1 Peter 5:1-4 · Featured Study
ASVShepherd the Flock
Peter writes to church leaders as one of their own, not as an apostle giving orders. In four verses he sets the whole shape of church leadership: a flock that belongs to Christ, an oversight given willingly and without profit, and an example set rather than a rule enforced. This page walks 1 Peter 5:1-4 in order, then closes with the Greek behind three of its key words.
Summary
In 1 Peter 5:1-4 Peter, calling himself a fellow-elder rather than an apostle, charges church elders to shepherd God's flock willingly and without profit, never lording authority over the people in their charge, but leading by example until the chief Shepherd appears.
- Peter opens as "a fellow-elder," not "an apostle who commands": the tone of the charge matches its content
- The flock belongs to God, not to the elder (5:2); oversight is a stewardship, never a possession
- Two motives are named and refused: acting "by constraint" and acting "for filthy lucre" (5:2)
- "Lording it over the charge" (5:3) uses the same Greek word Jesus forbade His own disciples in Matthew 20:25
- The chief Shepherd's appearing (5:4) sets every under-shepherd's authority under a higher one, still to come
Peter's Own Identity
5:1: apostle, fellow-elder, witness of the sufferings
The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:An apostle chooses to write as a fellow-elder, not to command as an apostle.
Peter had every ground to write with apostolic authority. He does not. He calls himself “a fellow-elder,” standing beside the men he is about to charge rather than above them, and names two things that qualify him to speak: he witnessed Christ’s sufferings, and he shares in the glory still to be revealed. The tone of the whole passage is set in this first verse, before a single instruction is given.
KINDLY notice, dear Friends, the Apostle's great gentleness. Peter was not always thus gentle, but the Spirit of God had rested upon him and now he writes with much tenderness. He does not say, "As an Apostle, I command," but, "As an elder, I exhort." It is always well to combine the suaviter in modo with the fortiter in re, that is, suavity in our method blended with strength in the thing, itself.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2610, 1899Reformed Baptist
1 Peter 5:1
I who am a fellow-elder - So the first though not the head of the apostles appositely and modestly styles himself. And a witness of the sufferings of Christ - Having seen him suffer, and now suffering for him.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Wesleyan
1 Peter 5:1
His higher dignity as an apostle is herein delicately implied, as eye-witnessing was a necessary qualification for apostleship: compare Peter's own speeches, Ac 1:21, 22; 10:39. also--implying the righteous recompense corresponding to the sufferings. partaker of the glory--according to Christ's promise; an earnest of which was given in the transfiguration.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
1 Peter 5:1
The Flock of God
5:2a: whose flock it is, and what tending it means
Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;"The flock of God which is among you": the possession is named before the task is.
Before Peter says how to shepherd, he says whose sheep they are. The flock is “of God,” entrusted to elders, not owned by them. The word rendered “taking the oversight” is the verb behind the noun “bishop,” and Adam Clarke notes that in the apostolic age bishop and elder named the same office, before the terms later separated.
The elders which are among you I exhort - The word "elder" means, properly, "one who is old;" but it is frequently used in the New Testament as applicable to the officers of the church; probably because aged persons were at first commonly appointed to these offices. See Act 11:30, note; Act 14:23, note; Act 15:2, note. There is evidently an allusion here to the fact that such persons were selected on account of their age, because in the following verses (1Pe 5:4) the apostle addresses particularly the younger.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832-1869Evangelical
1 Peter 5:1
In the Greek the meaning is still plainer, for the word used is episkopeuontes, that is to say, "overseeing," and this is the origin of the word bishop.
Jerome· Letters, no. 146, 420Early Church
1 Peter 5:2
Feed the flock - Do not fleece the flock. Taking the oversight - Επισκοπουντες· Discharging the office of bishops or superintendents. This is another proof that bishop and presbyter were the same order in the apostolic times, though afterwards they were made distinct.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Methodist
1 Peter 5:2
Not by Constraint, Not for Filthy Lucre
5:2b: two wrong motives, named and refused
Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;"Not of constraint, but willingly... nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind."
Peter names the wrong reasons before he names the right ones. Oversight taken up out of pressure, rather than willingness, is the first thing ruled out. Oversight taken up for money is the second. JFB reads “the flock is Christ’s” as the ground under both refusals: an elder who remembers whose sheep these are does not need to be forced, and does not need to be paid to care.
The flock is Christ's. which is among you--While having a concern for all the Church, your special duty is to feed that portion of it "which is among you." oversight--Greek, "bishopric," or duty of bishops, that is, overseer. not by constraint--Necessity is laid upon them, but willingness prevents it being felt, both in undertaking and in fulfilling the duty [BENGEL].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
1 Peter 5:2
Not for filthy gain - Which, if it be the motive of acting, is filthy beyond expression. O consider this, ye that leave one flock and go to another, merely because there is more gain, a large salary! Is it not astonishing that men can see no harm in this? that it is not only practiced, but avowed, all over the nation?
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Wesleyan
1 Peter 5:2
Not Lording It Over
5:3: ensamples to the flock, not lords over it
neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock."Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock."
Peter closes the negative side of the charge with the strongest word in the passage. “Lording it over” translates the same Greek verb Jesus used when He told His own disciples not to rule the way the Gentile rulers rule (Matthew 20:25, Mark 10:42). The positive instruction replaces it directly: not a lord over the flock, but an example in front of it.
Neither as lording over the heritage - Behaving in a haughty, domineering manner, as though you had dominion over their conscience. The word translated heritage, is, literally, the portions. There is one flock under the one chief Shepherd; but many portions of this, under many pastors.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755Wesleyan
1 Peter 5:3
Neither as being lords - Margin, “overruling.” The word here used (κατακυριεύω katakurieuō) is rendered “exercise dominion over,” in Mat 20:25; exercise lordship over, in Mar 10:42; and overcame, in Act 19:16. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It refers properly to that kind of jurisdiction which civil rulers or magistrates exercise. This is an exercise of authority, as contradistinguished from the influence of reason, persuasion, and example. The latter pertains to the ministers of religion; the former is forbidden to them.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832-1869Evangelical
1 Peter 5:3
The Chief Shepherd's Appearing
5:4: every under-shepherd, under a higher one
And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away."The chief Shepherd": a title used nowhere else in the New Testament.
The whole charge rests on one fact: the elders are not the last word. A chief Shepherd is coming, and every elder who tended the flock in His name answers to Him. JFB notes that the crown promised here is a different Greek word from a king’s own crown, a wreath rather than a diadem, incorruptible where an earthly one fades. The full study of the shepherd image across Scripture, from Psalm 23 to John 10 to this verse, belongs to The Shepherd, not repeated here.
Our crown is distinguished from theirs in that it is "incorruptible" and "fadeth not away," as the leaves of theirs soon did. "The crown of life." Not a kingly "crown" (a different Greek word, diadema): the prerogative of the Lord Jesus (Re 19:12). glory--Greek, "the glory," namely, to be then revealed (1Pe 5:1;
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
1 Peter 5:4
The Whole Flock's Answer
5:5-7: where the charge to elders leads next
Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.Humility answers the elders' example, on every side of the relationship.
Peter does not stop with the elders. The chapter turns next to the younger, then to the whole church, asking the same humility of everyone that he has just asked of the leaders. “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble,” on both sides of the relationship. This page carries the charge to elders in 5:1-4; the verses that follow, humility and resisting the devil, are the flock’s own half of the same passage and are named here for the reader who wants to keep reading, not re-exposited on this page.
The Words Underneath
the Greek this passage turns on
Three Greek words carry most of the passage’s weight, each behind an English word or phrase the ASV renders plainly.
The words underneath
archipoimen: chief shepherd
Greek · G750Strong's entry: a head shepherd
5:4's own title: archipoimēn, chief shepherd. Used nowhere else in the New Testament, set over the ordinary elders and shepherds of 5:1-2.
1 times in the New Testament · archipoimen, in full →
episkopeo: to oversee/care for
Greek · G1983Strong's entry: to oversee; by implication, to beware
5:2's verb, "taking the oversight": episkopeō. The root behind the noun episkopos, bishop, and the origin of the English word.
2 times in the New Testament · episkopeo, in full →
katakyrieuo: to master
Greek · G2634Strong's entry: to lord against, i.e. control, subjugate
5:3's word, "lording it over": katakyrieuō. The same verb Jesus forbade His disciples in Matthew 20:25 and Mark 10:42.
4 times in the New Testament · katakyrieuo, in full →
The Voices
with the work named
Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755) · public domain
Marks Peter's own choice to style himself "fellow-elder" rather than apostle, and names the filthy gain of a hireling ministry outright.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869) · public domain
Traces katakyrieuō, "lording it over," to its only other New Testament occurrences, and reads it as the authority of a civil ruler, forbidden to a pastor.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) · public domain
States plainly that the flock belongs to Christ, not to the elder, and distinguishes the crown of glory from a king's own diadem.
Commentary on the Bible (1832) · public domain
Renders the charge in four words that carry the whole passage: "feed the flock, do not fleece the flock."
Letters, no. 146 (c. 420) · public domain
Names the Greek word behind "taking the oversight" as the root of the word bishop itself.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2610 (1899) · CCEL edition
Preaches Peter's own gentleness in this verse: an apostle who chose to write as a fellow-elder, not to command as an apostle.
Marcus Brown's own commentary leads above all; within a tier, all voices are equal. No modern in-copyright pastoral voice with a specific, verifiable citation on this exact text was found in hand; none is named.
Where it leads
Featured studies10
- The Good Shepherd: the chief Shepherd this passage names
- The Lord Is My Shepherd: Psalm 23's own shepherd
- The Shepherd: the image across the whole canon
- The Church: the flock this passage describes
- Bearing One Another's Burdens, MannaFest
- Food Offered to Idols, MannaFest
- Marriage, Singleness, and Divorce: 1 Corinthians 7, MannaFest
- Put Off, Put On, MannaFest
- Ready to Give an Answer, MannaFest
- The Governing Authorities, MannaFest
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