THE ARGUMENT Of the penman of this Epistle there is no doubt; and of the time of his writing it, no certainty, whether about the year of our Lord 45, or rather 65. The occasion of it may (not improbably) be thought to be the same that was of James’s writing his, viz.

To the strangers; not only metaphorically strangers, as all believers are in the world, 1 Pet. 2:11; but properly, as being out of their own land, and so really strangers in the places here mentioned. Scattered; so James 1:1.

By elect he means, either: 1. Singled out of the world, and separated unto God in their effectual calling, as 1 Cor. 1:1; those that are said to be called, 1 Cor. 1:26, are said to be chosen, 1 Cor. 1:27–28; and so the word seems to be taken, James 2:5; or: 2.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; either the conjunction and is here but an explicative particle, and so we render it, 2 Cor. 1:3, God, even the Father, & c.; or if we take it for a copulative, as Eph.

To an inheritance; so eternal life is called, Eph. 1:18, and elsewhere, as being given not as wages to hirelings, but as an inheritance to children born of God, and adopted to him. Incorruptible; immortal, everlasting, which being once possessed, cannot be taken away, nor pass over to others.

Who are kept: lest it should be objected, that though the inheritance be safe in heaven, yet the heirs are in danger here upon earth, by reason of the power and stratagems of enemies, and their own imprudence and weakness; he adds, that not only their inheritance is reserved for them, but they…

Wherein; this refers to the whole foregoing sentence; Ye rejoice in your being kept by the power of God unto salvation. Ye greatly rejoice: the Greek word signifies something more than a bare rejoicing, and therefore is added to a word that signifies to rejoice, Matt.

That the trial of your faith; i.e. your faith when tried. He compares the faith of the saints with gold, and argues from the less to the greater: q.d. If men do so far esteem their gold, that they will make the excellency and preciousness of it appear by trying it in the fire, which purgeth away…

Whom; which Christ. Having not seen; with your bodily eyes. Most of these Jews lived out of their own country, and so had not seen Christ in the flesh; and this was the commendation of their love, that they loved him whom they had not seen, though sight doth ordinarily contribute toward the…

Receiving; either this word is to be taken improperly, and by an enallage, the future being put for the present tense; q.d. Being about to receive; or rather properly, in the present tense, and then it intimates the certainty of the thing spoken of. The end of your faith; i.e.

Of which salvation; either: 1. The more full and clear manifestation of salvation promised to be at the coming of Christ, when life and immortality should be brought to light through the gospel, 2 Tim. 1:10; and then this place is parallel to Luke 10:24; or: 2.

Searching what? Whether near or farther off, or what particular part of time. This may relate particularly to Daniel’s weeks, Dan. 9. What manner of time; whether peaceable or troublesome, when the people were free or when in bondage; what were the qualities of the time, or signs by which it might…

Unto whom; unto which prophets. It was revealed; viz. by the Spirit of Christ that was in them. That not unto themselves; who lived before Christ’s coming in the flesh. But unto us; not only apostles, but believers, who live since Christ came. They did minister; declare and foretell.

Wherefore; the following exhortation may be connected, either with 1 Pet. 1:4, Being so glorious an inheritance is reserved in heaven for you, gird up, & c.; or with 1 Pet.

As obedient children; Greek, children of obedience, by a usual Hebraism, for obedient children. So children of disobedience, Eph. 2:2, Col. 3:6. And this we may understand either absolutely, children of obedience for obedient persons; or with relation to God, obedient children of God; and then the…

But as he which hath called you; God the Father, to whom, as the First Cause, our calling is frequently ascribed, Rom. 9:11, Rom. 9:24, 1 Cor. 7:15, Gal. 1:6, Gal. 1:15. It may be rendered: According to the Holy One that hath called you, i.e.

I am your Father, and therefore you ought to imitate and obey me: or, I that have severed you from other people, that you should be mine, Lev. 20:26, to which place particularly this seems to refer.

And if; this particle is used here, and frequently elsewhere, not as a note of doubting, but by way of assertion, and supposition of a thing known. Ye call on the Father; either this is to be meant of invocation, their calling on God in prayer; and then the sense is: If you be servants and…

Forasmuch as ye know; considering that ye were, &c. That ye were not redeemed with corruptible things: see Titus 2:14. This implies them to have been in a servile condition, and in bondage to their own errors, till they were converted to Christ.

Precious; because the blood not only of an innocent person, but of the Son of God, Acts 20:28. As of a lamb; i.e. who was a Lamb. A lamb; the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, John 1:29; not only like a lamb, for his innocence and gentleness, Isa.

Who verily was fore-ordained; by God’s decree appointed to the work of redemption, and to be that Lamb that should take away the sins of the world, Eph. 1:9. Before the foundation of the world; from eternity; there being nothing before the world began but what was eternal, John 17:24.

Who by him do believe in God; both as revealing God to you, Matt. 11:27, John 1:14; and making way for you to God, who, out of Christ, is a consuming fire, so that there is no coming to him but by Christ, John 14:6, Eph. 2:18, Eph. 3:12, Heb. 7:25. Gave him glory; viz.

Your souls; i.e. yourselves; the whole person is implied, the soul being the principal part. In obeying the truth; in subjecting yourselves to the truth of the gospel, by faith, to which the purification of the heart is ascribed, Acts 15:9, not only as to justification, and purging away the guilt…

Being born again: this may refer either: 1. To the general exhortation to holiness, 1 Pet. 1:14–15, and then the argument runs thus: Ye are in your regeneration become the children of God, and therefore ought to walk holily as become his children. Or: 2.

All flesh; all men as born of the flesh, and in their natural state, in opposition to regenerate men, 1 Pet. 1:23. All the glory of man; whatever is most excellent in man naturally, and which they are most apt to glory in. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: see James 1:10.

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever; not only absolutely in itself, and in respect of its perpetual verity, Ps. 119:160, Matt. 24:35; but relatively, as received by and dwelling in believers, 1 John 3:9, who always experience the effects of it in themselves in their regeneration, receiving a…