ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Peter 3.19

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

17. For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. 18. Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

19. in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,

  1. that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water: 21. which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; (1 Peter 3:17-21, ASV)
WEB

17. For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil. 18. Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

19. in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,

  1. who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21. This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 3:17-21, WEB)
KJV

17. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

  1. Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 3:17-21, KJV)
YLT

17. for [it is] better doing good, if the will of God will it, to suffer, than doing evil; 18. because also Christ once for sin did suffer, righteous for unrighteous, that he might lead us to God, having been put to death indeed, in the flesh, and having been made alive in the spirit,

19. in which also to the spirits in prison having gone he did preach,

  1. who sometime disbelieved, when once the long-suffering of God did wait, in days of Noah, an ark being preparing, in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water; 21. also to which an antitype doth now save us, baptism, (not a putting away of the filth of flesh, but the question of a good conscience in regard to God,) through the rising again of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 3:17-21, 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

"...in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison."

One of the most disputed verses in the New Testament. Any honest treatment reports the options rather than asserting one, and the page below does that. What the surrounding verses establish is the framework: Christ was put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit (verse 18), and the "spirits in prison" are then linked to those who were disobedient "in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark" (verse 20).

Three main readings.

  1. The preincarnate Christ preaching through Noah. The Spirit of Christ spoke through Noah to the people of his generation, who are now, at the time of writing, spirits in prison. Held by Augustine (Epistle 164) and standard in much Reformed exegesis, notably Calvin. Its strength is that it requires no descent and coheres with 1 Peter 1:11, where the Spirit of Christ speaks in the prophets. Its weakness is that "He went" (poreutheis) is hard to read as anything but movement, and the same participle in verse 22 plainly means going into heaven.
  2. A proclamation to the fallen angels of Genesis 6. The "sons of God" of Genesis 6:1-4 were widely understood in Second Temple Judaism, especially in 1 Enoch, as imprisoned spirits, and pneumata used absolutely of human dead is unusual. On this reading the kērussō is a herald's announcement of victory rather than an offer of salvation, which fits verse 22, "angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him." Argued at length by William Dalton (Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits, 1965) and widely followed in modern commentary.
  3. The descent to the dead. Christ between death and resurrection announcing His triumph, or preaching, to the departed. This is the reading behind the "he descended into hell" clause of the Apostles' Creed and is often paired with 1 Peter 4:6.

What is not in dispute. The passage asserts Christ's victory over hostile powers and it is the ground of the letter's encouragement to a suffering church: verse 22 puts Him at God's right hand with all authorities subjected. Any reading that yields a second chance after death has to be argued from elsewhere, and Hebrews 9:27 stands against 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.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

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.