1 Petrus 1:3

New Birth to Joy and Holiness

1:3 Blessed be ¹  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Petrus 3:7

3:7 Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners ²  and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers. ³ 

1 Petrus 3:15

3:15 But set Christ ⁴  apart ⁵  as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. ⁶ 

1 Petrus 5:12

Final Greetings

5:12 Through Silvanus, ⁷  whom I know to be a faithful brother, ⁸  I have written to you briefly, in order to encourage you and testify ⁹  that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. ¹⁰ 

[1:3]  ¹ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (euloghtos) and the author’s intention at this point in the epistle must both come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. Two factors of the author’s style come into play. At this point the author is describing the reality of believers’ salvation and will soon explain believers’ necessary response; this is in emulation of Pauline style which generally follows the same logical order (although the author here discusses the reality in a much more compressed fashion). On the other hand, when imitating the Pauline greeting, which is normally verbless, the author inserts the optative (see v. 2 above). When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the fact that the author in the immediate context has used the optative when imitating a Pauline stylized statement would argue for the optative here. The translation uses the term “blessed” in the sense “worthy of praise” as this is in keeping with the traditional translation of berakah psalms. Cf. also 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3.

[3:7]  ² tn Grk “living together according to knowledge, as to the weaker, female vessel.” The primary verbs of vs. 7 are participles (“living together…showing honor”) but they continue the sense of command from the previous paragraphs.

[3:7]  ³ tn Grk “so that your prayers may not be hindered.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek, this clause was translated as a separate sentence.

[3:15]  ⁴ tc Most later mss (P Ï) have θεόν (qeon, “God”) instead of Χριστόν (Criston; “Christ”) here. But Χριστόν is widely supported by excellent and early witnesses (Ì⁷² א A B C Ψ 33 1739 al latt sy co), and as a less common idiom better explains the rise of the other reading.

[3:15]  ⁵ tn Or “sanctify Christ as Lord.”

[3:15]  ⁶ tn Grk “the hope in you.”

[5:12]  ⁷ sn The phrase Through Silvanus means either that Silvanus was the secretary (amanuensis) who assisted Peter in writing or composing the letter (cf. Rom 16:22) or that he carried the letter to the churches. The latter sense is more likely since this is the meaning of the Greek wording when it is used elsewhere (cf. Acts 15:23; Ignatius, Letter to the Romans 10:1; Letter to the Philadelphians 11:2; Letter to the Smyrnaeans 12:1; Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians 14), though it is perhaps possible that both ideas could be incorporated by this expression. For a detailed argument regarding this issue, see E. R. Richards, “Silvanus Was Not Peter’s Secretary: Theological Bias in Interpreting διὰ Σιλουανοῦ…ἔγραψα,” JETS 43 (September 2000): 417-32.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “the faithful brother, as I think.”

[5:12]  ⁹ tn These are participles (“encouraging and testifying”) showing purpose. The pronoun object “you” is omitted in Greek but implied by the context.

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in which stand fast.” For emphasis, and due to constraints of contemporary English, this was made a separate sentence in the translation.