance realised. (See what St. Paul says, Philippians 3:10.) Yet we must not confine the meaning of the words to the effects of this conscious realisation. St. Peter is viewing the transaction theologically, i.e., from God’s point of view, not phenomenally, from man’s. He speaks of the begetting, not of the being born—of the Resurrection itself, not of the preaching of the Resurrection. To God, with whom, according to St. Peter, time does not exist (2Peter 3:8), there is no interval between His begetting of Christ again from the dead (Acts 13:33; Revelation 1:5), and His begetting of us again thereby. In the mystery of our union with the Incarnate Word, His historical resurrection did, through baptism, in some ineffable manner, infuse into us the grace which makes new creatures of us. Archbishop Leighton says well, “Not only is it (the Resurrection) the exemplar, but the efficient cause of our new birth.” (See below, 1Peter 3:21, and Romans 6:4.)

(4) To an inheritance.—This is structurally parallel to and explanatory of, the clause “into a living hope” We are, as the saying is, born to an estate. This notion of an “inheritance,” or property, that we have come in for, is particularly Hebrew, occurring very frequently in the Old Testament. The Pontine dispersion had lost their “inheritance” in Palestine, but there is a better in store for them.

Incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.—Exuberant description of the excellencies of the new Canaan. The first epithet contrasts its imperishable nature (see Romans 1:23; 2Timothy 1:10) with the fleeting tenure of the earthly Canaan. The second speaks of its freedom from pollutions such as desecrated the first “Holy Land.” Perhaps it may specially mean that the new Holy Land will never be profaned by Gentile incursions and tyrannies. The third, and most poetical of all (which is only found besides in Wisdom Of Solomon 6:12), conveys the notion of the unchanging beauty of that land—no winter ill the inheritance to which the Resurrection brings us (Song of Solomon 2:11).

Reserved—The perfect tense, which hath been reserved unto you, i.e., either in the temporal sense—“kept all this while until you came,” or “with a view to you.” (Comp. Hebrews 11:40.) He now adds explicitly that it is no earthly, but a heavenly possession.

(5) Who are kept.—This explains the word “you:” “those, I mean, who are under the guardianship of God’s power.” Bengel says, “As the inheritance hath been preserved, so are the heirs guarded; neither shall it fail them, nor they it.”

Through faith.—The Apostle is fearful lest the last words should give a false assurance. God can guard none of us, in spite of His “power,” unless there be a corresponding exertion upon our part—which is here called “faith”—combining the notions of staunch fidelity and of trustfulness in spite of appearances. It is through such trustful fidelity that we are guarded.

Unto salvation.—These words “unto” arise like point beyond point in the endless vista. “Begotten unto an inheritance, which hath bee reserved unto you, who are kept safe unto a deliverance.” This Salvation, spoken of again in 1Peter 1:9, must not be taken in the bald sense of salvation from damnation. Indeed, the thought of the perdition of the lost does not enter at all into the passage. The salvation, or deliverance, is primarily a deliverance from all the trials and persecutions, struggles and temptations of this life—an emergence into the state of peace and rest, as we can see from the verses that follow.

Ready to be revealed in the last time.—How such an assurance helps to form the very “faith” through which the treasure is secured! That perfect state of peace, that heavenly inheritance, is not something to be prepared hereafter, but there it is. If only our eyes were opened, we should already see it. It is all ready, only waiting for the great moment. The tense of the word “revealed” implies the suddenness of the unveiling. It will be but the work of an instant to put aside the curtain and show the inheritance which has been kept hidden so long behind it. This, however, will not take place till the exact period (so the word for “time” suggests; comp. 2Thessalonians 2:6), and that period will be the last of the world’s history. For such teaching the Hebrews would be well prepared by the Old Testament—for instance, comp. Daniel 12:9; Daniel 12:13—and it was the earliest kind teaching culled for converts out of the “oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12; Hebrews 6:2).

(6) Wherein ye greatly rejoice.—“His scope,” says Leighton, “is to stir up and strengthen spiritual joy in his afflicted brethren; and therefore having set the matter of it before them in the preceding verses, he now applies it, and expressly opposes it to their distresses.” There is a little doubt as to the antecedent of the word “wherein.” At first sight it would seem to be “in the last time,” and the thought would then be that this “last time,” with all its predicted afflictions, was already begun, and that the Pontine Hebrews were fulfilling the injunction of our Lord in Luke 21:28, and “rejoicing” (the word is one of enthusiastic and demonstrative joy) in the near approach of their redemption. This makes good sense, but it is better to see the antecedent in “the whole complex sense of the preceding verses, concerning the hope of glory. In this thing ye rejoice, that ye are begotten again; that there is such an inheritance, and that you are made heirs of it; that it is kept for you, and you for it; that nothing can come betwixt you and it, and disappoint you of possessing and enjoying it, though there be many deserts and mountains and seas in the way, yet you are ascertained that you shall come safe thither.” (Leighton.)

Though now for a season.—Literally, after having been grieved in the present (if it must be so) for a little while in the midst of manifold temptations. The Apostle takes his stand at the moment of the revelation and looks back upon the fast-passing present and its griefs. What the temptations were we cannot tell; but the word “manifold” shows that it was not only one type of temptation under which all lay alike. The chief was probably the unkind attitude of Gentile neighbours (1Peter 2:12; 1Peter 2:15; 1Peter 3:14-17; 1Peter 4:4; 1Peter 4:12-19), which was the most searching “test of faith.” Identical words (in the Greek) occur in James 1:2-3, so as almost to suggest a common origin—possibly to be found in Romans 5:3.

If need be.—Or, if it must be so. To encourage them to bear up St. Peter throws in this phrase, so as not to take it for granted that they will have to suffer; he hopes it may not be so. (Comp. 1Peter 3:17.)

(7) That the trial of your faith.—This depends grammatically on “having been grieved.” The purpose of God’s providence in sending the griefs is “that the trial of your faith might be found unto praise.” The word “trial” here does not mean exactly the same as in the passage of St. James; in that passage it signifies the active testing of faith, here it has rather the meaning of the cognate word translated “assurance” in Romans 5:4, “proof” in 2Corinthians 2:9, Philippians 2:22, i.e., the attested worth, the genuine character. This seems necessitated by the comparison of the trial with the gold itself, as we shall see. You cannot compare an act or process with gold, but you can compare “the genuine character” brought out by the process properly enough. Besides, that which you wish to “praise” at Christ’s coming is not the process by which the faith was proved, but the worth of the faith itself. “Faith” seems to mean the same as in 1Peter 1:5.

Being much more precious than of gold.—There is no reason, or indeed any grammatical right, to insert the “of.” It should be, more exceedingly valuable than gold. He does not say “your faith is more valuable than gold,” but “your faith’s genuineness is more valuable than gold.” It is worth anything to establish the true character of your faith; it would be a most serious loss to leave a chance of an imputation upon your Christianity.

That perisheth, though it be tried with fire.—Rather, which is a thing that perisheth, and yet is tried through fire. The argument is this. Gold is a perishable thing, and comes to an end with the rest of the world, or is worn away with handling and is lost; and yet men take great pains to test it and show that it contains no dross, and do so by means of fire. How much more may we expect a fiery trial (1Peter 4:12) to test the character of our belief in the unseen Christ, when that belief is never to come to an end (1Corinthians 13:13), and on its freedom from alloy everything depends!

Might be found.—That is, might clearly prove to be. The time will come when the gold will be inspected, and the Judge, and all the spectators, will “find” that the testing was sufficient and the character satisfactory. “Found unto praise,” or, found for a praise, is a Hebraism, meaning “found to be a matter of praise.” St. Peter is fond of heaping up words of like signification. (See 1Peter 1:4, and 1Peter 5:10.) “Praise” is the language that will be used about these men’s faith; “honour,” the rank in which they will be placed; “glory,” the fervent admiration accorded to them: the three words correspond to the regions of word, act, and feeling.

At the appearing of Jesus Christ.—Revelation would have been better, as the word in the Greek is the same as in 1Peter 1:5. This gives the date at which the trial will have done its work: it is the same as the “last time” when the “deliverance” will be revealed. Remember that all through the afflictions and assaults the men are “being guarded by the power of God.” There are several words and thoughts in this whole passage which would suggest that Daniel 12 was before the mind of the Apostle more or less consciously.