First Peter - Lorin

translation. In 2:18 he begins the sentence with a participle rather than a regular verb: ὑποτασσόμενοι. 16
And the next two segments of the household code section will be introduced the same way: wives in 3:1,
ὑποτασσόμεναι, and husbands in 3:7, συνοικοῦντες. These all build off the foundational admonition in 3:13,
Ὑποτάγητε πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κτίσει διὰ τὸν κύριον. Ancient Greek utilized participles in a far greater range of
functions than is possible with English participles. Consequently, the clearly embedded structure in the Greek
text is completely erased in translation.
Although the instructions given by Peter to Christian slaves does not differ with the basically similar instructions
given by Paul, the perspective is very different. Peter speaks to Christian slaves with non-Christian
owners, while Paul either addresses Christian slaves with Christian owners, or slaves with either kind of
owner. It is largely because of this perspective that Peter does not come back to address slave owners in
their treatment of slaves. That there were Christian slaves owners in the region addressed by First Peter is
unquestioned since Colossians, Ephesians, First Timothy, and Philemon were all written to believers living
in cities in the province of Asia that is included in First Peter. For unknown reasons, Peter felt no need to
address these individuals, Christian slave owners, in his letter, whereas Paul did. This is one of those bits of
unknown background derived from the ‘occasional’ nature of letters that would be interesting to understand,
where it possible to learn the situation better.
The most controversial genre issue here relates to the nature of verses 22 through 25. The very distinctive,
and repetitive use of the relative pronoun ὃς to introduce a series of short declarations about Jesus Christ
has prompted numerous evaluations. The grammar pattern signals the use of ‘preformed Christian tradition,’
perhaps either a hymn or confession of faith statement.
Several questions emerge: Is the text quoting from pre-existing materials? If so, what was the nature of
those materials? And how much of vv. 22-25 is quotation? Verse twenty only? Verses twenty through twentyfour?
Or all of it? The N-A 27th revised edition of the Greek text places all five verses in poetic format indicating
the editors’ view that all of it came from pre-existing material. But the UBS 4th revised Greek New Testament
editors only list verse twenty-two in poetic format concluding that only this material is pre-existing, while the
remainder is Peter’s composition. And Isaiah 53:9 is listed as the source of the quote in verse 22. 17 These
two Greek texts represent the opposite ends of the spectrum on this topic.
Is the text quoting from pre-existing materials? Most scholars will answer yes to this question, but the
agreement ends here. If so, what was the nature of those materials? Clearly the role of Isaiah 53:4-12 (LXX)
is significant here. 18 Many will consider that Peter merely summarized Isaiah with application to Christ. But
16 “The basic command is a participle rather than an imperative: ὑποτασσόμενοι (v 18), representing a further specific instance
of the ὐποτάγητε of v 13. Deference to ‘every human creature’ covers far more than a citizen’s deference to the emperor or the
provincial governor. It includes as well the deference of a domestic slave to his or her master, and of a wife to her husband. Peter
focuses on these household situations in order to deal with something his optimistic view of the state and of Roman justice did not
allow him to deal with in the preceding section: the possibility of suffering for doing good. While the state exists to punish wrongdoers
and reward those who do good, the same is not true of every household. Peter calls attention precisely to the cruel master (v 18) and
the unbelieving husband (3:1) in order to address cases where suffering could become a reality for some of his readers—and not
just those who were literally domestic servants or wives.” [J. Ramsey Michaels, vol. 49, Word Biblical Commentary: 1 Peter, Word
Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 135.]
17Isaiah 53:9, “They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there
was no deceit in his mouth.”
18LXX: Isaiah 53:4-12, 4 οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν
πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πληγῇ καὶ ἐν κακώσει. 5 αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν,
παιδεία εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπʼ αὐτόν, τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. 6 πάντες ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν, ἄνθρωπος τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ
ἐπλανήθη, καὶ κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν. 7 καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τὸ κεκακῶσθαι οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα, ὡς πρόβατον
ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. 8 ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ἡ
κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη, τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἤχθη εἰς
θάνατον. 9 καὶ δώσω τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀντὶ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν,
οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. 10 καὶ κύριος βούλεται καθαρίσαι αὐτὸν τῆς πληγῆς, ἐὰν δῶτε περὶ ἁμαρτίας, ἡ ψυχὴ
ὑμῶν ὄψεται σπέρμα μακρόβιον, καὶ βούλεται κύριος ἀφελεῖν 11 ἀπὸ τοῦ πόνου τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, δεῖξαι αὐτῷ φῶς καὶ πλάσαι
τῇ συνέσει, δικαιῶσαι δίκαιον εὖ δουλεύοντα πολλοῖς, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν αὐτὸς ἀνοίσει. 12 διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς κληρονομήσει
πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν μεριεῖ σκῦλα, ἀνθʼ ὧν παρεδόθη εἰς θάνατον ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνόμοις ἐλογίσθη, καὶ αὐτὸς
ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν παρεδόθη.
[Septuaginta : With Morphology, electronic ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1979), Is 53:3–12.]
Bible Study: Page 127