Passage

1 Peter 5.3

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2. Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

3. neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. 5. Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:1-5, ASV)

WEB

Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed. 2. Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;

3. neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.

When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away. 5. Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:1-5, WEB)

KJV

The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; ^{which: or, as much as in you is}

3. Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. ^{being lords over: or, overruling}

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 5. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:1-5, KJV)

YLT

Elders who [are] among you, I exhort, who [am] a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of the Christ, and of the glory about to be revealed a partaker, 2. feed the flock of God that [is] among you, overseeing not constrainedly, but willingly, neither for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind,

3. neither as exercising lordship over the heritages, but patterns becoming of the flock,

and at the manifestation of the chief Shepherd, ye shall receive the unfading crown of glory. 5. In like manner, ye younger, be subject to elders, and all to one another subjecting yourselves; with humble-mindedness clothe yourselves, because God the proud doth resist, but to the humble He doth give grace; (1 Peter 5:1-5, 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

"...nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock."

"Lording it over." Katakyrieuontes, the same verb Jesus uses in Mark 10:42 and Matthew 20:25: the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, "but it is not this way among you." Peter, who was in the room for that conversation, applies it to Christian eldership.

"Those allotted to your charge." The Greek is tōn klērōn, the portions or lots. English clergy derives from klēros, which makes the verse quietly ironic: in Peter's sentence the klēros is the congregation, the portion entrusted to the elder, not the office-holder. The image is of an allotment received rather than a possession owned.

"Examples." Typoi, patterns or models. The alternative to coercive authority in this verse is not weaker authority but a different kind: the elder leads by being imitable. Paul says the same at 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Philippians 3:17, and the letter has already made Christ the hypogrammos, the writing-copy, at 1 Peter 2:21.

The three contrasts of verses 2-3. Not under compulsion but voluntarily; not for sordid gain but with eagerness; not lording it over but as examples. Each pair names a real temptation of church office, and the list is remarkably unsentimental about the profession it addresses.

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.

G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096

Quoted in

Concepts:

Pastor

Passages:

1 Peter 5.1

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.