ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Peter 1.23-25

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

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. 22. Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently:

23. having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth. 24. For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth: 25. But the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you. (1 Peter 1:21-25, ASV)

WEB

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. 22. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:

23. having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. 24. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; 25. but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:21-25, WEB)

KJV

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. 22. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

23. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: For: or, For that 25. But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (1 Peter 1:21-25, KJV)

YLT

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. 22. Your souls having purified in the obedience of the truth through the Spirit to brotherly love unfeigned, out of a pure heart one another love ye earnestly,

23. being begotten again, not out of seed corruptible, but incorruptible, through a word of God, living and remaining, to the age; 24. because all flesh [is] as grass, and all glory of man as flower of grass; wither did the grass, and the flower of it fell away, 25. and the saying of the Lord doth remain, to the age; and this is the saying that was proclaimed good news to you. (1 Peter 1:21-25, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Peter the apostle, writing with the help of Silvanus (1 Pet 5:12).
  • Audience: Christians described as "those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (1 Pet 1:1), five Roman provinces in northern and central Asia Minor. The audience is largely Gentile (1 Pet 1:18, a futile way of life inherited from their forefathers; 4:3-4).
  • Location: Written from "Babylon" (1 Pet 5:13), which the great majority of interpreters read as a cipher for Rome, as in Revelation 17:5.
  • Time period: c. AD 62-64 on the traditional authorship, before or at the very beginning of the Neronian persecution. The hostility the letter addresses is social and local, slander, exclusion, and abuse, rather than empire-wide legal prosecution.

Theological reading

"...for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God."

The new birth and its seed. Anagegennēmenoi, born again, is used twice in this letter (1 Peter 1:3 and here) and nowhere else in the New Testament in this exact form; the concept is John 3:3's. The sporas aphthartou, imperishable seed, continues chapter 1's perishable-and-imperishable contrast: not gold (verse 18), not flesh, but the word.

The quotation. Verses 24-25 quote Isaiah 40:6-8 in the Septuagint: all flesh is like grass, the grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. The Isaiah passage is the opening of the comfort section addressed to exiles, which is exactly the situation Peter's readers are in, and the choice of quotation is unlikely to be accidental.

The word changes referent. Isaiah's rhēma kyriou is the prophetic word of promise; Peter adds "and this is the word which was preached to you", identifying the enduring word with the gospel his readers heard. This is one of the New Testament's clearest instances of an Old Testament statement about the word of the LORD being applied directly to the apostolic message.

Why it matters in the argument. Peter has just commanded fervent love from the heart (verse 22). The new birth grounds the command: people generated by an imperishable word are able to love in a way that outlasts circumstances. Grass-and-flower imagery in a letter to a persecuted minority also carries an implied comparison with the empire that was pressing them.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Concepts:

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.