Passage

1 Peter 5.4

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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.

4. And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.

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. 6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; (1 Peter 5:2-6, ASV)

WEB

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.

4. When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.

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.” 6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; (1 Peter 5:2-6, WEB)

KJV

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}

4. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

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. 6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: (1 Peter 5:2-6, KJV)

YLT

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,

4. and at the manifestation of the chief Shepherd, ye shall receive the unfading crown of glory.

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; 6. be humbled, then, under the powerful hand of God, that you He may exalt in good time, (1 Peter 5:2-6, 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 when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory."

"Chief Shepherd." Archipoimēn, a word found nowhere else in the New Testament and rare in Greek generally, though it appears on an Egyptian mummy label and in a few papyri as a job title for the head of a flock-keeping operation. Peter has just told the elders to shepherd the flock of God (verse 2), and the title puts them in their place: they are under-shepherds of someone else's sheep, which is the same point made by klēros in verse 3.

The shepherd thread in the letter. 1 Peter 2:25 calls Christ the Shepherd and Guardian of souls, and the background is Ezekiel 34, where God removes Israel's failed shepherds and declares that He Himself will shepherd the flock. Peter's application of that role to Jesus is another instance of the letter transferring divine functions to Christ without argument.

"The unfading crown." Amarantinos, from the amaranth flower, proverbial for not withering; the same adjective appears at 1 Peter 1:4 of the inheritance. The crown is stephanos, the victor's wreath, which in the games was made of leaves that browned within days. The metaphor is exact: the same shape of honor, made of something that does not wilt.

"When He appears." Phanerōthentos, the manifestation. Elders are told to wait for their assessment from the Chief Shepherd rather than from the flock, which is both a comfort and a warning.

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.

G1391 - doxa, doxa, Strong's G1391

Quoted in

Concepts:

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.