1 Petrus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Peter, ¹  an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing ²  abroad ³  (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, ⁴  and Bithynia) who are chosen ⁵ 

1 Petrus 1:22

1:22 You have purified ⁶  your souls by obeying the truth ⁷  in order to show sincere mutual love. ⁸  So ⁹  love one another earnestly from a pure heart. ¹⁰ 

1 Petrus 2:14

2:14 or to governors as those he commissions ¹¹  to punish wrongdoers and praise ¹²  those who do good.

1 Petrus 5:2

5:2 Give a shepherd’s care to ¹³  God’s flock among you, exercising oversight ¹⁴  not merely as a duty ¹⁵  but willingly under God’s direction, ¹⁶  not for shameful profit but eagerly.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Peter.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² tn Or “to those living as resident aliens,” “to the exiles.” This term is used metaphorically of Christians who live in this world as foreigners, since their homeland is heaven.

[1:1]  ³ tn Grk “in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles. But here it is probably metaphorical, used of Gentile Christians spread out as God’s people in the midst of a godless world.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “to the chosen sojourners…” On this reading the phrases in v. 2 describe their entire existence as sojourners, etc., not just their election.

[1:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “having purified,” as the preparation for the love described in the second half of the verse.

[1:22]  ⁷ tc Most later mss (P Ï) have διὰ πνεύματος (dia pneumato", “through the spirit”) after ἀληθείας (ajlhqeia", “truth”), while the words are lacking in a broad spectrum of early and important witnesses (Ì⁷² א A B C Ψ 33 81 323 945 1241 1739 al vg sy co). On external grounds, the shorter reading cannot be easily explained if it were not original. The longer reading is clearly secondary, added to show more strongly God’s part in man’s obedience to the truth. But the addition ignores the force that the author gives to “purified” and ruins the balance between v. 22 and v. 23 (for in v. 23 the emphasis is on God’s part; here, on man’s part).

[1:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “for sincere brotherly love.”

[1:22]  ⁹ tn Verses 22-23 are a single sentence in the Greek text. To improve clarity (and because contemporary English tends to use shorter sentences) these verses have been divided into three sentences in the translation. In addition, “So” has been supplied at the beginning of the second English sentence (v. 22b) to indicate the relationship with the preceding statement.

[1:22]  ¹⁰ tc A few mss (A B 1852 pc) lack καθαρᾶς (kaqaras, “pure”) and read simply καρδίας (kardias, “from the heart”), but there is excellent ms support (Ì⁷² א* C P Ψ 33 1739 Ï co) for the word. The omission may have been accidental. In the uncial script (kaqaras kardias) an accidental omission could have happened via homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. καθαρᾶς should be considered original.

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “those sent by him.”

[2:14]  ¹² tn Grk “for the punishment…and the praise.”

[5:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “shepherd,” “tend,” “pastor.”

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tc A few important mss (א* B sa) lack ἐπισκοποῦντες (episkopounte", “exercising oversight”), but the participle enjoys otherwise good ms support (Ì⁷² א² A P Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat). A decision is difficult because normally the shorter reading is preferred, especially when found in excellent witnesses. However, in this instance the omission may be due to a hesitation among some scribes to associate oversight with elders, since the later church viewed overseer/bishop as a separate office from elder.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “not under compulsion/coercion.”

[5:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “according to God.”