1 Petrus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Peter, ¹  an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing ²  abroad ³  (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, ⁴  and Bithynia) who are chosen ⁵ 

1 Petrus 1:13

1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action ⁶  by being fully sober, and set your hope ⁷  completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ 

1 Petrus 1:22

1:22 You have purified ⁹  your souls by obeying the truth ¹⁰  in order to show sincere mutual love. ¹¹  So ¹²  love one another earnestly from a pure heart. ¹³ 

1 Petrus 1:24

1:24 For

all flesh ¹⁴  is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of the grass; ¹⁵ 

the grass withers and the flower falls off,

1 Petrus 3:9

3:9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless ¹⁶  others ¹⁷  because you were called to inherit a blessing.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Peter.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² tn Or “to those living as resident aliens,” “to the exiles.” This term is used metaphorically of Christians who live in this world as foreigners, since their homeland is heaven.

[1:1]  ³ tn Grk “in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles. But here it is probably metaphorical, used of Gentile Christians spread out as God’s people in the midst of a godless world.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “to the chosen sojourners…” On this reading the phrases in v. 2 describe their entire existence as sojourners, etc., not just their election.

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “binding up the loins of your mind,” a figure of speech drawn from the Middle Eastern practice of gathering up long robes around the waist to prepare for work or action.

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “having bound up…, being sober, set your hope…”

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Grk “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 7).

[1:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “having purified,” as the preparation for the love described in the second half of the verse.

[1:22]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Grk “for sincere brotherly love.”

[1:22]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[1:24]  ¹⁴ sn Here all flesh is a metaphor for humanity – human beings as both frail and temporary.

[1:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “a wildflower.”

[3:9]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “not returning…but blessing,” continuing the sense of command from the preceding.

[3:9]  ¹⁷ tn The direct object “others” is omitted but implied in Greek, and must be supplied to suit English style.