1 Peter 1

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The Greek eklektois parepidēmois diasporас combines three theologically charged terms: 'chosen' (eklektois), 'exiles/sojourners' (parepidēmois), and 'dispersion' (diasporas). The KJV's 'strangers scattered' flattens the covenantal weight. 'Dispersion' (diaspora) was a technical term for Jews living outside the land of Israel; Peter applies it to Gentile Christians, redefining covenant belonging.
2. The five provinces listed cover most of Roman Asia Minor (modern Turkey), suggesting a circular letter carried through these regions in order.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The verse has a Trinitarian structure: the Father's foreknowledge, the Spirit's sanctification, and Christ's blood. This is not a later theological imposition — the Greek naturally groups the three divine agents.
2. The Greek rhantismon ('sprinkling') directly echoes the Septuagint of Exodus 24:8, where Moses sprinkled blood on the people at Sinai to ratify the covenant. Peter's audience would recognize this as covenant-ratification language.
3. The optative plēthyntheiē ('may it be multiplied') is a prayer-wish, not a statement — grace and peace are not merely declared but invoked.
4. [TCR Cross-Reference] Draws on Exodus 24:8. Consult the TCR rendering of that passage for the underlying Hebrew and the rationale for key translation choices.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The Greek anagennēsas ('having begotten again, having given new birth') is a distinctively Petrine word — it appears only here and in verse 23 in the entire New Testament. The KJV's 'begotten us again' is literal but unclear in modern English; 'given us new birth' captures the regeneration concept.
2. The phrase elpida zōsan ('living hope') is striking — hope itself is described as alive, animated by the resurrection. This is not wishful thinking but a hope that has the quality of life because it is grounded in a resurrection that actually happened.

Translator Notes

1. Peter uses three alpha-privative adjectives in succession — aphtharton ('imperishable'), amianton ('undefiled'), amaranton ('unfading') — creating a rhetorical triplet that emphasizes what this inheritance is not: it will not decay, it will not be polluted, it will not wither. The alliteration in Greek (all three begin with alpha-privative) is partly preserved by using 'im-/un-/un-' prefixes in English.
2. The concept of 'inheritance' (klēronomia) for these predominantly Gentile believers draws on Israel's land-inheritance language — what Israel had in the promised land, these believers have in heaven.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek phrouroumenous ('being guarded') is a military term — a garrison protecting a city. God's power stands guard over believers like a military garrison. The present participle indicates ongoing, continuous protection.
2. The phrase en kairō eschatō ('in the last time') reflects early Christian expectation of an imminent consummation. The salvation is described as 'ready' (hetoimēn) — prepared and waiting to be unveiled.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek poikilois peirasmois ('various trials') uses poikilos ('many-colored, diverse, varied') — the trials come in many forms. The word peirasmos can mean both 'trial' and 'temptation'; here the context of suffering favors 'trials.' The KJV's 'temptations' may mislead modern readers into thinking of moral temptation rather than external persecution and hardship.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek dokimion ('tested quality, proven character') refers not to the trial itself but to the result of testing — the proven genuineness that emerges. Gold is tested by fire to prove its purity; faith is tested by suffering to prove its genuineness. The irony is that gold, which survives fire, still perishes — but proven faith endures forever.
2. The triad 'praise and glory and honor' (epainon kai doxan kai timēn) may refer to praise directed toward the believers at Christ's return, or to the glory that accrues to God through their faithfulness. The Greek is ambiguous and we preserve that ambiguity.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek aneklalētō ('inexpressible, unspeakable') appears only here in the New Testament. It describes a joy that exceeds the capacity of language. The participle dedoxasmenē ('glorified, full of glory') suggests this joy already participates in the coming glory — it is not merely earthly happiness but a foretaste of eschatological glory.
2. Peter draws a contrast between sight and faith that resonates with John 20:29 ('blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe'). These believers never met Jesus in the flesh, yet their love and joy are real.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek telos here means 'outcome, result, goal' rather than 'end/termination.' The KJV's 'end' is ambiguous in modern English. The 'salvation of souls' (sōtērian psychōn) uses psychē in its full biblical sense — not the disembodied 'soul' of Greek philosophy but the whole person, the living self. Peter is speaking of the complete deliverance of the whole person.

Translator Notes

1. The compound verbs exezētēsan ('searched out') and exēraunēsan ('investigated thoroughly') convey intense, diligent inquiry — the prophets were not casual observers but passionate seekers trying to understand their own oracles. The prefix ex- intensifies both verbs.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase to pneuma Christou ('the Spirit of Christ') identifies the spirit that inspired the Old Testament prophets as Christ's own Spirit — a remarkable christological claim. The prophets spoke of 'sufferings' (pathēmata, plural) and 'glories' (doxas, plural) — not a single event but a pattern of suffering followed by glorification.
2. The Greek promarturomenon ('testifying beforehand') is a compound found only here in the New Testament, emphasizing that the prophetic witness pointed forward to events the prophets themselves could not fully comprehend.

Translator Notes

1. The final clause — eis ha epithymousin angeloi parakypsai ('into which angels long to look') — is vivid. The verb parakypsai means 'to bend over and peer into,' suggesting angels straining to see and understand the mystery of salvation. If even angels are fascinated by what God has done for believers, how much more should the recipients value it.
2. The prophets' ministry is reframed as service to a future generation — they spoke not for their own benefit but for these Gentile believers in Asia Minor, centuries later.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek anazōsamenoi tas osphyas tēs dianoias hymōn is literally 'having girded up the loins of your mind' — a metaphor drawn from tucking robes into a belt for vigorous activity. The KJV preserves the metaphor literally; we render the meaning ('prepare your minds for action') since 'girding loins' is not a living metaphor in modern English.
2. The adverb teleiōs ('fully, completely, to the end') modifies the imperative 'hope' — this is not tentative hope but wholehearted, unreserved expectation.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek tekna hypakoēs ('children of obedience') is a Semitic idiom meaning 'people characterized by obedience' — not biological children but those whose defining trait is obedience. The verb syschēmatizomenoi ('being conformed, being shaped') implies an external molding pressure; Paul uses the same word in Romans 12:2.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek anastrophē means 'conduct, way of life, behavior' — not 'conversation' in the modern sense (the KJV's 'conversation' meant 'manner of living' in 17th-century English). The command to holiness is grounded in God's own character: 'as he is holy, you must be holy' — a direct echo of Leviticus 11:44-45 that Peter will quote in the next verse.
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] This verse quotes Leviticus 11:44-45 — see the TCR rendering of that passage for the Hebrew source text and translation decisions.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Peter quotes Leviticus 11:44-45 (also 19:2 and 20:7). The command was originally given to Israel at Sinai as part of the covenant obligations; Peter applies it directly to Gentile believers, further confirming their inclusion in the covenant people. The Greek hagios ('holy, set apart') corresponds to the Hebrew qadosh.
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] Quotes Leviticus 19:2. The TCR rendering of that OT passage preserves the Hebrew source text and documents the translation decisions behind it.
3. [TCR Cross-Reference] Quotes Leviticus 11:44-45. The TCR rendering of that OT passage preserves the Hebrew source text and documents the translation decisions behind it.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek aprosōpolēmptōs ('without respect of persons, impartially') is a compound word found only here in the New Testament. It means God shows no favoritism based on external status — a theme running through the New Testament (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, James 2:1).
2. The word paroikias ('sojourning, exile, temporary residence') reinforces the 'exile' language of verse 1. Believers are temporary residents in this world, and their conduct during this time of exile matters because the Father judges impartially.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The Greek elytrōthēte ('you were ransomed, redeemed') uses the language of slave-redemption and the Old Testament go'el (kinsman-redeemer). The price of ransom is stated negatively first — not silver or gold — before the positive is revealed in verse 19.
2. The phrase mataias anastophēs patroparadotou ('futile way of life inherited from ancestors') likely refers to the Gentile pagan practices these converts left behind. The word patroparadotou ('handed down from fathers') appears only here in the New Testament.

Translator Notes

1. The sacrificial imagery draws on both the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:5, which required a lamb 'without blemish') and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:7 ('like a lamb led to slaughter'). The adjectives amōmou ('without defect') and aspilou ('without spot') echo the Levitical requirements for sacrificial animals — the offering had to be physically perfect.
2. Peter places 'precious blood' (timiō haimati) in emphatic contrast with the 'perishable things' of verse 18. The ransom price is not material wealth but something infinitely more valuable.
3. [TCR Cross-Reference] Echoes Exodus 12:5. See the TCR's OT rendering for the Hebrew behind this passage and the translation rationale.
4. [TCR Cross-Reference] Echoes Isaiah 53:7. See the TCR's OT rendering for the Hebrew behind this passage and the translation rationale.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek proegnōsmenou ('foreknown') is stronger than mere awareness — it implies divine foreordination and purposeful choice. The contrast between 'before the foundation of the world' (pro katabolēs kosmou) and 'in these last times' (ep' eschatou tōn chronōn) spans the entire arc of history: Christ's redemptive work was planned before creation and executed at the end of the ages.
2. The phrase di' hymas ('for your sake, on account of you') is remarkable — the cosmic plan was revealed specifically for these particular believers in Asia Minor.

Translator Notes

1. The verse ties faith and hope together as directed toward God — not as abstract virtues but as relational trust in the God who demonstrated his power and faithfulness by raising Christ and glorifying him. The resurrection is the ground of both faith and hope.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek philadelphian anypokriton ('sincere brotherly love') combines the family metaphor (philadelphia, 'love of brothers/siblings') with the negation of hypocrisy (anypokriton, 'without a mask' — from the theatrical term for an actor's mask). The love commanded here must be genuine, not performed.
2. The adverb ektenōs ('earnestly, fervently, intensely') describes a love that is stretched out, strained to its limit — not casual affection but deliberate, costly commitment to fellow believers.

Translator Notes

1. The Greek anagegennēmenoi repeats the regeneration language of verse 3 but shifts the metaphor from birth to seed (spora, 'seed'). The new birth is not from a seed that decays (like biological reproduction) but from an imperishable seed — the word of God. The adjectives 'living' (zōntos) and 'enduring' (menontos) may modify either 'word' or 'God'; the Greek is ambiguous. Most interpreters take them with 'word,' which prepares for the Isaiah quotation in the next verses.

Translator Notes

1. Peter quotes Isaiah 40:6-8 from the Septuagint. The Hebrew original uses a different metaphor for transience — the 'breath of the LORD' that dries the grass — which the Septuagint omits. Peter follows the Septuagint text. The imagery contrasts human frailty and transience (flesh = grass) with the permanence of God's word (verse 25).
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] Echoes Isaiah 40:6-8. See the TCR's OT rendering for the Hebrew behind this passage and the translation rationale.

Translator Notes

1. Peter's interpretive move is decisive: the 'word of the Lord' that Isaiah said endures forever is identified with the gospel message proclaimed to these believers. The eternal, imperishable word of God (Isaiah 40:8) is now equated with the Christian gospel. The Greek rhēma ('word, utterance, message') and the participle euangelisthen ('proclaimed as good news') make the connection explicit.
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] This verse quotes Isaiah 40:6-8 — see the TCR rendering of that passage for the Hebrew source text and translation decisions.