1 Petrus 3:20

3:20 after they were disobedient long ago ¹  when God patiently waited ²  in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark ³  a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.

1 Petrus 4:17

4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house ⁴  of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate ⁵  of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?

[3:20]  ¹ tn This reflects a Greek participle, literally “having been disobedient formerly,” that refers to the “spirits” in v. 19. Many translations take this as adjectival describing the spirits (“who had once been disobedient”; cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV, TEV), but the grammatical construction strongly favors an adverbial interpretation describing the time of the preaching, as reflected above.

[3:20]  ² tn Grk “the patience of God waited.”

[3:20]  ³ tn Grk “in which,” referring to the ark; the referent (the ark) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “to begin from the house.”

[4:17]  ⁵ tn Or “the end.”