Bible Commentaries

Verse 2

That is, such is the tendency of tribulation,--to wean the heart from the world, and fix it more steadily upon God.

Verse 3

To have wrought the will of the Gentiles; to have conformed in conduct, and character to the example of a wicked world.

Verse 5

Who; that is, those that reproach you for not joining with them in their sinful pleasures.--The quick and the dead; the living and the dead.

Verse 6

To them that are dead; that is, probably, to those who had been slain in the persecutions which the Christian had endured.--That they might be judged, &c.; that, though condemned by men to bodily death, their souls might be saved. Those who suppose that the passage 1 Peter 3:19,20, teaches that Christ went into the invisible world during the interval between his death and his resurrection, and made the offer of salvation to the departed spirits there, regard this verse as referring to the same circumstance

Verse 7

Watch unto prayer; be earnest and constant in prayer.

Verse 8

Charity; kindness and brotherly love. The latter clause of the verse appears to be quoted from Proverbs 10:12 . The meaning is, as its connection there shows, that kind feelings towards others makes us lenient in respect to their faults and failings.

Verse 10

The gift; the gift of worldly prosperity, that is, the means of exercising the hospitality enjoined in the 1 Peter 4:9.--The manifold grace; the multiplied favors. The meaning is, that the favors and advantages which God bestows, are to be held in trust, as means of doing good to others.

Verse 11

As the oracles of God; let him act simply as the interpreter of the divine will.--Let him do it as of the ability, &c.; that is, let him feel entirely dependent on God for his ability.

Verse 12

Think it not strange, &c.; think it not extraordinary that God should subject you to such sufferings and trials.

Verse 14

On your part he is glorified, by your example, and the spirit and temper of mind which you exhibit.

Verse 17

Judegment must begin, &c. that is, in the terrible persecutions and sufferings which the Christians were about to endure.