FIRST PETER 4.12-5

The doxology in 1 Pet 4.11 appears to indicate that the line of thought initiated in 2.11 is being drawn to a conclusion. Additionally, the vocative ‘brethren’ (ἀγαπητοί,) in 1 Pet 4.12 likely signals the beginning of a new section of the letter (cf. 2.11). This new section can be parsed further into three subsections: 4.12-19; 5.1-5; and 5.6-11.

Many scholars have noted the summative character of this final section of the letter body. The most extreme example is Campbell, who argues that 1 Pet 4.12 is the beginning of the peroration that extends to 5.14.63_{Witherington helpfully nuances}

Campbell’s analysis however by pointing out that while 1 Pet 4.12-5.11 does summarize previous material, it also contributes new arguments to the letter. He further explains that repetition and amplification are well-known aspects of Asiatic rhetoric, which better explain why themes are revisited in this final section and then further enhanced with new argumentation.64_{Michaels notes that 1 Pet 4.12-19 echoes material in 1 Pet}

1.6-8 (e.g. necessary fiery trials; see also §4.2.2 for verbal parallels) and 1 Pet 3.13-17 (e.g. personal security for those who maintain fidelity; blessedness of those who endure suffering; better to suffer now for doing good than to suffer later for doing evil now).65

Feldmeier perhaps states it best, however, when he writes that ‘the previous statements

61_{See also Mark 1.15; Matt 4.17; 10.7; Luke 10.11; 21.8.}

62_{Green 2007a:142.}

63_{Campbell 1998:199-228.}

64_{Witherington 2007:208-209; see 39-51 for a more detailed explanation of the rhetoric of 1 Peter.}

of the letter about suffering are tied up and taken further in order to take a position on this central problem of the letter with a thoroughness that has not yet been reached up to this point.’66

Accordingly, as I have already detailed in § 4.2.2, 1 Pet 4.12-19 reminds the readers of a number of points already raised: (1) suffering is to be expected; that is, it is inherent to those who have identified themselves with Jesus Christ (4.12; cf. 1.6); (2) suffering is to be interpreted as fiery trials that serve the purpose of testing one’s fidelity to Jesus Christ (4.12; cf. 1.5-8); (3) those who participate in the ‘belonging to Christ’ sufferings will receive glory at Christ’s second coming (4.13; cf. 1.5-8; 2.19-20);67

(4) There will be those that choose not to express loyal allegiance to the Christ; they will be destroyed, that is, they will not appear in the age of full restoration (4.17-18; cf. 2.8); (5) those who entrust themselves to God can have confidence in the final outcome of the fiery trials; in spite of the difficulties that come with remaining faithful, God will bring his elect sojourners through the fiery trials (4.19; cf. 1.5-8); (6) the final outcome of God’s restoration is an occasion for great joy (4.13; cf. 1.3-8); and (7) suffering ‘in the name of Christ’ is in keeping with God’s will, a part of his over-arching plan (4.19; cf. 1.10-11; 2.15; 3.17).

Additionally, Peter amplifies two themes only hinted at earlier in the letter: (1) The Spirit now rests upon the community that associates itself with the messiah, the Christ (4.14; cf. 2.5 [οἶκος πνευματικός]); and (2) this Spirit-endowed messianic

community is described as the ‘house of God’ (οἶκος τοῦ θεοῦ), which will be evaluated and delineated through the fiery trials of the second exodus (4.17; cf. 2.5). As I argued in Chapter Four and Chapter Five, this section of 1 Peter (4.12-19) shares significant parallels with several unique features of the eschatological program of Zechariah 9-14 and best explain Peter’s appropriation of the phraseοἶκος τοῦ θεοῦand his

modification of Isa 11.2, such that he declares that the Spirit now rests upon the messianic community rather than just the messiah.68

One further unique feature of the eschatological program of Zechariah 9-14 best explains the logic which links 4.12-19 and 5.1-5. As I argued in Chapter Five, Zechariah 9-14 emphasizes the restoration of a second-tier of leadership in ‘the house of God’

66_{Feldmeier 2008:223.}

67_{See § 4.2.2 for why I readτοῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παθήμασινas ‘the “belonging to Christ” sufferings’.}

68_{Those significant parallels include (1) fiery trials which serve to test (rather than purify) the remnant prior to full}

restoration (Zech 13.8-9); (2) those who align themselves with the slain-shepherd are referred to as the ‘house of God’ (Zech 12.8-10); and (3) the Spirit will rest upon the house of God (Zech 12.8-13.2).

which will shepherd and oversee God’s flock through the fiery trials. Accordingly, Peter urges the elders to ‘shepherd’ God’s flock unselfishly (5.2-3), reminding them that they are accountable to the Chief Shepherd, who will offer, upon his return, crowns of reward that will never fade (5.4).

Peter culminates his letter in 1 Peter 5.6-11 by offering four summative

exhortations which underscore and allude to a number of themes that he has developed throughout his letter. First, in light of all that Peter has written, he urges his addressees to humble themselves ‘under the mighty hand of God’ (τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦ). Jobes has helpfully observed that variations of the phraseτὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦappear in the exodus tradition and point to God’s ability to deliver and preserve his people as the journey to their inheritance (LXX: Exod 13.9; Deut 3.24; 4.34; 5.15; 7.19; 9.26; 11.2).69_{He further reminds his addressees that an appointed time (evn kairw/|) of}

exaltation awaits those who assume a posture of humility, and that God cares for them as they endure the fiery trials (5.6; cf. 1.5-7; 2.25). Second, he exhorts his readers to be sober-minded (5.8), which in the context of 1 Peter (1.13) means to be aware of where they are within God’s unfolding restoration program. Third, he warns them to be alert and on the lookout, because the chief slanderer, the devil, is seeking prey to devour (5.8).70_{Peter’s attentiveness to the shepherd tradition of the prophets is reflected even}

in the description of the devil as a roaring lion, a term that is repeatedly appropriated in the tradition to refer to a predator of God’s sheep (Isa 31.4; 35.9; 38.13; Jer 4.7; Ezek 22.25; Ezek 32.2; Hosea 5.14). Peter’s final exhortation is to resist the roaring lion by remaining steadfast in the faith (i.e. the confidence they have in God’s restoration; 5.9), reminding them that the brother-and-sisterhood in the entire world is undergoing similar sufferings. He concludes this final section of the body of the letter by

reiterating that this time of suffering is but a transition period (ὀλίγον; cf. 1 Pet 1.6), emphatically restating that the God who called you to his glory in Christ will ‘restore, support, strengthen, and establish you’ (5.11).71

69_{Jobes 2005:311.}

70_{‘The basic sense ofδιάβολοςis ‘slanderer’, a term particularly apt in a letter where the primary attack on}

Christians has been the slow-working malignancy of verbal abuse’ (Green 2007a:172).

71_{Throughout 1 Peter ‘glory’ (δόξα) is a reference to the vindication that Christians will enjoy when Christ returns}