Passage

1 Peter 1.8

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, 7. that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

8. whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10. Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1 Peter 1:6-10, ASV)

WEB

6. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, 7. that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

8. whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory,

receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10. Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, (1 Peter 1:6-10, WEB)

KJV

6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

8. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1 Peter 1:6-10, KJV)

YLT

6. in which ye are glad, a little now, if it be necessary, being made to sorrow in manifold trials, 7. that the proof of your faith, much more precious than of gold that is perishing, and through fire being approved, may be found to praise, and honour, and glory, in the revelation of Jesus Christ,

8. whom, not having seen, ye love, in whom, now not seeing and believing, ye are glad with joy unspeakable and glorified,

receiving the end of your faith, salvation of souls; 10. concerning which salvation seek out and search out did prophets who concerning the grace toward you did prophecy, (1 Peter 1:6-10, 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

"...and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory."

Who is writing this. Peter had seen Him. He writes to people who had not, and does not treat their faith as second-class or provisional. The verse is the apostolic counterpart to Jesus's word to Thomas, "blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed" (John 20:29), and together the two texts show the earliest church addressing the transition from eyewitness to testimony-based belief directly rather than obscuring it.

Faith is not credulity here. The structure of the passage matters: verses 10-12 immediately ground the readers' belief in the prophets who searched and in "those who preached the gospel to you", and 1 Peter 5:1 has Peter claiming eyewitness standing. Belief without sight in this letter means belief on testimony, which is how nearly all historical knowledge works. See Faith is Belief Without Evidence Objection Defeater.

"Joy inexpressible and full of glory." Chara aneklalētos kai dedoxasmenē. Aneklalētos occurs only here in the New Testament: a joy that cannot be talked out. Dedoxasmenē is a perfect participle, already glorified, which links the present joy to the glory the letter keeps promising at Christ's revelation (verse 7; 4:13).

Context. This is said to people currently "distressed by various trials" (verse 6). The joy is not offered instead of the distress but inside it.

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.

G0025 - agapao, agapao, Strong's G0025
G4100 - pisteuo, pisteuo, Strong's G4100
G1492 - oida, oida, Strong's G1492

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Passages:

1 John 1.1-3

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.