Notes on the Old and New Testaments

ruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received b*y tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb a without blemish and without spot:

20 Who verily was foreordained

God and his law. Religion is often represented as the reverent fear of God. Deut. vi. 2, 13, 24; Prow i. 7; iii. 13; xiv. 26, 27, et scepe al.

18. Forasmuch as ye know. This is a n argument for a holy life derived from the fact that they were redeemed, and from the manner in which their redemption had been effected. There is no more effectual way to induce true Christians to consecrate themselves entirely to God than to refer them to the fact that they are not their own, but have been purchased by the blood of Christ. 1 That ye were not redeemed. On the word rendered redeemed (\v- Tp6u)—lutroo),see Notes on Titus ii. 14. The word occurs in the New Testament only in Luke xxiv. 21; Titus ii. 14; and in this place. The noun (\<5- Tpou—lutron) is found in Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45, rendered ransom. For the meaning of the similar word (diro- XuTjOUKTis — apolutrosis), see Notes on Rom. iii. 24. This word occurs in Luke xxi. 28; Rom. iii. 24; viii. 23; 1 Cor. i. 30; Eph. i. 7, 14; iv. 30; Col. i. 14; Heb. ix. 15; in all which places it is rendered redemption; and in Heb. xi. 35, where it is rendered deliverance. The word here means that they were rescued from sin and death by the blood of Christ, as the valuable consideration on account of which it was done; that is, the blood or the life of Christ, offered as a sacrifice, effected the same purpose in regard to justice and to the maintenance of the principles of moral government which the punishment of the sinner himself would have done. It was that which God was pleased to accept in the place of the punishment of the sinner, as answering the same great ends in his administration. The principles of his truth and justice could as certainly be maintained in this way as by the punishment of the guilty themselves. If so, then there was no obstacle to their salvation, and they might, on repentance, be consistently pardoned and taken to heaven. H With corruptible things, as silver and gold. On the word corruptible, as applicable to gold, see Notes on ver. 7. Silver F2 and gold usually constitute the price or the valuable consideration paid for the redemption of captives. It is clear that the obligation of one who is redeemed to love his benefactor is in proportion to the price which is paid for his ransom. The idea here is, that a price far more valuable than any amount of silver or gold had been paid for the redemption of the people of God, and that they were under proportionate obligation to devote themselves to his service. The}7 were redeemed by the life of the Son of God offered in their behalf, and between the value of that life and silver and gold there could be no comparison. f From your vain conversation. Your vain conduct, or manner of life. See Notes on ver. 15. The word vain applied to conduct (fiaTaios) means properly empty, fruitless. It is a word often applied to the worship of idols, as being nothing, worthless, unable to help (Acts xiv. 15; 1 Kings xvi. 13; 2 Kings xvii. 15; Jer. ii. 5, 8, 19), and is probably used in a similiar sense in this place. The apostle refers to their former worship of idols, and to all the abominations connected with that service, as being vain and unprofitable; as the worship of nothing real (comp. 1 Cor. viii. 4, "We know that an idol is nothing in the world"); and as resulting in a course of life that answered none of the proper ends of living. From that they had been redeemed by the blood of Christ. If Received by tradition from your fathers. The mode of worship which had been handed down from father to son. The worship of idols depends on no better reason than that it is that which has been practiced in ancient times, and it is kept up now in all lands in a great degree only by the fact that it has had the sanction of the venerated men of other generations.

19. But with the precious blood of Christ. On the use of the word blood, and the reason why the efficacy of the atonement is said to be in the blood, see Notes on Rom. iii. 25. The word precious (t l fiio?) is a word which would be applied to that which is worth before* the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you; 21 Who by him do believe in

God, that raised him up from the dead, and6 gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.

much; which is costly. Comp. for the use of the noun (xi/xj}) in this sense, Matt, xxvii. 6, " The price of blood;" Acts iv. 34; v. 2, 3; vii. 16. See also for the use of the adjective (t-i^ios), Kev. xvii. 4, "gold and precious stones;" Rev. xviii. 12, "vessels of most precious wood;" Rev. xxi. 11, " a stone most precious.'1'' The meaning here is that the blood of Christ has a value above silver and gold; it is worth more, to wit, (1) in itself— being a more valuable thing; and (2) in effecting our redemption. It accomplishes what silver and gold could not do. The universe has nothing more valuable to offer, of which we can conceive, than the blood of the Son of God. T[ As of a lamb. That is, of Christ regarded as a lamb offered for sacrifice. See Notes on John i. 29. IF Without blemish and without spot. Such a lamb only, was allowed to be offered in sacrifice. Lev. xxii. 20-24; Mai. i. 8. This was required (1) because it was proper that man should offer that which was regarded as perfect in its kind; and (2) because only that would be a proper symbol of the great sacrifice which was to be made by the Son of God. The idea was thus kept up from age to age that he, of whom all these victims were the emblems, would be perfectly pure.

20. Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. That is, it was foreordained, or predetermined, that he should be a great atoning sacrifice for sin. On the meaning of the word foreordained {Trpoyivwckw), see Rom. viii. 29. The word is rendered which knew, Acts xxvi. 5; foreknew and foreknow, Rom. viii. 29; xi. 2; foreordained, 1 Pet. i. 20; and know before, 2 Pet. ii. 17. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The sense is,that the plan was formed, and the arrangements made for the atonement, before the world was created. T Before the foundation of the world. That is, from eternity. It was before man was created; before the earth was made; before any of the material universe was brought into being; before the angels existed.

Comp. Notes on Matt. xxv. 34; John xvii. 24; Eph. i. 4. H But was manifest. Was revealed. See Notes on 1 Tim. iii. 16. If In these last times. In this, the last dispensation of things on the earth. See Notes on Heb. i. 2. *i\ For you. For your benefit or advantage. See Notes on ver. 12. It follows from what is said in this verse, (1.) That the atonement was not an after-thought on the part of God. It entered into his plan when he made the world, and was revolved in his purposes from eternity. (2.) It was not a device to' supply a defect in the system; that is, it was not adopted because the system did not work well, or because God had been disappointed. It was arranged before man was created, and when none but God could know whether he would stand or fall. (3.) The creation of the earth must have had some reference to this plan of redemption, and that plan must have been regarded as in itself so glorious and so desirable that it was deemed best to bring the world into existence that the plan might be developed, though it would involve the certainty that the race would fall, and that many would perish. It was, on the whole, more wise and benevolent that the race should be created with a certainty that they would apostatize, than it would be that the race should not be created, and the plan of salvation be unknown to distant worlds. See Notes on ver 12.

21. Who by him do believe in God. Faith is sometimes represented particularly as exercised in God, and sometimes in Christ. It is always a characteristic of true religion that a man has faith. Comp. Notes on Mark xi. 22'. If That raised him up from the dead. Acts ii. 24; iii. 15, 26; iv. 10; v. 30; xiii. 30; Rom. iv. 24; vi. 4; 1 Cor. xv. 15. II And gave him glory. By exalting him at his own right hand in heaven. Phil. ii. 9; 1 Tim. iii. 16; Eph. i. 20, 21. 1J That your faith and hope • might be in God. That is, by raising up the Lord Jesus, and exalting him to heaven, he has laid the foundation of confidence in his promises, and of the hope of eternal life. See Notes

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth0

through the Spirit unto unfeigned love b of the brethren, see that ye

22. Seeing ye have purified your souls. Gr., "Having purified your souls." The apostles were never afraid of referring to human agency as having an important part in saving the soul. Comp. 1 Cor. iv.15. No one is made pure without personal intention or effort— any more than one becomes accomplished or learned withoutpersonal exertion. One of the leading effects of the agency of the Holy Spirit is to excite us to make efforts for our own salvation; and there is no true piety which is not the fair result of culture, as really as the learning of a Porson or a Parr, or the harvest of the farmer. The amount of effort which we make " in purifying oursouls" is usually also the measure of our attainments in religion. No one can expect to have any true piety beyond the amount of effort which he makes to be conformed to God, any more than one can expect wealth or fame or learning without exertion. If In obeying the truth. That* is, your yielding to the requirements of truth, and to its fair influence on your minds, has been the means of your becoming pure. The "truth" here referred to is, undoubtedly, that which is revealed in the Gospel — the great system of truth respecting the redemption of the world. 1 Through the Spirit. By the agency of the Holy Spirit. It is his office to apply truth to the mind; andhowever precious the truth may be, aud however adapted to secure certain results on the soul, it will never produce those effects without the influences of the Holy Spirit. See Notes on John iii. 5. Comp. Titus iii. 5, 6. If Unto unfeigned love of the brethren. The effect of the influence of the Holy Spirit in applying the truth to your hearts has been to produce sincere love to all who are sincere Christians. Comp. Notes on John xiii. 34; 1 Thess. iv. 9. See also 1 John iii. 14-18. If See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Comp. Notes on Heb. xiii. 1; John xiii. 34, 35; Eph. v. 2. The phrase "with pure heart fervently" means (1) that it should be genuine love, proceeding from a heart in which there is no guile or hypocrisy; and (2) that it should be intense affection (t/cT£i/ws); not cold and formal, but ardent and strong. If there is any reason why we should love true Christians at all, there is the same reason why our attachment to them should be intense. This verse establishes the following points: (1.) That truth lies at the foundation of their piety. They whom Peter addressed had none of which this was not the proper basis; none of which the foundation was not as broad as the superstructure. There is no religion in the world which is not the fair development of truth; none which the truth is not fitted to produce. (2.) They became Christians as the result of obeying the truth; or by yielding to its fair influence on the soul. Their own minds complied with its claims; their own hearts yielded; there was the exercise of tlreir own volitions. This expresses a doctrine of great importance, (a) There is always the act of our own minds in true religion; always a yielding to truth; always a voluntary reception of it into the soul. (b) Keligion is always of the nature ot'obedknee. It consists in yielding to what is true and right; in laying aside the feelings of opposition, and in allowing the mind to follow where truth and duty lead, (c) This woulaalways take place when the truth is presented to the mind if there were no voluntary resistance. If all men were ready to yield to the truth, they would become Christians. The only reason why all men do not love and serve God is that they refuse to yield to what they know to be true and right. (3.) The agency by which this was accomplished was that of the Holy Ghost. Truth is adapted in itself to a certain end or result, as seed is adapted to produce a harvest. But it will no more of itself produce its appropriate effects on the soul than seed will produce a harvest without rains and dews and sun. In all cases, therefore, the proper effect of truth on the soul is to be traced to the influence of the Holy Spirit, as the germination of the seed in the earth is to the foreign cause that acts on it. No man was ever converted by the mere effect of truth without the agency of the Holy Ghost, any more than seed germinates when laid on a hard

love one another with a pure heart fervently:

23 Being born a again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,

rock. (4.) The effect of this influence of the Holy Spirit in applying the truth is to produce love to all who are Christians. Love to Christian brethren springs up in the soul of every one who is truly converted; and this love is just as certain evidence that the seed of truth has germinated in the soul as the green and delicate blade that peeps up through the earth is evidence that the seed sown has been quickened into life. Comp. Notes on 1 Thess. iv. 9; 1 John iii. 14. We may learn, hence, (a) That truth is of inestimable value. It is as valuable as religion itself, for all the religion in the world is the result of it. (b) Error and falsehood are mischievous and evil in the same degree. There is no true religion which is the fair result of error; and all the pretended religion that is sustained by error is worthless. (e)Ifa system of religion, or a religious measure or doctrine, can not be defended by truth, it should be at once abandoned. Comp. Notes on Job xiii. 7. (d) We should avoid the places where error is taught. Prov. xix. 27: " Ceas^ my son, to hear the instruction thatcauseth to err from the words of knowledge." See also Prov. xix. 27. (e) We should place ourselves under the teachings of truth, for there is truth enough in the world to occupy all our time and attention; and it is only by truth that ouf minds can be benefited.

23. Being born again. See Notes on John iii. 3. H Not of corruptible seed. "Not by virtue of any descent from human parents." — Doddridge. The result of such a birth, or of being begotten in this way — for so the word rendered born again more properly signifies — is only corruption and decay. We are begotten only to die. There is no permanent, enduring life produced by that. It is in this sense that this is spoken of as "corruptible seed," because it results in decay and death. The word here rendered seed (tr-rropa) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. *[[ But of incorruptible. By truth, communicating a living principle to the soul which can

by the word b of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

24 l For c all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower

never decay. Comp. 1 John iii. 9: "His seed remaineth in him; and he can not sin, because he is born of God." *\By the word of God. See Notes on James i. 18: " Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures." Comp. Notes on John i. 13. It is the uniform doctrine of the Scriptures that divine truth is made the instrument of quickening the soul into spiritual life. H Which liveth and abideth forever. This expression may either refer to God, as living forever, or to the word of God, as being forever true. Critics are about equally divided in the interpretation. The Greek will bear either construction. Most of the recent critics incline to the latter opinion — that it refers to the word of God, or to his doctrine. So Rosenmiiller, Doddridge, Bloomfield, Wolf, Macknight, Clarke. It seems to me, however, that the more natural construction of the Greek is to refer it to God, as ever-living or enduring; and this interpretation agrees well with the connection. The idea then is, that, as God is ever-living, that which is produced by him in the human soul by the instrumentality of truth may be expected also to endure forever. It will not be like the offspring of human parents, themselves mortal, liable to early and certain decay, but may be expected to be as enduring as its ever-living Creator.

24. For all flesh is as grass. That is, all human beings; all men. Tlfe connection here is this: The apostle, in the previous verse, had been contrasting that which is begotten by man with that which is begotten by God, in reference to its permanency. The former was corruptible and decaying, the latter abiding. The latter was produced by God*, who lives forever; the former by the agency of man, who is himself corruptible and dying. It was not unnatural, then, to dwell upon the feeble, frail, decaying nature of man in contrast with God; and the apostle, therefore, says that " all flesh, every human being, is like grass.

of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord

endureth forever. And this a is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.

There is uo stability in any thing that man does or produces. He himself resembles grass that soon fades and withers; but God and his word endure forever the same." The comparison of a human being with grass, or with flowers, is Very beautiful, and is quite common in the Scriptures. The comparison turns on the fact that the grass or the flower, however green or beautiful they may be, soon lose their freshness, are withered, are cut down, and die. Thus in Psalm ciii. 15, 16— "As for man, his days are as grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth;

For the wind passeth over it and it is gone,

And the place thereof shall know it no move."

So in Isaiah xl. 6-8, a passage which is evidently referred to by Peter in this place —

And he said, What shall I cry?

And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.

When the wind of Jehovah hloweth upon it:

Surely the people is grass.

But the word of our God shall stand forever."

See also James i. 10, 11. This sentiment is beautifully imitated by the great dramatist in the speech of Wolsey—

"This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow

blossoms, And hears his blushing honors thick

upon him. The third day comes a frost, a killing

frost; And— when he thinks, good easy man,

full surely His greatness is a ripening— nips his

root, And then he falls."

Comp. Notes on Isa. xl. 6-8. ^And all the glory of man. All that man prides himself on— his wealth, rank, talents, beauty, learning, splendor of equipage or apparel. U As the flower of grass. The word rendered " grass'1'' (Xo'/otos) properly denotes herbage, that Which furnishes food for animals — pasture, hay. Probably the prophet Isaiah, from whom this passage is taken, referred rather to the appearance of a meadow or a field, with mingled grass and flowers constituting a beautiful landscape, than to mere grass. In such a field the grass soon withers with heat and with the approach of winter, and the flowers soon fade and fall. If The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. This is repeated, as is common in the Hebrew writings, for the sake of emphasis, or strong confirmation.

25. 1| But the word of the Lord. In Isaiah (xl. 8), " the word of our God." The sense is not materially varied. If Endureth forever. Is unmoved, fixed, permanent. Amid all the revolutions on earth, the fading glories of natural objects, and the wasting strength of man, his truth remaius unaffected. Its beauty never fades; its power is never enfeebled. The Gospel system is as lovely now as it was when it was first revealed to man, and it has as much power to save as it had when it was first applied to a human heart. We see the grass wither at the coming on of autumn; we see the flowers of the field decay; we see man, though confident in his strength, and rejoicing in the vigor of his frame, cut down in an instant; we see cities decline, and kingdoms lose their power; but the word of God is the same now that it was at first, and, amid all the changes which may ever occur on the earth, that will remain the same. If And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you. That is, this Gospel is the " word" which was referred to by Isaiah in the passage which has been quoted. In view, then, of the affecting truth stated in the close of this chapter (vs. 24, 25), let us learn habitually to reflect on our feebleness and frailty. "We all do fade as a leaf." Isa. lxiv. 6. Our glory is like the flower of the field. Our beauty fades, and our strength disappears, like the beauty and vigor of the flower that grows up in the morning, and that in the evening is cut down. Psa. xc. 6. The rose that blossoms on the cheek of youth may wither as soon as any other rose; the brightness of the eye may lose its lustre as readily as a field covered with flowers its beauty; the darkness of death may come over the brow of manliness and intelligence as readily as night settles down on the landscape; and our robes 9f adorning may be as soon taken off as the flowers in the meadow fall before the scythe of the mower. There is not an object of natural beauty on which we value ourselves that will not decay, and soon all our pride and pomp will be laid low in the tomb. It is sad to look upon a beautiful lily, a rose, a magnolia, and to think how soon all that beauty will disappear. It is more sad to look on a rosy cheek, a bright eye, a lovely form, an expressive brow, an open, serene, intelligent countenance, and to think how soon all that beauty and brilliancy will fade away. But amid these changes which beauty undergoes, and the desolations which disease and death spread over the world, it is cheering to think that all is not so. There is that which does not change, which never loses its beaut}7. "The word of the Lord" abides. His cheering promises, his assurances that there is a brighter and better world, remain amid all these changes the same. The traits which are drawn on the character by the religion of Christ, more lovely by far than the most delicate coloring of the lily, remain forever. There they abide, augmenting in loveliness, when the rose fades from the cheek, when the brilliancy departs from the eye, when the body moulders away in the sepulchre. The beauty of religion is the only permanent beauty in the earth, and he that has that need not regret that that which in this mortal frame charms the eye shall fade away like the flower of the field.

This chapter may be divided into three parts.

I. An exhortation to those whom the apostle addressed to lay aside all malice, and all guile, and to receive the simple and plain instructions of the word of God with the earnestness with which babes desire their appropriate food. Ver. 1-3. Religion reproduces the traits of character of children in those whom it influences, and they ought to regard themselves as new-born babes, and seek that kind of spiritual nutriment which is adapted to their condition as such.

II. The privileges which they had obtained by becoming Christians, while so many others had stumbled at the very truths by which they had been saved. Ver. 4-10. (a) They had come to the Saviour as the living stone on which the whole spiritual temple was founded, though others had rejected him; they had become a holy priesthood; they had been admitted to the privilege of offering true sacrifices acceptable to God. Vs. 4, 5. (fi) To them Christ was precious as the chief corner-stone on which all their hopes rested, and on which the edifice that was to be reared was safe, though that foundation of the Christian hope had been rejected and disallowed by others. Ver. 6-8. (c) They were now a chosen people, a holy nation, appointed to show forth on earth the praises of God, though formerly they were not regarded as the people of God, and were not within the range of the methods by which he was accustomed to show mercy. Vs. 9, 10.

III. Various duties growing out of these privileges, and out of the various relations which they sustained in life. Ver. 11-25. (a) The duty of living as strangers and pilgrims; of abstaining from all those fleshly lusts which war against the soul, and of leading lives of entire honesty in relation to the Gentiles, by whom they were surrounded. Vs. 11, 12. (b) The duty of submitting to civil rulers. Ver. 13-17. (c) The duty of servants to submit to their masters, though their condition was a hard one in life, and they were often called to suffer wrongfully. Ver. 18-20. (d) This duty was enforced on servants, and on all, from the example of Christ, who was more wronged than any others can be, and who yet bore all his sufferings with entire patience, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps. Ver. 21-25.

1. Wherefore laying aside. On the word rendered laying aside, see Rom. xiii. 12; Eph. iv. 22, 25; Col. iii. 8. The allusion is to putting off clothes,

WHEREFORE laying aside" all malice, and all guile, and the meaning is that we are to cast off these things entirely; that is, we are no longer to practice them. The word wherefore (ow) refers to the reasonings in the first chapter. In view of the considerations stated there, we should renounce all evil. ^All malice. All evil (KQKtau). The word malice we commonly apply now to a particular kind of evil, denoting extreme enmity of heart, ill-will, a disposition to injure others without cause from mere personal gratification, or from a spirit of revenge. — Webster. The Greek word, however, includes evil of all kinds. See Notes on Rom. i. 29. Comp. Acts viii. 22, where it is rendered wickedness; and 1 Cor. v. 8; xiv. 20; Eph. iv. 31; Col. iii. 8; Titus iii. 3. 1 And all guile. Deceit of all kinds. See Notes on Rom. i. 29. Comp. 2 Cor. xii. 16; 1 Thess. ii. 3. If And hypocrisies. See Notes on 1 Tim. iv. 2. Comp. Matt, xxiii. 28; Gal. ii. 13, on the word rendered dissimulation. The word means feigning to be what we are not; assuming a false appearance of religion; cloaking a wicked purpose under the appearance of piety. ^And envies. Hatred of others on account of some excellency which they have, or something which they possess which we do not. See Notes on |om, i. 29. U And all evil speaking. Gr., speaking against others. This word (KaTaXaXia) occurs only here and in 2 Cor. xii. 20, where it is rendered baekbitings. It would include all unkind or slanderous speaking against others. This is by no means an uncommon fault in the world, and it is one of the designs of religion to guard against it. Religion teaches us to lay aside whatever guile, insincerity, and false appearances we may have acquired, and to put on the simple honesty and openness of children. We all acquire more or less of guile and insincerity in the course of life. We learn to conceal our sentiments and feelings, and almost unconsciously come to appear different from what we really are. It is not so with children. In the child every emotion of the bosom appears as it is. Nature there works well and beautifully. Every emotion is expressed; every feeling of the heart is developed; and in the cheeks, the open eye, the joyous or sad countenance, we know all that there is in the bosom, as certainly as we know what there is in the rose by its color and its fragrance. Now it is one of the purposes of religion to bring us back to this state, and to strip q/F all that is false and hypocritical which we may have acquired in life; and he in whom this effect is not accomplished has never been converted. A man that is characteristically deceitful, cunning, and crafty, can not be a Christian. " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt, xviii. 3.

2. As new-born babes. The phrase here used would properly denote those which were just born, and hence Christians who had just begun the spiritual life. See the word explained in the Notes on 2 Tim. iii. 15. It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to compare Christians with little children. See Notes on Matt, xviii. 3 for the reasons of this comparison. Comp. 1 Cor. iii. 2; Heb. v. 12, 14. H Desire the sincere milk of the word. The pure milk of the word. On the meaning of the word sincere, see Notes on Eph. vi. 24. The Greek word here (adoXov) means' properly that which is without guile or falsehood; then unadulterated, pure, genuine. The Greek adjective rendered " of the word" (XoyiKou) means properly rational, pertaining to reason, or mind; and, in the connection here with milk, means that which is adapted to sustain the soul. Comp. Notes on Rom. xii. 1. There is no doubt that there is allusion to the Gospel in its purest and most simple form as adapted to be the nutriment of the new-born soul. Probably there are two ideas here: one, that the proper aliment of piety is simple truth; the other, that the truths which they were to desire were the more elementary truths of the Gospel, such as would be adapted to those who were babes in knowledge. H That ye may grow thereby. As babes grow on their proper nutriment. Piety in the heart is susceptible of growth,

sincere milk a of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

3 If so be ye have tasted6 that the Lord is gracious.

4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed c indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.

and is made to grow by its proper aliment, as a plant or a child is, and will grow in proportion as it has the proper kind of nutriment. From this verse we may see, (l.)The reason of the injunction of the Saviour to. Peter to " feed his lambs." John xxi. 15. Young Christians strongly resemble children — babes; and they need watchful care, and kind attention, and appropriate aliment, as much as new-born infants do. Piety receives its form much from its commencement; and the character of the whole Christian life will be determined in a great degree by the views entertained at first, and the kind of instruction which is given to those who are just entering on their Christian course. We may also see, (2.) That it furnishes evidence of conversion, if we have a love for the simple and pure truths of the Gospel. It is evidence that we have spiritual life, as really as the desire of appropriate nourishment is evidence that an infant has natural life. The new-born soul loves the truth. It is nourished by it. It perishes without it. The Gospel is just what it wants; and without that it could not live. We may also learn from this verse, (3.) That the truths of the Gospel which are best adapted to that state are those which are simple and plain. Comp. Heb. v. 12, 13, 14. It is not philosophy that is needed then; it is not the profound and difficult doctrines of the Gospel; it is those elementary truths which lie at the foundation of all religion, and which can be comprehended by children. Keligion makes every one docile and humble as a child; and whatever may be the age at which one is converted, or whatever attainments he may have made in science, he relishes the same truths which are loved by the youngest and most unlettered child that is brought into the kingdom of God.

3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Or rather, as Doddridge renders it, "Since you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." The apostle did not mean to express any doubt on the subject, but to state that, since they had had an experimental acquaintance with the grace of God, they should desire to increase more and more in the knowledge and love of him. On the use of the word taste, see Notes on Heb. vi. 4.

4. To whom coming. To the Lord Jesus, for so the word "Lord " is to be understood in ver. 3. Comp. Notes on Acts i. 24. The idea here is that they had come to him for salvation, while the great mass of men rejected him. Others "disallowed" him and turned away from him, but they had seen that he was the one chosen or appointed of God, and had come to him in order to be saved. Salvation is often represented as coming to Christ. See Matt. xi. 28. H As unto a living stone. The allusion in this passage is to Isa. xxviii. 16: " Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste." See Notes on that passage. There may be also possibly an allusion to Psa. cxviii. 22: " The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the*corner." The reference is to Christ as the foundation on which the Church is reared. He occupies the same place in regard to the Church which a foundation-stone does to the edifice that is reared upon it. Comp. Matt. vii. 24, 25. See Notes on Rom. ix. 33, and Eph. ii. 20-22. The phrase "living stone" is, however, unusual, and is not found, I think, except in this place. There seems to be an incongruity in it in attributing life to a stone, yet the meaning is not difficult to be understood. The purpose was not to speak of a temple, like that at Jerusalem, made up of gold and costly stones, but of a temple made up of living materials— of redeemed men — in which God now resides. In speaking of that, it was natural to refer to the foundation on which the whole rested, and to speak of that as corresponding to the whole edifice. It was all a living temple— & temple composed of living materials — from the foundation to the top. Compare the expression in John iv. 10: "He would have given thee living water;" that is, water which would have imparted life to the soul. So Christ imparts life to the whole spiritual temple that is reared on him as a foundation. H Disallowed indeed of men. liejected hy them — first by the Jews, in causing him to be put to death, and then by all men when he is offered to them as their Saviour. See Notes on Isa. liii. 3. Comp. Psa. cxviii. 22; Matt. xxi. 42; Acts iv. 11. H But chosen of God. Selected by him as the suitable foundation on which to rear his Church. H And precious. Valuable. The universe had nothing more valuable on which to rear the spiritual temple.

5. Ye also, as lively stones. G r., " living stones." The word should have been so rendered. The word lively with us now has a different meaning from living, and denotes active, quick, sprightly. The Greek word is the same as that used in the previous verse, and rendered living. The meaning is, that the materials of which the temple here referred to was composed were living materials throughout. The foundation is a living foundation, and all the superstructure is composed of living materials. The purpose of the apostle here is to compare the Church to a beautiful temple— such as the Temple in Jerusalem, and to show that it is complete in all its parts, as that was. It has within itself what corresponds with every thing that was valuable in that. It is a beautiful structure like that, and as in that there was a priesthood, and there were real and acceptable sacrifices offered, so it is in the Christian Church. The Jews prided themselves much on their Temple. It was a most costly and splendid edifice. It was the place where God was worshiped, and where he was supposed to dwell. It had an imposing service, and there was acceptable worship rendered there. As a new dispensation was introduced; as the tendency of the Christian system was to draw off the worshipers from that temple, and to teach them that God could be worshiped as acceptably elsewhere as at Jerusalem (John iv. 21- 23); as Christianity did not inculcate the necessity of rearing splendid temples for the worship of God; and as in factthe Temple at Jerusalem was about to be destroyed forever, it was important to show that in the Christian Church there might be found all that was truly valuable in the Temple at Jerusalem; that it had what corresponded to what was in fact most precious there, and that there was still a magnificent and beautiful temple on the earth. Hence the sacred writers labor to prove that that was found in the Church which had made the Temple at Jerusalem so glorious, and that the great design contemplated by the erection of that splendid edifice — the maintenance of the worship of God — was now accomplished in a more glorious manner than even in the services of that house. For there was a temple, made up of living materials,which was still the peculiar dwelling-place of God on the earth. In that temple there was a holy priesthood — for every Christian was a priest. In that temple there were sacrifices offered as acceptable to God as in the former— for they were spiritual sacrifices, offered continually. These thoughts were often dwelt upon by the apostle Paul, and are here illustrated by Peter, evidently with the same desigu, to impart consolation to those who had never been permitted to worshipin the Temple at Jerusalem, and to comfort those Jews, now converted to Christianity, who saw that that splendid and glorious edifice was about to be destroyed. The peculiar abode of God on the earth was now removed from that temple to the Christian Church. The first aspect in which this is illustrated here is that the temple of God was made up of "living stones;" that is, that the materials were not inanimate stones, but were endued with life, and were as much more valuable than those employed in the Temple at Jerusalem as the soul is more precious than any materials of stone. There were living beings which composed that temple, constituting a more beautiful structure, and a more appropriate dwelling-place for God, than any edifice could be made of stone, however costly or valuable. H A spiritual house. A spiritual temple, not made of perishable materials, like that at Jerusalem; not composed of matter, as that was, but made up of redeemed souls— a temple more appropriate to be the residence of one who is a pure spirit. Comp. Notes on Eph. ii. 19-22, and 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. Tf An holy priesthood. In the Temple

5 Ye also, as lively stones, l are built up a spiritual house, a an holy priesthood,6 to offer up spiritual0 sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

6 Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, d Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

at Jerusalem the priesthood appointed to minister there and to offer sacrifices constituted an essential part of the arrangement. It was important, therefore, to show that this, was not overlooked in the spiritual temple that God was raising. Accordingly, the apostle says that this is amply provided for by constituting the whole body of Christians to be in fact a priesthood. Ever}T one is engaged in offering acceptable sacrifice to God. The business is not intrusted to a particular class to be known as priests; there is not a particular portion of the Church to which the name is to be peculiarly given, but every Christian is in fact a priest, and is engaged in offering an acceptable sacrifice to God. See Rom. i. 6: "And hath made us kings and priests unto God." The Great High -Priest in this service is the Lord Jesus Christ (see the Epistle to the Hebrews, passim), but besides him there is no one who sustains this office. There are ministers, elders, pastors, evangelists, in the Church; but there is no one who is a priest, except in the general sense that all are priests — for the great sacrifice has been offered, and there is no expiation now to be made. Thenzmepriest, therefore, should never be conferred on a minister of the Gospel. It is never so given in the New Testament, and there was a reason why it should not be. The proper idea of a, priest is one who offers sacrifice; but the ministers of the New Testamenthave no sacrifices to offer — the one great and perfect oblation for the sins of the world having been made by the Redeemer on the cross. To him, and him alone, under the New Testament dispensation, should the name priest be given, as it is uniformly in the New Testament, except in the general sense in which it is given to all Christians. In the Roman Catholic communion it is consistent to give the name priest to a minister of the Gospel, but it is wrong to do it. It is consistent because they claim that a true sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ is offered in the mass. It is wrong, because that doctrine is wholly contrary to the New Testament, and is derogatory to the one perfect oblation which has been once made for the sins of the world, and is conferring on a class of men a degree of importance and of power to which they have no claim, and which is so liable to abuse. But in a Protestant church it is neither consistent nor right to give the name to a minister of religion. The only sense in which the term can now be used in the Christian Church is a sense in which it is applicable to all Christians alike — that they "offer the sacrifice of prayer and praise." 1" To offer up spiritual sacrifices. Not bloody offerings, the blood of lambs and bullocks, but those which are the offerings of the heart— the sacrifices of prayer and praise. As there is a priest, there is also involved the notion of a sacrifice, but that which is offered is such as all Christians offer to God, proceeding from the heart, and breathed forth from the lips, and in a holy life. It is called sacrifice, not because it makes an expiation for sin, but because it is of the nature of ivorship. See Notes on Heb. xiii. 15; x. 14. H Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. See Notes on Rom. xii. 1. Through the merits of the great sacrifice made by the Redeemer on the cross. Our prayers and praises are in themselves so imperfect, and proceed from such polluted lips and hearts, that they can be acceptable only through him as our intercessor before the throne of God. See Notes on Heb. ix. 24, 25; x. 19- 22.

6. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scriptures. Isa. xxviii. 16. The quotation is substantially as it is found in the Septuagint. H Behold, I lay in Zion. See Notes on Isa. xxviii. 16, and Rom. ix. 33. If A chief cornerstone. The principle stone on which the corner of the edifice rests. A stone is selected for this which is large and solid, and usually one which is squared and wrought with care; and as such a stone is commonly laid with solemn ceremonies, so,

7 Unto you therefore which believe, lie ^precious: but unto

perhaps, in allusion to this, it is here said by God that he would lay this stone at the foundation. The solemnities attending this were those which accompanied the great work of the Redeemer. See the word explained in the Notes on Eph. ii. 20. If Elect. Chosen of God, or selected for this purpose. Ver. 4. If And he that believeth on 7dm shall not be confounded. Shall not be ashamed. The Hebrew is, "shall not make haste." See it explained in the Notes on Rom. ix. 33.

7. Unto you, therefore, which believe. Christians are often called simply believers, because faith in the Saviour is one of the prominent characteristics by which they are distinguished from their fellow-men. It sufficiently describes any man to say that he is a believer in the Lord Jesus. If He is precious. Marg., an honor. That is, according to the margin, it is an honor to believe on him, and it should be so regarded. This is true, but it is very doubtful whether this is the idea of Peter. The Greek is v Tifii); meaning, literally, "esteem, honor, respect, reverence;" then "value or price." The noun is probably used in the place of the adjective, in the sense of honorable, valued, precious; and it is not incorrectly rendered in the text "he is precious." The connection demands this interpretation. The apostle was not showing that it was an honor to believe on Christ, but was stating the estimate which was put on him by those who believe, as contrasted with the view taken of him by the world. The truth which is taught is that while the Lord Jesus is rejected by the great mass of men, he is regarded by all Christians as of inestimable value. (I.) Of the fact there can be no doubt. /Somehow, Christians perceive a value in him which is seen in nothing else. This is evinced (a) in their avowed estimate of him as their best friend; (6) in their being willing to commit to him the keeping of their souls, resting the whole question of their salvation on him alone; (c) in their readiness to keep his commands, and to serve him, while the mass of men disobey him; and (d) in their being willing to die for him. (II.) The reasons why he is so precious to them are such as these: (1.) They are brought into a condition where they can appreciate his worth. To see the value of food, we must be hungry; of clothing, we must be exposed to the winter's blast; of home, we must be wanderers without a dwelling-place; of medicine, we mustbesick; of competence, we must be poor. So, to see the value of the Saviour, we must see that we are poor, helpless, dying sinners; that the soul is of inestimable worth; that we have no merit of our own; and that unless some one interpose we must perish. Every one who becomes a true Christian is brought to this condition; and in this state he can appreciate the worth of the Saviour. In this respect Christians are not in the condition of the rest of mankind, for they are in no better state to appreciate the worth of the Saviour than the man in health is to appreciate the value of the healing art, or than he who has never had a want unsupplied the kindness of one who comes with an abundant supply of food. (2.) The Lord Jesus is in fact of more value to them than any other benefactor. We have had benefactors who have done us good, but none who have done us such good as he has. We have had parents, teachers, friends, who have provided for us, taught us, relieved us; but all that they have done for us is slight compared with what he has done. The fruit of their kindness, for the most part, pertains to the present world; and they have not laid down their lives for us. What he has done pertains to our welfare to all eternity: it is the fruit of the sacrifice of his own life. How precious should the name and memory of one be who has laid down his own life to save us! (3.) We owe all our hopes of heaven to him; and, in proportion to the value of such a hope, he is precious to us. We have no hope of sal-. vation but in him. Take that away— blot out the name and the work of the Redeemer, and we see no way in which we could be saved — we have no prospect of being saved. As our hope of heaven, therefore, is valuable to us, as it supports us in trial, as it comforts us in the hour of death, so is the Saviour precious; and the estimate which we form of him is in proportion

lowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which

to the value of such a hope. (4.) There is an intrinsic value and excellence in the character of Christ, apart from his relation to us, which makes him precious to those who can appreciate his worth. In his character, abstractly considered, there was more to attract, to interest, to love, than in that of any other one who has lived in our world. There was more purity, more benevolence, more that was great in trying circumstances, more that was generous and self-denying, more that resembled God, than in any other one who has appeared on the earth. In the moral firmament the character of Christ sustains a pre-eminence above all others who have lived, as great as the glory of the sun is superior to the feeble lights, though so numerous, which glimmer at midnight. With such views of him, it is not to be wondered at that, however he may be estimated by the world, " to them who believe he is precious." Tf But unto them which be disobedient. Literally, unwilling to be persuaded (aTmS-j/s); that is, those who refused to believe; who were obstinate or contumacious. Luke i. 17; Rom. i. 30. The meaning is, that to them he is made a stone against which they impinge. and ruin themselves. See Notes on ver. 8. IT The stone which the builders disallowed. Which they rejected, or refused to make a corner-stone. The allusion here, by the word "builders," is primarily to the Jews, represented as raising a temple of salvation, or building with reference to eternal life. They refused to lay this stone which God had appointed as the foundation of their hopes, but preferred some other foundation. See this passage explained in the Notes on Matt, xxi.' 42. Comp. Acts iv. 11; and Rom. ix. 33. Tf The same is made the liead of the corner. That is, though it is rejected by the mass of men, yet God has in fact made it the corner-stone on which the whole spiritual temple rests. Acts iv. 11, 12. However men may regard it, there is in fact no other hope of heaven than that which is founded on the Lord Jesus. If men are not saved by him, he becomes to them a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. 8. And a stone of stumbling. A stone over which they stumble, or against which they impinge. The idea seems to be that of a corner-stone which projects from the building, against which they dash themselves, and by which they are made to fall. See Notes on Matt. xxi. 44. The rejection of the Saviour becomes the means of their ruin. They refuse to build on him, and it is as if one should run against a solid projecting corner-stone of a house, that would certainly be the means of his destruction. Comp. Notes, Luke i. 34. An idea similar to this occurs in Matt. xxi. 44: "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken." The meaning is, that if this foundation-stone is not the means of their salvation, it will be of their ruin. It is not a matter of indifference whether they believe on him or not — whether they accept or reject him. They can not reject him without the most fearful consequences to their souls. H And a 1'ock of offense. This expresses substantially the same idea as the phrase "stone of stumbling." The word rendered "offense" (o-kccvSoXov) means properly "a trap-stick— a crooked stick on which the bait is fastened, which the animal strikes against, and so springs the trap" (Robinson, Lex.); then a trap, gin, snare; and then any thing which one strikes or stumbles against; a stumbling-block. It then denotes that which is the cause or occasion of ruin. This language would be strictly applicable to the Jews, who rejected the Saviour on account of his humble birth, and whose rejection of him was made the occasion of the destruction of their temple, city, and nation. But it is also applicable to all who reject him, from whatever cause; for their rejection of him will be followed with ruin to their souls. It is a crime for which God will judge them as certainly as he did the Jews who disowned him and crucified him, for the offense is substantially the same. What might have been, therefore, the means of their salvation is made the cause of their deeper condemnation. U Even to them which stumble at the word. To all who do this. That is, they take the same kind of offense at the Gospel which the Jews did at the Saviour himself. It is substantially the samething,and the consequences must be the same. How docs the conduct of the man who rejects the Saviour now differ from that of him who rejected him when he was on the earth? If Being disobedient. Ver. 7. The reason why they reject him is that they are not disposed to obey. They are solemnly commanded to believe the Gospel; and a refusal to do it, therefore, is as really an act of disobedience as it is to break any other command of God. IT Whereunto they were appointed («is o ical tTtSijaav). The word '"'•whereunto'''' means unto which. But unto what? It can not be supposed that- it means that they were " appointed" to believe on him and be saved by him, for (1) this would involve all the difficulty which is ever felt in the doctrine of decrees or election; for it would then mean that be had eternally designated them to be saved, which is the doctrine of predestination; and (2) if this were the true interpretation, the consequence would follow that God had been foiled in his plan; for the reference here is to those who would not be saved — that is, to those who ' ' stumble at that stumbling-stone," and are destroyed. Calvin supposes that it means "unto which rejection and destruction they were designated in the purpose of God." So Bloomfield renders it, " Unto which (disbelief) they were destined ' (Grit. Die), meaning, as he supposes, that "into this stumbling and disobedience they were permitted by God to fall." Doddridge interprets it, "to which also they were appointed by the righteous sentence of God long before, even as early as in his first purpose and decree he ordained his Son to be the great Foundation of his Church." Rosenmuller gives substantially the same interpretation. Clemens liomanus says that it means "that they were appointed, not that they should sin, but that, sinning, they should be punished." See Wetstein. So Macknight, " To which punishment they were appointed." Whitby gives the same interpretation of it, that because they were disobedient (referring, as he supposes, to the Jews who rejected the Messiah), " they were appointed, for the punishment of that disobedience, to fall and perish." Dr. Clarke supposes that it means th at they were prophesied of that they should thus fall; or that, long before, it was predicted that they would thus stumble and fall. In reference to the meaning of this' difficult passage, it is proper to observe that there is iu the Greek verb necessarily the idea of designation, appointment, puipose. There was some agency or intention by which they were put in that condition; some act of placing or appointing (the word Tt'^tjftt meaning to set, put, lay, lay down, appoint, constitute) by which this result was brought about. The fair sense, therefore, and one from which we can not escape, is that this did not happen by chance or accident, but that there was a divine arrangement, appointment, orplan on the part of God in reference to this result, and that the result was in conformity with that. So it is said in Jude 4, of a similar class of men: "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation." The facts were these: (1.) That God appointed his Son to be the corner-stone of his Church. (2.) That there was a portion of the world which, from some cause, would embrace him and be saved. (3.) That there was another portion who, it was certain, would not embrace him. (4.) That it was known that the appointment of the Lord Jesus as a Saviour would be the occasion of their rejectinghim, and of their deeper and more aggravated condemnation. (5.) That the arrangement was nevertheless made, with the understanding that all this would be so, and because it was best on the whole that it should be so, even though this consequence would follow. That is, it was better that the arrangement should be made for the salvation of men even with this result that a part would sink into deeper condemnation than that no arrangement should be made to save any. The primary and originating arrangement, therefore, did not contemplate them or their destruction, but was made with reference to others, notwithstanding they would reject him, and would fall. The expression whereunto (eis o) refers to this plan, as involving, under the circumstances, the result which actually followed. Their stumbling and falling was not a matter of chance, or a result which was not contemplated, but entered into the original arrangement; and the whole, therefore, might be said to be in accordance with a wise plan and purpose. And (6) it might be said, in this sense and in this conncc- tion, that those who would reject him were appointed to this stumbling and falling. It was what was foreseen, what entered into the general arrangement, what was involved in the purpose to save any. It was not a matter that was unforeseen that the consequence of giving a Saviour would be the condemnation of those who should crucify and reject him.; but the whole thing, as it actually occurred, entered into the divine arrangement. It may be added that as in the facts in the case nothing wrong has been done by God, and no one has been deprived of any rights or punished more than he deserves, it was not wrong in him to make the arrangement. It was better that the arrangement should be made as it is, even with this consequence, than that none at all should be made for human salvation. Comp. Notes on Rom. ix. 15-18; John xii. 39, 40. This is just a statement, in accordance with what every where occurs in the Bible, that all things enter into the eternal plans of God; that nothing happens by chance; that there is nothing that was not foreseen; and that the plan is such as, on the whole, God saw to be best and wise, and therefore adopted it. If there is nothing unjust and wrong in the actual development of the plan, there was nothing informing it. At the same time, no man who disbelieves and rejects the Gospel should take refuge in this as an excuse. He was "appointed 'Ho it no otherwise than as it actually occurs; and as those who reject the Saviour know that they are voluntary in doing it,they can not lay the blame of this on the purposes of God. They are not forced or compelled to do it; but it was seen that this consequence would follow, and the plan was laid to send the Saviour notwithstanding.

9. But ye are a chosen generation. In contradistinction from those who by their disobedience had rejected the Saviour as the foundation of hope. The people of God are often represented as his chosen or elected people. See Notes on chap. i. 2. U A royal priesthood. See Notes on ver. 5. The meaning of this is, probably, that they " at once bore the dignity of kings and the sanctity of priests." — Doddridge. Comp. Rev. i. 6: "And hath made us kings and priests unto God." See also Isa. lxi. 6: " But ye shall be named priests of the Lord; men shall call you ministers of our God." It may be, however, that the word royal is used only to denote the dignity of the priestly office which they sustained, or that they constituted, as it were, an entire nation or kingdom of priests. They were a kingdom over which he presided, and they were all priests, so that it might be said they were a kingdom of priests, a kingdom in which all the subjects were engaged in offering sacrifice to God. The "expression appears to be taken from Exod. xix. 6—" And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests" — and is such language as one who had been educated as a Jew would be likely to employ to set forth the dignity of those whom he regarded as the people of God. TM hoh/nation. This is also taken from Exod. xix. 6. The Hebrews were regarded as a nation consecrated to God, and now that they were cast off or rejected for their disobedience, the same language was properly applied to the people whom God had chosen in their place— the Christian Church. H A peadiar people. Comp. Notes on Titus ii. 14. The margin here is purchased. The word peculiar, in its common acceptation now, would mean that they were distinguished from others, or were singular. The reading in the margin would mean that they had been bought or redeemed. Both these things are so, but neither of them expresses the exact sense of the original. The Greek (Xccos tis irzpnroiiicriv) means, " a people for a possession;" that is, as pertaining to God. They are a people which he has secured as a possession, or as his own; a people therefore, which belong to him, and to no other. In this sense they are peculiar as being his; and, being such, it may be inferred that they should be peculiar in the sense of being unlike others in their manner of life. But that idea is not necessarily in the text. There seems to be here also an allusion to Exod. xix. 5: " Ye shall be a peculiar

show forth the ' praises of him who hath called you out of darkness * into his marvellous lijjht:

treasure with me [Sept. \ads Trsptouaios above all people." H That ye should show forth the praises of him. Marg., virtues. The Greek word (aptTtj) means properly good quality, excellence of any kind. It means here the excellences of God — his goodness, his wondrous deeds, or those things which make it proper to praise him. This shows one great object for which they were redeemed. It was that they might proclaim the glory of God, and keep up the remembrance of his wondrous deeds in the earth. This is to be done (a) by proper ascriptions of praise to him in public, family, and social worship; (6) by being always the avowed friends of God, ready ever to vindicate his government and ways; (c) by endeavoring to make known his excellences to those who are ignorant of him; and (d) by such a life as shall constantly proclaim his praise — as the sun, the moon, the stars, the hills, the streams, the flowers do — showing what God does. The consistent life of a devoted Christian is a constant setting forth of the praise of God, showing to all that the God who has made him such is worthy to be loved. 1 Who hath called you out of darkness into 7ns marvelous light. On the word called, see Notes on Eph. iv. 1. Darkness is the emblem of ignorance, sin, and misery, and refers here to their condition before their conversion. Light is the emblem of the opposite, and is a beautiful representation of the state of those who are brought to the knowledge of the Gospel. See Notes on Acts xxvi. 18. The word marvelous means wonderful; and the idea is that the light of the Gospel is smcli as is unusual, or not to be found elsewhere — as that excites wonder or surprise which we are not accustomed to see. The primary reference here is undoubtedly to those who had been heathens, and to the great change which had been produced by their having been brought to the knowledge of the truth as revealed in the Gospel; and, in regard to this, no one can doubt that the one state deserved to be characterized as darkness, and the other as light. The contrast was as great as that between midnight

10 Which6 in time past were not a people, but are now' the people of God: which had not obtained

and noon-day. But what is here said is substantially correct of all who are converted, and is often as strikingly true of those who have been brought up in Christian lands as of those who have lived among the heathen. The change in conversion is often so great and so rapid, the views and feelings are so different before and after conversion, that it seems like a sudden transition from midnight to noon. In all cases, also, of true conversion, though the change may not be so striking, or apparently so sudden, there is a change of which this may be regarded as substantially an accurate description. In many cases the convert can adopt this language in all its fullness as descriptive, of his own conversion; in all cases of genuine conversion it is true that each one can say that he has been called from a state in which his mind was dark to one in which it is comparatively clear.

10. Which in time past were not a people. That is, who formerly were not regarded as the people of God. There is an allusion here to the passage in Hosea ii. 23: "And I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." It is, however, a mere allusion, such as one makes who uses the language of another to express his ideas, without meaning to say that both refer to the same subject. In Hosea the passage refers evidently to the reception of one portion of the Israelites into favor after their rejection; in Peter it refers mainly to those who had been Gentiles, and who had never been recognized as the people of God. The language of the prophet would exactly express his idea, and he therefore uses it without intending to say that this was its original application. See it explained in the Notes on Rom. ix. 25. Comp. Notes on Eph. ii. 11, 12. T[ Which had not obtained mercy. That is, who had been living unpardoned, having no knowledge of the way by which sinners might be forgiven, and no evidence that their sins were forgiven. They were then in mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you the condition of the whole heathen world, and they had not then been acquainted with the glorious method by which God forgives iniquity.

11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. On the word rendered strangers (tcdpoitco<i), see Notes on Eph. ii. 19, where it is rendered foreigners. It denotes properly one dwelling near, neighboring; then a by-dweller, a sojourner, one without the rights of citizenship, as distinguished from a citizen; and it means here that Christians are not properly citizens of this world, but that their citizenship is in heaven, and that they are here mere sojourners. See Notes on Phil. iii. 20: "For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven." On the word rendered pilgrims {TraptTrih)fio^), see Notes on chap. i. 1; Heb. xi. 13. A pilgrim properly is one who travels to a distance from his own country to visit a holy place, or to pay his devotion to some holy object; then a traveler, a wanderer. The meaning here is that Christians have no permanent home on earth; that their citizenship is not here; that they are mere sojourners, and are passing on to their eternal home in the heavens. They should, therefore, act as becomes such persons, as sojourners and travelers do. They should not (a) regard the earth as their home; (6) they should not seek to acquire permanent possessions here, as if they were to remain here, but should act as travelers do, who merely seek a temporary lodging, without expecting permanently to reside in a place; (c) they should not allow any such attachments to be formed, or arrangements to be made, as to impede their journey to their final home, as pilgrims seek only a temporary lodging, and steadily pursue their journey; (d) even while engaged here in the necessary callings of life— their studies, their farming, their merchandise— their thoughts and affections should be on other things. One in a strange land thinks much of his country and home; a pilgrim, much of the land to which he goes; and even while his time and attention maybe necessarily occupied as strangers a and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, b which war c against the soul.

by the arrangements needful for the journey, his thoughts and affections will be far away, (e) We should not encumber ourselves with much of this world's goods. Many professed Christians get so many worldly things around them that it is impossible for them to make a journey to heaven. They burden themselves as no traveler would, and they make no progress. A traveler takes along as few things as possible, and a staff is often all that a pilgrim has. We make the most rapid progress in our journey to our final home when we are least encumbered with the things of this world. IT Abstain from fleshly lusts. Such desires and passions as the carnal appetites prompt to. See Notes on Gal. v. 19-21. A sojourner in a land, or a pilgrim, does not give himself up to the indulgence of sensual appetites or to the soft pleasures of the soul. All these would hinder his progress, and turn him off from his great design. Comp. Rom. xiii. 14; ■al. v. 24; 2 Tim. ii. 22; Titus ii. 12; 1 Pet. i. 14. 1 Which war against the soul. See Notes on Rom. v'iii. 12, 13. The meaning is, that indulgence in these things makes war against the nobler faculties of the soul; against the conscience, the understanding, the memory, the judgment, the exercise of a pure imagination. Comp. Notes on Gal. v. 17. There is not a faculty of the mind, however brilliant in itself, which will not be ultimately ruined by indulgence in the carnal propensities of our nature. The effect of intemperance on the noble faculties of the soul is well known; and, alas, there are too many instances in which the light of genius, in those endowed with splendid gifts, at the bar, in the pulpit, and in the senate, is extinguished by it, to need a particular description. But there is one vice pre-eminently, which prevails all over the heathen world (Comp.Notes on Rom. i. 27-29), and extensively in Christian lands, which more than all others blunts the moral sense, pollutes the memory, defiles the imagination, hardens the heart, and sends a withering influence through all the faculties of the soul.

12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that 1 whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your

" But oh! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling." From all these passions the Christian pilgrim is to abstain.

12. Having your conversation honest. Your conduct. See Notes on Phil. i. 27. That is, lead upright and consistent lives. Comp. Notes on Phil. iv. 8. Tf Among the Gentiles. The heathen by whom you are surrounded, and ■who will certainly observe your conduct. See Notes on 1 Thess. iv. 12: "That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without." Comp. Rom. xiii. 13. H That whereas they sjyeak against you as evil-doers. Marg.*, wherein. Gr., iv to — in what; either referring to time, and meaning that at the very time when they speak against you in this manner they may be silenced by seeing your upright lives, or meaning in respect to which; that is, that in respect to the very matters for which they reproach you they may see by your meek and upright conduct that there is really no ground for reproach. Wetstein adopts the former, but tfce question which is meant is not very important. Bloomfield supposes it to mean inasmuch, whereas. The sentiment is a correct one, whichever interpretation is adopted. It should be true that at the very time when the enemies of religion reproach us they should see that we are actuated by Christian principles; and also true that in the very matter for which we are reproached we are conscientious and honest. H They may, by your good works, which they shall behold. Gr., " Which they shall closely or narrowly inspect." The meaning is that upon a close and narrow examination they may see that you are actuated by upright principles, and ultimately be disposed to do you justice. It is to be remembered that the heathen were very little acquainted with the nature of Christianity; and it is known that good works," which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Submit b yourselves to every in the early ages they charged on Christians the most abominable vices, and even accused them of practices at which human nature revolts. The meaning of Peter is that, while they charged these things on Christians, whether from ignorance or malice, they ought so to live as that a more full acquaintance with them, and a closer inspection of their conduct, would disarm their prejudices, and show that their charges were entirely unfounded. The truth taught here is that our conduct as Christians should be such as to bear the strictest scrutiny, such that the closest examination will lead our enemies to the conviction that we are upright and honest. This may be done by every Christian; this his religion solemnly requires him to do. U Glorify God. Honor God; that is, that they may be convinced by your conduct of the pure and holy nature of that religion which he has revealed, and be led also to love and worship him. See Notes on Matt. v. 16. H In the day of visitation. Many different opinions have been entertained of the meaning of this phrase, some referring it to the day of judgment, some to times of persecution, some to the destruction of Jerusalem, and some to the time when the Gospel was preached among the Gentiles, as a period when God visited them with mercy. The word visitation {ettiokotn'i) means the act of visiting or being visited for any purpose, usually with the notion of inspecting conduct, of inflicting punishment,or of conferring favors. Comp. Matt. xxv. 36, 43; Luke i. 68, 78; vii. 16; xix. 44. In the sense of visiting for the purpose of punishing, the word is often used in the Sep- though there is no instance in which the word is so used in the New Testament, unless it be in the verse before us. The "visitation" here referred to is undoubtedly that of God; and the reference is to some time when he would make a "visitation" to men for some purpose, and when the fact that the Gentiles had narrowly in-

ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

spected the conduct of Christians would lead them to honor him. The only question is, to what visitation of that kind the apostle referred. The prevailing use of the word in the New Testament would seem to lead us to suppose that the "visitation" mentioned was to confer favors rather than to inflict punishment, and indeed the word seems to have somewhat of a technical character, and to have been familiarly used by Christians to denote God's coming to men to bless them, to pour out his Spirit upon them, to revive religion. This seems to me to be its meaning here; and, if so, the sense is that when God appeared among men to accompany the preaching of the Gospel with saving power, the result of the observed con- ' duct of Christians would be to lead those around them to honor him by giving up their hearts to him; that is, their consistent lives would be the means of the revival and extension of true religion. And is it not always so? Is not the pure and holy walk of Christians an occasion of his bending his footsteps down to earth to bless dying sinners, and to scatter spiritual blessings with a liberal hand? Comp. Notes on 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25.

13. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man. Gi\, u to every creation of man" (avSpunrivn kt'mtii). The meaning is to every institution or appointment of man; to wit, of those who are in authority, or who are appointed to administer government. Thelaws,institutes,andappointments of such a government may be spoken of as the creation of man; that is, as what man makes. Of course, what is here said must be understood with the limitation every where implied, that what is ordained by those in authority is not contrary to the law of God. See Notes on Acts iv. 19. On the general duty here enjoined of subjection to civil authority, see Notes on Rom. xiii. 1-7. 1[ For the Lord's sake. Because he has required it, and has intrusted this power to civil rulers. See Notes on Rom. xiii. 5. Comp. Notes on Eph. vi. 7. H Whether it be to the king. It has been commonly supposed that there is reference here

14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers,

to the Roman emperor, who might be called king, because in him the supreme power resided. Thecommon title of the Roman sovereign was, as used by the Greek writers (duTOKparwp), and among the Romans' themselves, imperator {emperor), but the title king was also given to the sovereign. John xix.15: "We have no king but Caesar." Acts xvii. 7: "And these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." Peter undoubtedly had particular reference to the Roman emperors, but he uses a general term, which would be applicable to all in whom the supreme power resided, and the injunction here would require submission to such authority, by whatever name it might be called. The meaning is that we are to be subject to that authority whether exercised by the sovereign in person or by those who are appointed by him. If As supreme. Not supreme in the sense of being superior to God, or not being subject to him, but in the sense of being over all subordinate officers.

14. Or unto governors. Subordinate officers, appointed by the chief magistrate, over provinces. Perhaps Roman proconsuls are here particularly intended. IT As unto them that are sent by him. By the king, or the Roman emperor. They represent the supreme power. 1 For the punishment of evildoers. One of the leading ends of government. " The Roman governors had the power of life and death in such conquered provinces as those mentioned in chap. i. 1." — Doddridge. Ulpian, the celebrated Roman lawyer, who flourished two hundred years after Christ, thus describes the power of the governors of the Roman prov-

inces: "It is the duty of a good and vigilant president to see to it that his province be peaceable and quiet. And that he ought to make diligent search after sacrilegious persons, robbers, man-stealers, and thieves, and to punish every one according to their guilt." Again, ' ' They who govern whole provinces have the power of sending to the mines." And again, " The presidents of provinces have the highest authority next to the emperor."

and for the praise of them that do well 15 For so is the will of God, that

a with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, * and not 1 using your

Peter has described the office of the Roman governors in language nearly resembling that of Ulpian. See Lardner's Credibility (Works, i.,77, ed. 8vo, Lond., 1829). If And for the praise of them that do well Praise here stands opposed to punisJunent, and means commendation, applause, reward: That is, it is a part of their business to reward in a suitable manner those who are upright aud virtuous. This would be by protecting their persons and property, by defending their rights, and perhaps by admitting those to share the honors and emoluments of office who showed that they were worthy to be trusted. It is as important a part of the functions of magistrates to protect the innocent as it is to punish the wicked.

15. For so is the will of God. That is, it is in accordance with the divine will that in this way you should put them to silence. T[ That with well doing. By a life of uprightness and benevolence. IF Ye may pittto silence the ignorance of foolish men. See Notes on Titus ii. 8. The reference here is to men who brought charges against Christians, by accusing them of being inimical to the government, or insubordinate, or guilty of crimes. Such charges, it is well known, were often brought against them by their enemies in the early periods of Christianity. Peter says they were brought by foolish men, perhaps using the word foolish in the sense of evil-disposed, or wicked, as it is often used in the Bible. Yet, though there might be malice at the bottom, the charges were really based on ignorance. Those who brought them were not thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the Christian religion; and the way to meet those charges was to act in every way as became good citizens, and so as "to live them down." One of the best ways of meeting the accusations of our enemies is to lead a life of strict integrity. It is not easy for the wicked to reply to this argument.

16. As free. That is, they were to consider themselves as freemen; as having a right to liberty. The Jews boasted much of their independence, and regarded it as a birthright privilege that they were free. John viii. 33. They never willingly acknowledged their subjection to any other power, but claimed it as an elementary idea of their civil constitution that God only was their sovereign. They were indeed conquered by the Romans, and paid tribute, but they did it because they were compelled to do it, and it was even a question much debated among them whether they should do it or not. Matt. xxii. 17. Josephus has often referred to the fact that the Jews rebelled against the Romans under the plea that they were a free people, and that they were subject only to God. This idea of essential freedom the Jews had when they became Christians, and every thing in Christianity tended to inspire them with the love of liberty. Those who were converted to the Christian faith, whether from among the Jews or the Gentiles, were made to feel that they were the children of God; that his law was the supreme rule of their lives; that in the ultimate resort they were subject to him alone; that they were redeemed, and that therefore the yoke of bondage could not be properly imposed on them; that God " had made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts xvii. 26), and that, therefore, all were on a level before him. The meaning here is that they were not to consider themselves as slaves, or to act as slaves. In their subjection to civil authority they were not to forget that they were freemen in the highest sense, and that liberty was an invaluable blessing. They had been made free by the Son of God. John viii. 32, 36. They were free from sin and condemnation. They acknowledged Christ as their supreme Head, and the whole spirit and tendency of his religion prompted to the exercise of freedom. They were not to submit to the chains of slavery; they were not to allow their consciences to be bound, or their essential liberty to be interfered with; and in their subjection to the civil magistrate they were never to regard themselves otherwise than as freemen. As a matter of fact, Christianity has al- liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honour * all a men. Love6 the brotherhood. Fear "God. Honour the king/* 18 Servants, e he subject to your ways been the friend and promoter of liberty. Its influence emancipated the slaves throughout the Roman empire, and all the civil freedom which we enjoy, and all which there is in the world, can be traced to the influence of the Christian religion. To spread the Gospel in its purity every where would be to break every yoke of oppression and bondage, and to make men every where free. It is the essential right of every man who is a Christian to be a freeman— -to be free to worship God; to read the Bible; to enjoy the avails of his own labor; to train up his children in the way in which he shall deem best; to form his own plans of life, and to pursue his own ends, provided only that he does not interfere with the equal rights of others— and every system which prevents this, whether it be that of civil government, of ecclesiastical law, or of domestic slavery, is contrary to the religion of the Saviour. ^ And not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness. Marg., as in Greek, having. Not making your freedom a mere pretext under which to practice all kinds of evil. The word rendered maliciousness (ica/cia) means more than our word maliciousness does; for it denotes evil of any kind, or all kinds; the word maliciousness refers rather to enmity of heart, ill-will, an intention to injure. The apostle has reference to an abuse of freedom which has often occurred under a pretext of religious liberty. The pretense of those who have acted in this manner has been that the freedom of the Gospel implies deliverance from all kinds of" restraint; that Christians are under no yoke, and bound by no laws; that, being the children of God, they have a right to all kinds of enjoyment and indulgence; that even the moral law ceases to bind them, and that they have a right to make the most of liberty in all respects. Hence such persons have given themselves up to all sorts of sensual indulgence, claiming exemption from the restraints of morality as well as of civil law, and sinking into the deepest abyss of vice. Not a few have done this who have professed to be Christians; and occasionally a fanatical sect now appears who make the freedom which they say Christianity confers a pretext for indulgence in the most base and degrading vices. The apostles saw this tendency in human nature, and in nothing are they more careful than to guard against this abuse. ^ But as the servants of God. Not free from all restraint, not at liberty to indulge in all things, but bound to serve God in the faithful obedience of his laws. Thus bound to obey and serve him, they could not be at liberty to indulge in those things which would be in violation of his laws, and which would dishonor him. See this sentiment explained in the Notes on 1 Cor. vii. 22; ix. 21.

17. Honor all men. That is, show them the respect which is due to them according to their personal worth, and to the rank and office which they sustain. See Notes on Rom. xiii. 7. H Love the brotherhood. The whole fraternity of Christians, regarded as a band of brothers. The word here used occurs only in this place and in chap. v. 9, where it is rendered brethren. The idea expressed here occurs often in the New Testament. See Notes on John xiii. 34, 35. If Fear God. A duty every where enjoined in the Bible as one of the first duties of religion. Comp. Lev. xxv. 17; Psa. xxiii. 18; xxiv. 7; xxv. 14; Prov. i. 7; hi. 13; ix. 10; xxiii. 17. See also Notes on Rom. iii. 18; 2 Cor. vii. 1. The word fear, when used to express our duty to God, means that we are to reverence and honor him. Religion, in one aspect, is described as the fear of God; in another, as the love of God; in another, as submission to his will, etc. A holy veneration or fear is always an elementary principle of religion. It is the fear, not so much of punishment as of his disapprobation; not so much the dread of suffering as the dread of doing wrong. H Honor the king. Referring here primarily to the Roman sovereign, but implying that we are always to respect those who have the rule over us. See Notes on Rom. xiii. 1-7. The doctrine taught in these verses (13-17) is that we are faithfully to perform all the relative duties of life. There are duties which we owe to ourselves, which are of importance in their place, and which we are by no means at liberty to neglect. But we also owe duties to our fellowmen, to our Christian brethren, and to those who have the rule over us; and religion, while it is honored by our faithful performance of our duty to ourselves, is more openly honored by our performance of our duties to those to whom we sustain important relations iu life. Many of the duties which we owe to ourselves are, from the nature of the case, hidden from public observation. All that pertains to the examination of the heart, to our private devotions, to the subjugation of our evil passions, to our individual communion with God, must be concealed from public view. Not so, however, with those duties which pertain to others. In respect to them we are open to public view. The eye of the world is upon us. The judgment of the world in regard to us is made up from their observation of the manner in which we perform them. If religion fail there, they judge that it fails altogether; and however devout we may be in private, if it is not seen by the world that our religion leads to the faithful performance of the duties which we owe in the various relations of life, it will be regarded as of little value.

18. Servants, be subject to your masters. On the duty here enjoined, see Notes on Eph. vi. 5-9. The Greek word here used (oiKtVai) is not the same which is employed in Ephesians (SovXoi). The word here means properly domestics— those employed about a house, or living in the same house — from okos, house. These persons may have been slaves, but there is no evidence in the word used that they were. That word would apply to them whether they were hired or whether they were owned as slaves. The word should not and can not be employed to prove that slavery existed in the churches to which Peter wrote, and still less to prove that he approved of slavery or regarded it as a good institution. The exhortation here would be, and still is, strictly applicable to any persons employed as domestics, though they had voluntarily hired themselves out to be such. It would be incumbent on them, while they remained in that condition, to perform with fidelity their duties as Christians, and to bear with Christian meekness all the wrongs which they might suffer from those in whose service they were. Those who are hired, and who are under a necessity of "going out to service" for a living, are not always free from hard usage, for there are trials incident to that condition of life which can not be always avoided. It might be better, in many cases, to bear much than to attempt a change of situation, even though they were entirely at liberty to do so. It must be admitted, however, that the exhortation here will have more force if it is supposed that the reference is to slaves, and there can be no doubt that many of this class were early converted to the Christian faith. The word here rendered masters (Seo-jroTais) is not the same which is used in Eph. vi. 5 (kvpioi's). Neither of these words necessarily implies that those who were under them were slaves. The word here used is applicable to the head of a family, whatever may be the condition of those under him. It is frequently applied to God, and to Christ; and it can not be maintained that those to whom God sustains the relation of <5£o-7roTf]9, or master, are slaves. See Luke ii. 29; Acts iv. 24; 2 Tim. ii. 21; 2 Pet. ii. 1; Jude 4; Rev. vi. 10. The word, indeed, is one that might be applied to those who were owners of slaves. If that be the meaning here, it is not said, however, that those to whom it is applied were Christians. It is rather implied that they were pursuing such a course as was inconsistent with real piety. Those who were under them are represented as suffering grievous wrongs. 1 With all fear. That is, with all proper reverence and respect. See Notes on Eph. vi. 5. '1 Not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. The word rendered froward (cr/coXtos) means properly crooked, bent; then perverse, wicked, unjust, peevish. Any one who is a servant or domestic is liable to be employed in the service of such a master; but while the relation continues, the servant should perform his duty with fidelity, whatever may be the character of the master. Slaves are certainly liable to this; and even those who voluntarily engage as servants to others can not always be sure that masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 19 For this is l thank-worthy, if a they will have kind employers. Though the terms used here do not necessarily imply that those to whom the apostle gave this direction were slaves, yet it may be presumed that they probably were, since slavery abounded throughout the Roman empire; but the directions will apply to all who are engaged in the service of others, and are therefore of permanent value. Slavery will sooner or later, under the influence of the Gospel, wholly cease in the world, and instructions addressed to masters and slaves will have no permanent value; but it will always be true that there will be those employed as domestics, and it is. the duty of all who are thus engaged to evince true fidelity and a Christian spirit themselves, whatever may be the character of their employers.

19. For this is thank-worthy. Marg., thank. Gr., This is grace (x«/ois). Doddridge renders the expression, "This is graceful indeed." Various interpretations of this expression have been proposed, but the meaning evidently is that it is acceptable to God (see ver. 20: "This is acceptable to God" — X"i°ts 7raPa ®£t?); that is, this will be regarded by him with favor. It does not mean that it was worthy of thanks, or that God would thank them for doing it (comp. Luke xvii. 9, 10), but that such conduct would meet with his approbation. H If a man for conscience toward God. If, in the conscientious discharge of his duty, or if, in the endurance of this wrong, he regard himself as serving God. That is, if he feel that God, by his providence, has placed him in the circumstances in which he is, and that it is a duty which he owes to him to bear every trial incident to that condition with a submissive spirit. If he do this, he will evince the true nature of religion, and will be graciously accepted of God. If Endure grief. That is, endure that which is fitted to produce grief or that which is wrong. ^Suffering wrongfully. Suffering injury, or where there is injustice (irdexwv adiKws). This, though a general

20 For what glory is it, if, when

remark, has particular reference to servants, and to their duty in the relation which they sustain to their masters. In view of what is here said, we may remark, (1.) That if this have reference to slaves, as has been usually supposed, it proves that they are very liable to be abused, that they have little or no security against being wronged, and that it was a special and very desirable characteristic of those who were in that condition to be able to bear wrong with a proper spirit. It is impossible so to modify slavery that this shall not be the case; for the whole system is one of oppression, and there can be nothing which will effectually secure the slave from being ill-treated. (2.) It would follow from this passage, if this refer to slavery, that that is a very hard and undesirable condition of life; for that is a very undesirable condition where the principal virtue which they who are in it are required to exercise is patience under urrongs. Such a condition can not be in accordance with the Gospel, and can not be designed by God to be permanent. The relation of parent and child is never thus represented. It is never said or implied in the Scriptures that the principal virtue to which children are exhorted is patience under wrongs; nor in addressing them is it ever supposed that the most prominent thing in their condition is that they would need the exercise of such patience. (3.) It is acceptable to God if we bear wrong with a proper spirit, from whatever quarter it may come. Our proper business in life is to do the will of God; to evince the right spirit, however others may treat us, and to show, even under excessive wrong, the sustaining power and the excellence of true religion. Each one who is oppressed and wronged, therefore, has an eminent opportunity to show a spirit which will honor the Gospel; and the slave and the martyr may do more to honor the Gospel than if they were both permitted to enjoy liberty and life undisturbed. 20. For what glory is it. What hon- shall take it patiently? but if, when ye <1<> well, and suffer for it, \c take it patiently, thisaw acceptable ' with God.

or or credit would it be? II Jf, when ye be buffeted for your faults. That is, if you lire punished when you deserve it. The word buffet (Ko\acpLZ)u>) means to strike with the fist; and then to strike in any way; to maltreat. Matt, xxvi. 67: Mark xiv. 65; 1 Cor. iv. 11; 2 Cor. xii. 7. Perhaps there may be a reference here to the manner in which servants were commonly treatccl,or the kind of punishment to which they were exposed. They would be likely to be struck in sudden anger, either by the hand or by any thing that was accessible. The word rendered "for your faults" is sinning (anapTavovrfx). That is, "if being guilty of an offense, or having done wrong." The idea is, that if they were justly punished, and should take it patiently, there would be no credit or honor in it. H Ye shall take it patiently. " If even then you evince an uncomplaining spirit, and bear it with the utmost calmness and patience, it would be regarded as comparatively no virtue, and as entitling you to no honor. The feeling of all who saw it would be that you deserved it, and there would be nothing to excite their sympathy or compassion. The patience evinced might indeedbe as great as in the other case, but there would be the feeling that you deserved all that you received, and the spirit evinced in that case could not be regarded as entitled to any particular praise. If your masters inflict on yon only what you deserve, it would be in the highest degree shameful for you to rise up against them and resist them, for it would be only adding to the wrong which you have already done." The expression here is doubtless to be understood comparatively. The meaning is not that absolutely there would be no more credit due to one wiio should bear his punishment patiently when he had done wrong than if he had met it with resistance and murmuring, but that there is very little credit in that compared with the patience which an innocent person evinces who, from regard to the will of God, and by control over all

21 For even hereunto * were ye called: because Christ also suffered 2 for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow e his steps:

the natural feelings of resentment, meekly endures wrong. This expresses the common feeling of our nature. We attribute no particular credit to one who submits to a just punishment even with a calm temper. We feel that it would be wrong for him to do otherwise. So it is when calamities are brought on a man on account of his sins. If it is seen that they are the fruit of intemperance or crime, we do not feel that there is any great virtue exhibited if he bear his sufferings with a calm temper. But if he is overwhelmed with calamity when it seems to have no particular connection with his sins, or to be a punishment for any particular fault; if he suffer at the hand of man where there is manifest injustice done him, and yet evince a calm, submissive, and meek temper, we feel that in such cases there is eminent virtue. H This is acceptable with God. Marg., as in ver. 19, thank. It is that which is agreeable to him, or with which he is pleased.

21. For even hereunto were ye called. Such a spirit is required by the very nature of your Christian vocation; you were called into the Church in order that you might evince it. See Notes on 1 Thess. iii. 3. H Because Christ also suffered for us. Marg., "Some read, for you.'1 The latest editions of the Greek Testament adopt the reading "for you." The sense, however, is not essentially varied. The object is to hold up the example of Christ to those who were called to suffer, and to say to them that they should bear their trials in the same spirit that he evinced in his. See Notes on Phil. iii. 10. H Leaving us an example. The apostle does not say that this was the only object for which Christ suffered, but that it was an object, and an important one. The word rendered example (uiroypa/uLPLov) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means properly a writing copy, such as is set for children; then an outline or sketch for a painter to fill up; and then, in general, an example, a pattern for imitation.* 1 That ice should walk in h is steps. That we should/oftow him,

22 Who a did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered,

he threatened not; but committed 1 himself to him that6judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare e our asifwe trod exactly along behind him, and placed our feet precisely where his had been. The meaning is, that there should be the closest imitation or resemblance. The things in which we are to imitate him are specified in the following verses.

22. Who did no sin. Who was in all respects perfectly holy. There is an allusion here to Isa. liii. 9: " Because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." The sense is that he was entirely innocent, and that he suffered without having committed any crime. In this connection the meaning is that we are to be careful that if we suffer it shall be without committing any crime. We should so live, as the Saviour did, as not to deserve to be punished, and thus only shall we entirely follow his example. It is as much our duty to live so as not to deserve the reproaches of others as it is to bear them with patience when we are called to suffer them. The first thing in regard to hard treatment from others is so to live that there shall be no just occasion for it; the next is, if reproaches come upon us when we have not deserved them, to bear them as the Saviour did. If he suffered unjustly, we should esteem it to be no strange thing that we should; if he bore the wrongs done him with meekness, we should learn that it is possible for us to do it also; if he did this, we have not the spirit of his religion unless we actually do it. On the expression here used, comp. Notes on Isa. liii. 9; Heb. vii. 26. 1" Neither was guile found in his mouth. There was no deceit, hypocrisy, or insincerity. He was in all respects what he professed to be, and he imposed on no one by a false and unfounded claim. All this has reference to the time when the Saviour was put to death, and the sense is that though he was condemned as an impostor, yet that the charge was wholly unfounded. As in his whole life before he was perfectly sincere, so he was eminently on that solemn occasion.