1 Peter 1 (WK) - Bible Truth Library

• We have the call to heaven in the first chapter; our holy and our royal priesthood in the second, with the duties that flow from the position; the walk of subjection and suffering in the third chapter; the Spirit of God and of glory resting on you in the fourth; and now in the fifth God feeding, sustaining, strengthening you, and never leaving you till He has placed you in glory with His Son. (“Exhortations” by W.T.P. Wolston)

• "The dispersion" is a phrase evidently familiar to the Jews, which first occurs in John 7:35, and clearly means the Jews dispersed among the Greeks or Gentiles. (“1 Peter 1:1” by W. Kelly)

• Out of the Jewish people, when the apostle wrote, God is choosing to a heavenly calling by the faith of Him Whom the nation rejected and God has glorified on high. They are His present election while the heavens receive the Lord Jesus. To these only does Peter here write (“1 Peter 1:1” by W. Kelly)

• It is the more remarkable, because, as we know, the churches throughout Asia Minor had been founded by the Apostle Paul and consisted largely of those who had been Gentiles. The delicate consideration of Peter is the more striking, because he directs his appeals throughout a part of that land to those Christian Jews who fell under his administration. Needless to say, his instruction in no way clashed with that which Paul had preached, taught, and written to them, whether Jews or Gentiles. (“1 Peter 1:1” by W. Kelly)

• were elect pilgrims. The world of man's home was not theirs, nor yet was Canaan, but heaven, yea the Father's house above. (“1 Peter 1:1” by W. Kelly)

• It presents Christians, and in particular Christians among the Jews, as pilgrims and strangers on earth. The conduct suited to such is more largely developed than the doctrine. The Lord Jesus, who was Himself a pilgrim and a stranger here, is presented as a pattern in more than one aspect. (“1 Peter 1” by J.N. Darby)

• The first {epistle} gives the government of God in favor of believers, the second in the judgment of the wicked. (“1 Peter 1” by J.N. Darby)

• It was Paul who traversed these lands and evangelized the Jews while carrying the Gospel to the Gentiles; so Peter exercised his ministry towards them by pen and ink. (“1 Peter: Introduction” by F.B. Hole)

• It is a definitely pastoral epistle. Peter manifests throughout it his shepherd care for the spiritual well-being of those to whom he wrote. (“1 Peter: Introduction” by F.B. Hole)

• He quotes plentifully from the Old Testament; but beyond this, almost every sentence contains an allusion to the ancient Scriptures, and it is the catching of these allusions that so greatly helps in the understanding of the Epistle. (“1 Peter: Introduction” by F.B. Hole)

• “sojourners of the dispersion,” to people who were a standing witness to the fact that the Jew had forfeited his ancient privileges (“1 Peter 1” by F.B. Hole)

• As mentioned, Peter labours to establish Jewish believers in the new way of life in Christianity and in the exercises that are proper to a believer walking by faith in that path. For this reason, his ministry has an application to Gentile believers too—for all Christians, not just Jewish converts, need practical exhortation in regard to Christian living. Thus, Peter’s ministry is mostly pastoral, touching heavily on the practical side of Christianity. WTPW (“Introduction” by B. Anstey)

J. N. Darby Translation

Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojournerse of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

JND Translation Notes

As ch. 2.11; Heb. 11.13.

W. Kelly Translation

Peter, apostlea of Jesus Christ to electb sojourners scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithyniac,

WK Translation Notes

Our language is not so lacking in power to characterize that it should be necessary to introduce "a" or "the" where Greek does not. Thus Peter, "apostle of Jesus Christ" is really more expressive and correct than "an" apostle.

"To the elect who are sojourners" is surely to go beyond the text which speaks only of "elect sojourners" dispersed in Pontus, etc.

The RV, may be given in a form that suits English readers; but the strict force is, "Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ, to pilgrims (or sojourners) of dispersion, of (or in) Pontus, . . . elect according to foreknowledge of God [the] Father, by sanctification of [the] Spirit, unto obedience and blood-sprinkling of Jesus Christ." The absence of the article is intended, though no doubt our tongue does not admit of the omission so uniformly as the Greek. These are the Israel of God, Gentiles are not addressed in the greeting only the Christian remnant of Jews in the designated quarter of Asia Minor.