FIRST PETER 1.13-2

Given what Peter has developed thus far in the letter, it comes as no surprise that the first exhortation he offers to his readers is to ‘hope completely in the grace to be

brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed’ (1.13). As we saw in Chapter Four, what is significant about this exhortation is that it is accompanied with a number of exodus and new exodus references that together have the effect of placing the readers in a

wilderness setting (theologically), even though the word ‘wilderness’ never appears in the entire letter. Echoing the narrative of the exodus, he calls them to ‘gird up the loins’ of their mind (1.13; cf. Exod 12.11), that is, to understandwhenthey are—in the

transition period between redemption from exile and inheritance (1.1, 3-7). He then exhorts his readers to be holy in all their conduct (cf. Exod 19.5-6), and then offers as the scriptural basis for this exhortation a quotation from the exodus tradition (‘Be holy since I am holy’; Lev 11.44; 19.2; 20.7, 26). Additionally, he stresses that his readers are to conduct themselves in keeping withwhen they are—in a time of sojourning (τὸν τῆς

19_{Thus in contrast to Schutter’s homiletic midrash hermeneutic (1989), I am suggesting that Peter’s hermeneutic is}

essentially an ecclesio-centric approach which is informed by the Gospel. Cf. Hays’ work with Paul (2004:222): Paul was ‘engaged in a hermeneutical project of re-presenting the Christ-story in relation to the needs of the church.’

20_{Feldmeier 2009:95.}

21_{Cf. Horrell 2008:20. Similarly, Dryden (2006:89) notes that ‘[t]he benediction of 1.3-12 is designed to map a narrative}

world that provides the readers a meta-history by which they can interpret their own life stories…provides them a hermeneutic for their suffering, as well as for the epistle’s ethical instruction.’

παροικίας ὑμῶν χρόνον; 1.17). According to Peter, this sojourn has been initiated by the sacrificial death of Jesus, which is likened to the Passover lamb (1.19)—who

although he was foreknown before the foundation of the world has been manifested in these last times ‘for your sake’ (1.20). Much like he did in 1.3, Peter underscores that it is the resurrection of Jesus from among the dead that provides the basis for the hope that Peter has been developing (1.21).

The third exhortation of this passage, ‘love one another earnestly from a pure heart’ (1.22), is also undergirded with second exodus imagery. According to Peter, in keeping with what has been announced in Isa 40.6-8, his readers have been born anew through the living word, which is equated to the gospel that has been preached to them (1.25). Isaiah 40.6-8 is significant because it is the focal point of the prologue of Isaiah 40-55, in which YHWH announces his intentions to redeem his people from exile.22_In

Isaiah 43, a passage which is integral to the message of Isaiah 40-55, and which is cited later in 1 Peter 2.9, YHWH announces (as a part of his ‘word’ or ‘gospel’) that he is about to do a new thing (43.19)—he is set to form a new people (43.1, 7, 15, 21) and to make a way for them in the wilderness (43.19). This may help explain why Peter uses the unusual termἀναγεννάωtwice (1.3; 1.23) in order to describe those who have aligned themselves with Jesus Christ. In effect, Peter is maintaining that Jesus’ sacrificial death (1.2; 1.19; 2.23-25) has actualized that which is spoken of in Isaiah 40-55: through Jesus, a new people has been formed (born anew), and God is making a way for them in the wilderness. In other words, once again Peter appears to be highlighting their present time as a wilderness sojourn.

The eschatological perspective necessary to live out their calling is again highlighted in 1 Peter 2.1-3. Rather than being taken up with evil, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and malicious speech, which characterized the first wilderness sojourners (cf. Num 11-12, 14, 16, 20-21; Psa 106:24-25), Peter argues that ‘if you have tasted that the Lord is good’ (2.3), then the only natural response is to crave the unadulterated milk so that you can grow up to salvation.23_{This exhortation once again orients the readers by}

placing them in a transition period in which they are to be sustained by eschatological hope. Most scholars agree that the refrain ‘if you have tasted that the Lord is good’ is a modification of LXX Psa 33.9 (taste and see that the Lord is good). The second colon of

22_{Anderson 1962; Westermann 2001:127-129; Stuhlmueller 1970:59-98; Watts 1990; Jobes 2005:126.}

23_{See Jobes (2002; 2005:132-141), who argues convincingly thatλογικόςmilk does not mean word-milk, but rather}

points to the milk that is true to the nature of the new eschatological reality established by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and into which Peter’s readers have been reborn.

this verse reads: ‘blessed is the man who hopes in him’. Thus, as Jobes has pointed out, tasting that the Lord is good ‘is related to putting hope in him’. What is particularly significant about the LXX version of this psalm, as I have argued in Chapter Four, is that the context for deliverance isἐκ πασῶν τῶν παροικιῶν, which fits with what Peter has been developing thus far in his letter.24

As Elliott has commented, 1 Peter 2.4-10 ‘bring to a resounding climax the line of thought begun in 1:3.’25_{Here in these verses Peter seeks to orient his readers in relation}

to their allegiance with Jesus. He does this first in the theme verses (1 Pet 2.4-5), where he makes it clear that the ‘Lord’ whom they have tasted to be good is none other than Jesus, the living stone (λίθος)—who was rejected by men but regarded as God’s precious elect one (2.4). According to Peter, those who have aligned themselves with this living stone are likewise living stones (λίθοι ζῶντες). He amplifies this description by

referring to his readers as a spiritual house (οἶκος πνευματικός) which is being built in order to be a holy priesthood that offers pleasing spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ (2.5). These theme verses are then clarified and justified with six references to the OT, all which appear to be dependent upon the LXX. The first three OT

references, which each contain the catchwordλίθος,elaborate the statement made about Jesus in 2.4. In 1 Pet 2.6, Isa 28.16 is drawn on both to confirm that Jesus is indeed the precious elect corner stone (ἰδοὺ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖον ἐκλεκτὸν ἔντιμον) as well as to remind the reader that whoever places trust in him (i.e. this precious elect cornerstone) will not be put to shame (likely alitotesto affirm the future glory associated with being aligned with Jesus [cf. 1 Pet 1.7; 5.4, 10]). The second and third OT citations are taken from LXX Psa 117.22 and LXX Isa 8.14, which assure the readers that Jesus’ rejection by ‘the builders’ was in keeping with the foreknowledge of God, that is, part of his unfolding plan.26

The second half of the theme verse (2.5) is then elaborated in 1 Pet 2.9-10 with three OT passages which are drawn on in order to shape further the identity and vocation of the community that has aligned itself with Jesus and also to orient them in their time of transition. At the surface, when these passages are woven together they unveil a special relationship between God and those who have placed their hope in

24_{Cf. Jobes 2005:138-139. There is every reason to suggest that Peter had more than just LXX Psa 33.9 in view since he}

again draws from other portions of the psalm (33.13-17) in 1 Pet 3.10-12.

25_{Elliott 2000:407.}

Jesus. Their new status is described with familiar terms from Israel’s tradition: they are an elect clan (Isa 43:20), a priestly kingdom and a holy nation (Exod 19.6), and a people (λαός) for God’s possession (Exod 19.5). Using the catchwordλαός, Peter then links together portions of Isa 43.21 and Hos 2.25 to restate their vocation and affirm their special status: they have been made a people for God’s possession ‘in order to declare the mighty acts’(τὰς ἀρετάς; Isa 43.21)of the one who has delivered them from darkness and into his marvelous light; they who were not a people, have been made a people of God; they who did not receive mercy, have received mercy from God (Hosea 2.25).

The catchwordλαόςcan only partially explain why Isa 43.21 has been linked with Exod 19.6 and Hosea 2.25. Additionally, thegezerah shavahtechnique is unable fully to account for Peter’s appropriation of Exod 19.5 and Isa 43.20. I argued in Chapter Four that the primary link is not lexical but rather conceptual. All three texts are

foundational passages in their respective literary contexts which point to the very theme that Peter has been developing in this section of his letter (esp. 1.3-7). In Exod 19.5-6, for example, YHWH, in keeping with his covenant faithfulness, has redeemed his people from Egypt; as his newly formed people, his treasured possession, they have been given the vocation to be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation, who must live out their calling in the wilderness as they journey towards their inheritance. Similarly, Isa 43.20-21 fits within a narrative in which YHWH promises to restore his people from exile. Significantly, Isaiah describes this restoration in terms that resonate with what Peter has been developing: YHWH will form his people for himself so that they might declare his praise (43.21), and he will guide and protect them in the wilderness as they journey towards their promised possession (43.13-20). Hosea 2 narrates a similar

scenario: YHWH will gather his wayward, unfaithful people in the wilderness, where he will renew his covenant with them. Those who had previously been named ‘Lo-ammi’, not my people, will be called ‘Ammi’, my people (1.9; 2.1; 2.23[25]); those who had previously been named ‘Lo-ruhamah’, not pitied, will be called ‘Ruhamah’, pitied (1.6;2.1;2.23[25]). What is significant about the appropriation of these three passages, read within the larger context of 1 Pet 1.3-2.10, is that Peter is declaring that the promises of restoration found in Isaiah 43 and Hosea 2 have now been actualized in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that those who have been aligned to Jesus are

encouraged to imagine their lives as a recapitulation of the first wilderness journey, this time in faithfulness.

One further point that must be highlighted is the fact that 1 Pet 2.9-10 is intended to inform the way we are to understand the phraseοἶκος πνευματικόςin 1 Pet 2.5. As I developed in Chapter Four, the wordοἶκος can be variously understood as either a house (i.e. a building, and as an extension, a temple), a household, a people or clan with a common descendent, or a royal dynasty.27_{Since 2.9-10 has been added to}

elaborate 2.5, and since 2.9-10 contains six phrases which variously describe the readers as ‘an elect people’, ‘a priestly kingdom’, ‘a holy nation’, ‘a people for God’s possession’, ‘the people of God’, and ‘a people who has received mercy’, it is likely best to interpret

οἶκος (2.5) as primarily referring to either a people or clan with a common descendent (i.e. Jesus Christ), or as a royal dynasty (because of their alignment with Jesus the Christ [i.e. king]), rather than principally as a reference to a temple building. As I have shown in Chapter Four and Chapter Five, when read along with 1 Pet 4.12-19, and in light of the eschatological program of Zech 9-14, this conclusion is further strengthened.