Passage

1 Peter 4.7

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

5. who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6. For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

7. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer:

above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins: 9. using hospitality one to another without murmuring: (1 Peter 4:5-9, ASV)

WEB

5. who will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6. For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.

7. But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.

And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:5-9, WEB)

KJV

5. Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. 6. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

7. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ^{shall: or, will} 9. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. (1 Peter 4:5-9, KJV)

YLT

5. who shall give an account to Him who is ready to judge living and dead, 6. for for this also to dead men was good news proclaimed, that they may be judged, indeed, according to men in the flesh, and may live according to God in the spirit.

7. And of all things the end hath come nigh; be sober-minded, then, and watch unto the prayers,

and, before all things, to one another having the earnest love, because the love shall cover a multitude of sins; 9. hospitable to one another, without murmuring; (1 Peter 4:5-9, YLT)

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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

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer.

The striking feature is what Peter infers from imminence.

The end is at hand. Engiken, perfect tense, has drawn near and remains near. This is the standard New Testament posture, and it is worth stating plainly that the apostles expected the consummation to be near rather than distant. Attempts to make the language mean something other than nearness are usually driven by the difficulty rather than by the Greek.

The inference is sobriety and prayer, not withdrawal or prediction. Sophronesate, be of sound mind, and nepsate, be sober, are the vocabulary of clear-headedness, and both are aimed at enabling prayer. Peter draws from imminence the conclusion that his readers should think clearly, which is close to the opposite of what eschatological excitement usually produces.

Verses 8 to 11 continue the inference and are equally domestic: fervent love among yourselves, hospitality without murmuring, and using whatever gift each has received in service. Peter's end-times ethics are made of ordinary obligations performed well.

The passage is therefore a useful corrective in both directions. Against those who treat imminence as embarrassing, Peter states it flatly. Against those who treat it as licence for date-setting or disengagement, he draws domestic and prayerful conclusions from it. See Eschatology.

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.

G5056 - telos, telos, Strong's G5056
G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Failed Second Coming Prophecy Objection Defeater

Lexicon:

G5056 - telos

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.