ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Peter 1.3-4

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV
  1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4. unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

  1. who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, (1 Peter 1:1-6, ASV)
WEB
  1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4. to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,

  1. who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, (1 Peter 1:1-6, WEB)
KJV
  1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, abundant: Gr. much 4. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, for you: or, for us

  1. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (1 Peter 1:1-6, KJV)
YLT
  1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the choice sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2. according to a foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied!

3. Blessed [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to the abundance of His kindness did beget us again to a living hope, through the rising again of Jesus Christ out of the dead, 4. to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in the heavens for you,

  1. who, in the power of God are being guarded, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, 6. in which ye are glad, a little now, if it be necessary, being made to sorrow in manifold trials, (1 Peter 1:1-6, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Peter, writing through Silvanus (5:12)
  • Audience: scattered believers across five Roman provinces of Asia Minor, described as sojourners and exiles and facing social hostility rather than state persecution
  • Location: written from "Babylon" (5:13), most likely a designation for Rome
  • Time period: c. AD 62 to 64, before the Neronian persecution

Theological reading

Begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

Peter opens with a berakah, a blessing formula in the Jewish pattern, and the content is a chain of resurrection consequences.

A living hope. The adjective is doing real work. Hope in ordinary Greek usage was a neutral term, expectation that might or might not be met, and Peter specifies that this one is alive because its ground is an event that happened. The resurrection is not the object of the hope here; it is the means by which the hope was generated.

Three negative adjectives for the inheritance, and each denies a specific way that earthly inheritances fail. Aphtharton, incorruptible, cannot decay. Amianton, undefiled, cannot be polluted. Amaranton, unfading, cannot lose its beauty over time. Land can be spoiled, a temple can be defiled, a flower fades. Peter names three failure modes and excludes them one by one.

Reserved in heaven for you. The perfect tense means it is already kept and continues kept. Note the direction of the safekeeping: the inheritance is guarded in heaven and, in verse 5, the heirs are guarded on earth. Both ends of the transaction are secured by someone other than the heir.

For readers who owned little and could lose it at any time, an inheritance defined by what cannot happen to it is a precisely targeted comfort.

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

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

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.