1 Petrus 1:2

1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling ¹  with Jesus Christ’s blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure! ² 

1 Petrus 1:22

1:22 You have purified ³  your souls by obeying the truth ⁴  in order to show sincere mutual love. ⁵  So ⁶  love one another earnestly from a pure heart. ⁷ 

1 Petrus 3:9

3:9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless ⁸  others ⁹  because you were called to inherit a blessing.

1 Petrus 4:6

4:6 Now it was for this very purpose ¹⁰  that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, ¹¹  so that though ¹²  they were judged in the flesh ¹³  by human standards ¹⁴  they may live spiritually ¹⁵  by God’s standards. ¹⁶ 

1 Petrus 5:12

Final Greetings

5:12 Through Silvanus, ¹⁷  whom I know to be a faithful brother, ¹⁸  I have written to you briefly, in order to encourage you and testify ¹⁹  that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. ²⁰ 

[1:2]  ¹ sn For obedience and for sprinkling indicates the purpose of their choice or election by God.

[1:2]  ² tn Grk “be multiplied to you.”

[1:22]  ³ tn Grk “having purified,” as the preparation for the love described in the second half of the verse.

[1:22]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “for sincere brotherly love.”

[1:22]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “not returning…but blessing,” continuing the sense of command from the preceding.

[3:9]  ⁹ tn The direct object “others” is omitted but implied in Greek, and must be supplied to suit English style.

[4:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “since for this purpose the gospel was preached even to the dead,” referring to the purpose described in the clause to follow in v. 6b.

[4:6]  ¹¹ sn In context the phrase those who are dead refers to those now dead who had accepted the gospel while they were still living and had suffered persecution for their faith. Though they “suffered judgment” in this earthly life (i.e., they died, in the midst of physical abuse from the ungodly), they will enjoy life from God in the spiritual, heavenly realm because of the gospel (v. 6b). It clearly does not assume a second chance for conversion offered to unbelievers who had died; why would Peter urge people to suffer in this life for the sake of the gospel if he believed that mercy would be extended to all the dead in the hereafter (cf. 2:7-8; 4:1-5, 12-19)?

[4:6]  ¹² tn Grk “so that they may be judged…but may live.” Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[4:6]  ¹³ tn Or “in their earthly lives,” since “flesh” here denotes the physical, earthly life. The phrase “in the flesh” is retained to preserve the links with 3:18 and 4:1 which use the same wording.

[4:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “according to men.”

[4:6]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “in spirit,” referring to the heavenly, eternal realm of existence (cf. 3:18).

[4:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “according to God.”

[5:12]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the faithful brother, as I think.”

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn These are participles (“encouraging and testifying”) showing purpose. The pronoun object “you” is omitted in Greek but implied by the context.

[5:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in which stand fast.” For emphasis, and due to constraints of contemporary English, this was made a separate sentence in the translation.