First Peter - Lorin

shaped the prayer life of apostolic Christianity. The writing of the apostles in their letters also reflect this central
role of prayer with both the proem and the benedictio prayers. Peter was not an exception to this pattern; he
stressed prayer greatly in both letters. 30
A comparison of the various benedictions in the letters found in the New Testament will suggest these
prayers were short and to the point by invoking the grace of God upon the readers. Divine grace (ἡ χάρις τοῦ
κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ...) is the focus of every one of the benedictions in the Pauline letters, and also in Heb.
13:25. But Peter’s distinctive is to zero in on divine peace (εἰρήνη). Uniformly in all of them the channel through
which God’s grace and peace flows into the lives of believers is Christ; all of the prayers are Christocentric!
Literary Context. As illustrated in the chart on the above right, and also by the genre label conclusio,
the literary setting for this passage is at the very end of the letter. In ancient letter writing styles, the sender of
the letter would almost always provide some kind of formal closing to the letter. All of Paul’s letters follow this
standard, and among the general letters only James contains no closing. But this is largely due to the homily
nature of this document that only contains a praescriptio in 1:1 and no other letter aspect. Thus James is not
a real letter, but a sermon with a formal introduction in 1:1 using the letter praescriptio.
Beyond a literary role for the conclusio, this unit additionally served to cement bonds of friendship between
the letter sender and the recipients. Thus it served an important role. 31
Literary Structure. The diagram below represents the idea structure of the underlying Greek text of
the passage.
5.12 Through Silvanus
my faithful brother,
as I consider
briefly
82 to you...I am writing,
to encourage
and
to give witness
that this is the true grace of God
/-------|
in which you are to stand.
83 5.13 You sister church in Babylon sends you greetings,
and
Mark, my son.
84 5.14 Greet one another
with a kiss of love.
85 Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
This text as a whole composes the letter Conclusio and as such contains three elements commonly
found in letter conclusia throughout the ancient world: a) sender verification(#82); b) greetings (#s 83-84; and
now offered prayers in ‘Easter joy’ (Alsup, 34) and in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
[Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, electronic ed. (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000).]
30 “The importance of prayer in 1 Peter and 2 Peter is indicated by the wide range of prayer material. It includes opening and
closing wish-prayers (1 Pet 1:2; 5:14; 2 Pet 1:2), brief doxologies (1 Pet 4:11; 5:11; 2 Pet 3:18), the longer praise form related to
the Jewish berakah style of liturgical prayer in which praise (1 Pet 1:3–4) merges into exhortation (1 Pet 1:5–12), and specific
exhortations to prayer, including invocation of (1 Pet 1:17), entrusting themselves to (1 Pet 4:19) and casting their anxieties upon
(1 Pet 5:7) God, who cares for them while they encounter various difficulties (1 Pet 4:17).” [Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids,
Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000).]
31 “The letter closing or postscript maintains contact between sender and recipient and enhances their friendship. This is
accomplished by using greetings (aspazomai), a health wish and/or words of farewell. In Christian letters a doxology or benediction
(see Liturgical Elements) can replace the last two.” [Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids, Dictionary of the Later New Testament
and Its Developments, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000).]
Bible Study: Page 314