Passage

1 Peter 1.18-19

Book: 1 Peter · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"16. because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy. 17. And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear:"

"18. knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; 19. but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, even the blood of Christ:"

"20. who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of times for your sake, 21. who through him are believers in God, that raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God." (1 Peter 1:16-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"16. because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.” 17. If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear:"

"18. knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19. but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ;"

"20. who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, 21. who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God." (1 Peter 1:16-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"16. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:"

"18. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"

"20. Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21. Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." (1 Peter 1:16-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"16. because it hath been written, 'Become ye holy, because I am holy;' 17. and if on the Father ye do call, who without acceptance of persons is judging according to the work of each, in fear the time of your sojourn pass ye,"

"18. having known that, not with corruptible things, silver or gold, were ye redeemed from your foolish behaviour delivered by fathers, 19. but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and unspotted, Christ's --"

"20. foreknown, indeed, before the foundation of the world, and manifested in the last times because of you, 21. who through him do believe in God, who did raise out of the dead, and glory to him did give, so that your faith and hope may be in God." (1 Peter 1:16-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Peter (as author of 1 Peter)
Audience: "elect exiles" scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia (1 Pet 1:1), Christians, likely a mix of Jewish and Gentile background, under social pressure / nascent persecution
Location: "Babylon" (likely Rome; 1 Pet 5:13)
Time period: c. AD 62-64, before the Neronian persecution

Theological reading

1 Peter 1:18-19 names the price of redemption in deliberately contrasted terms. The verb elytrōthēte (you were redeemed, aorist passive of lytroō, the verbal cognate of lytron) carries the OT-Exodus / slave-manumission semantic load: deliverance from bondage by payment of a price. Peter contrasts the corruptible (phthartois) media of monetary ransom, silver and gold, with the precious blood (timiō haimati) of Christ. The contrast is value-categorical: no creaturely antallagma (whether the most precious metals or any other created good) could effect the redemption; only the blood of the unblemished and spotless Lamb, a sacrificial-Passover allusion (cf. Ex 12:5), provides the counter-weight. The structure parallels Mark 8:37 conceptually: no creaturely exchange-good is available, but where Mark presses the impossibility of the human-side trade, Peter declares the divine-side provision in Christ's blood. The verse is foundational for the Lamb of God Christology (cf. John 1:29; Rev 5:6-9) and for the Reformed-particularist account of definite atonement (the "you were redeemed" addressed to the elect-and-actually-saved community).

Key words

G3084 - lytroō (pending), elytrōthēte (you were redeemed), verbal cognate of lytron
G5092 - timios (pending), timios (precious), the value-weight of Christ's blood as counter-good
G0286 - amnos (pending), amnos (lamb), Passover-sacrificial allusion
G0129 - haima (pending), haima (blood)

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.