1 Peter

5:12-14

Conclusion, 5:12-14

A final word of greeting and benediction.

Peter assures his readers of the apostolic authenticity of his letter, making reference to Silas (Peter uses the Roman sense of the name, Silvanus), presumably his stenographer. Peter is possibly referring to the Silas mentioned in Acts, a believer who was a prominent member of the Jerusalem church and associate of Paul. Peter also mentions Mark, possibly John Mark whose mother maintained an open house in Jerusalem, and who was a relative of Barnabas and associate of the apostle Paul. Peter has written of God's divine grace in Christ, "the true grace of God", a blessing possessed by his readers. This living hope must be lived out; Peter's readers must "stand fast in it", and yes, at times there will be conflict with the broader secular society in which they live and work, but peace and joy is ultimately theirs.

i] Context: See 1:1-2.

ii] Background: See 1:1-2.

iii] Structure: The conclusion of Peter's first letter

Silvanus, a partner in ministry, v12;

Greetings from Babylon, v13;

Blessing, v14.

iv] Interpretation:

A final word, v12-15. i] Peter and Silvanus, and their message, v12.

dia + gen. "with the help of" - through [silvanus]. Intermediate agency, "through ....." Presumably Silas is Peter's amanuensis (stenographer), but possibly the reference is to Silas as the bearer of the letter.

wJV "-" - [i consider, regard] as. Here introducing a characteristic quality, "functioning as"; Peter considers that Silvanus is indeed a faithful / trustworthy brother.

tou .... adelfou (oV) "a ... brother" - the [faithful] brother. Genitive in apposition to the genitive "Silvanus".

uJmin "-" - to you. Possibly a dative of indirect object / interest, advantage, but as Dubis notes, Fairbairn in his commentary 1836, T&T Clark, suggests that this pronoun modifies pistou, "faithful, trustworthy", which approach seems more likely; "Through Silvanus, a brother who is faithful with respect to you." So, the dative is most likely adverbial, reference / respect.

di + gen. "-" - [i wrote] through [little = few words]. The prepositional phrase is likely to be adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of Peter's writing, "I wrote through / by few words" = "I wrote briefly to you."

einai (eimi) "that" - [encouraging and testifying this] to be. The infinitive introduces a dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what Peter exhorted and declared, namely that this is the true grace of God.

tauthn pro. "this" - Accusative subject of the infinitive einai. The antecedent / referent is possibly the letter itself, so Bigg, Davids, Michaels, or suffering, so Reicke, but better carin, "grace", given that it is a demonstrative pronoun, so Elliott; "The point being made is that this ("grace", v10) is the dependable grace of God (v12d) that envelops believers, sustains them, and constitutes the basis of their hope", Elliott.

tou qeou (oV) gen. "of God" - [the true grace] of god. The genitive is adjectival, possessive, or attributive / idiomatic, "the grace which God bestows", or ablative, source / origin, "the grace from God", so Michaels.

eiV + acc. "in [it]" - into [which you stand]. Possibly expressing purpose, "for it you must stand", Michaels, "so that you will keep on having faith in him", CEV (reading the variant eJsthkate, "you stand", rather than the imperative sthte), but local, space / sphere, incorporative union, used instead of en, seems more likely. The antecedent of the pronoun h}n, "into which you must stand", is obviously "grace"; "stand fast in it", Barclay.

ii] Greetings from Babylon, v13.

hJ "she who is" - the one = she. The feminine article may refer to a particular female, or more likely refer to an assumed feminine ekklhsia, "church", "the Christian church in its modern Babylon", Barclay. On the other hand, it may serve as a nominalizer for the prepositional phrase, "in Babylon", "she = the Christian church in Babylon", or the adjective suneklekth, "co-chosen", "the co-chosen one", meaning, of course, "the elect Christian church in Babylon = Rome". "God's elect people here with me in Rome send greetings."

en "in [Babylon]" - in [babylon greets you]. Local, place; "who live in Babylon." Presumably Peter is referring to Rome.

suneklekth adj. "chosen together with [you]" - a co-chosen. If, for instance, we opted for the translation "she who is at / in Babylon", then we could read "co-chosen" as a nominative substantive standing in apposition to hJ, "she", "the co-chosen one / also chosen one", even just as an attributive adjective, "who is likewise chosen", ESV. None-the-less, see hJ above,

kai "and so does" - and. Probably adjunctive; "and also Mark."

mou "my" - [mark the son] of me. The genitive is adjectival, relational. Peter is presumably using familial language. Mark is likely to be Peter's pupil, a disciple of Peter. Haselhurst in an article in Theology, 1926, argued that Mary, the mother of Mark, was Peter's wife, but this is not widely accepted.

iii] Benediction.

en + dat. "with" - [greet one another] with. Instrumental, expressing means; "by means of ..."

agaphV (h) gen. "of love" - [a kiss] of love. The genitive is adjectival, attributive; "a loving kiss."

uJmin dat. pro. "to [all of] you" - [peace] to you [all]. The optative of eimi, namely eih, may be assumed, "may it be peace to you", so dative of indirect object / interest, advantage.

toiV dat. "who are" - the ones. The dative article serves as an adjectivizer, turning the prepositional phrase "in Christ" into an adjectival modifier limiting the dative uJmin pasin, "you all"; "every blessing be on you all who belong to Christ", Barclay.

en + dat. "in" - in [christ]. Local, expressing space, metaphorical / incorporative union, "in union with Christ" / "in a relationship with Christ."

1 Peter Introduction

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