1 Peter 1 King James Version (KJV)

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

² Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴ To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵ Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶ Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

⁷ That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

⁸ Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

⁹ Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

¹¹ Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

¹² Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

¹³ Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

¹⁴ As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

¹⁵ But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

¹⁶ Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

¹⁷ And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

¹⁸ Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

²⁰ Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

²¹ Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

²² Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

²³ Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

²⁴ For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

²⁵ But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Commentary

Peter wrote the letter known as 1 Peter to Christians who lived mainly in the northern provinces of Asia Minor bordering the Black Sea (1 Peter 1:1). This was a region where Paul had not been allowed to preach (Acts 16:7-8), but where Peter later carried on an extensive evangelistic work. Two co-workers at the time he wrote this letter were Mark and Silas, both of whom had earlier worked with Paul (1 Peter 5:12-13; cf. Acts 12:25; 13:5; 15:36-40). A brief survey of events from the time of their work with Paul to the time of Peter’s writing will provide a useful background for an understanding of 1 Peter.

Peter, Mark and Silas

Just before the start of Paul’s second missionary journey, Barnabas parted from Paul and went on a missionary trip to Cyprus, taking Mark with him (Acts 15:39). From early non-biblical records we learn that after Barnabas and Mark finished their work in Cyprus, Mark joined Peter. The two then worked together for many years preaching and teaching throughout the northern regions of Asia Minor, where they helped establish the churches addressed in this letter.

Further early records indicate that after this, Peter and Mark went to Rome for a period and taught the Christians there. When Peter left to go on further missionary travels, Mark stayed behind in Rome. The Christians in Rome asked Mark to write down the story of Jesus as they had heard it from Peter, with the result that Mark wrote the book that we know as Mark’s Gospel. About this time Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner for the first time. It seems that he was imprisoned for two years and then released (Acts 28:16,30; see background notes to 1 Timothy).

Later, Paul was imprisoned in Rome again and, believing he was about to be executed, asked Timothy and Mark to come and visit him (2 Tim 4:6,9,11). Whether they reached Rome before Paul’s execution is not clear, but Mark seems to have stayed on in Rome and was still there when Peter visited the city again. In keeping with a common practice among Christians at that time, Peter refers to Rome symbolically as Babylon; for Rome, like Babylon of Old Testament times, was the centre of society’s arrogant opposition to God and his people (1 Peter 5:13). The secretary who wrote Peter’s letter for him was his co-worker Silas (1 Peter 5:12).

Persecution of Christians

By this time Christians throughout the Empire were suffering increasingly severe persecution.

Previously the Roman authorities seem to have regarded Christianity as a movement within Judaism. This

meant that it was protected by law, for Judaism was a legal religion. But officials and common people alike were now becoming aware that there were vast differences between Judaism and Christianity.

When the Jews in Jerusalem killed the most prominent man in the church, James the brother of Jesus, everybody saw clearly that Christianity was not a movement within Judaism, but was plainly an illegal religion. (James was killed in Jerusalem about the same time as Paul was killed in Rome, the early

AD 60s.)

Opposition to Christians intensified rapidly. People in general considered them to be anti-social because of their refusal to join in social practices that they considered idolatrous and immoral. To make matters worse, the Emperor Nero, who had begun a sensible reign ten years previously, had by now become senselessly brutal and anti-Christian. He blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome (AD 64), with the result that fierce persecution broke out.

It was probably just before the outbreak of this greater persecution that Peter wrote this letter to the persecuted Christians of northern Asia Minor. He wanted to assure them of their living hope and glorious future (1 Peter 1:3-9), and to encourage them to bear their persecution with patience, even if it meant death (1 Peter 2:20-23; 3:14-15; 4:12-19).