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1 Peter

1 Peterchapter 5

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Speaks with:James 4×4James 1×1Proverbs 3×1Romans 12×1Luke 14×1Proverbs 29×1

Summary

Chapter summary

Peter writes to elders as a fellow-elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ: 'Tend the flock of God which is among you… not of constraint, but willingly; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock' (5:2-3), and when the chief Shepherd is manifested, you shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. Gird yourselves with humility, for Proverbs 3 stands again. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, 'casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you' (5:7). Then the watchword: 'Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.'

Context

Epistle · Peter — 1 Peter overview

  • A. 1–4 Shepherd the Flock, Not for Filthy Lucre
  • B. 5–11 Humble Yourselves; Your Adversary Prowls
  • C. 12–14 Silvanus, Babylon, and a Kiss of Love

The outline

  1. A.Shepherd the Flock, Not for Filthy Lucrevv. 1 to 4

    Read vv. 1 to 4 →

  2. B.Humble Yourselves; Your Adversary Prowlsvv. 5 to 11

    Read vv. 5 to 11 →

  3. C.Silvanus, Babylon, and a Kiss of Lovevv. 12 to 14

    Read vv. 12 to 14 →

Threads

Each of these runs on past this chapter. The passage you have just read is marked.

Suffering, then glory

Pattern

1 Peter reads the whole Christian life on the shape the prophets searched out: the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Every chapter of the letter walks its readers through the fire toward the far side of it.

Peter writes to churches entering Nero's decade, and he does not promise escape; he promises sequence. Because the pattern is Christ's own, suffering for the name is not a sign that grace failed but the road glory has always taken.

  1. 1 Peter 1:11

    The prophets' own study

    The Spirit of Christ in them testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

  2. 1 Peter 2:21

    Leaving us an example

    Christ also suffered for us, that ye should follow his steps.

  3. 1 Peter 3:18

    The just for the unjust

    Christ also hath once suffered for sins, that he might bring us to God.

  4. 1 Peter 4:13

    Partakers of Christ's sufferings

    When his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

  5. 1 Peter 5:10 you are here

    After ye have suffered a while

    The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

The world behind this chapter

1 Peter 5
When
The years just before Nero's persecution · c. AD 62–64
Where
Final charges to elders and young men, and greetings from the church in 'Babylon'
Who first heard it
Congregational leaders taking risk on behalf of people who could not protect them

The history

Shepherding was hard, low-status work. A shepherd slept out with the flock, fought off predators, carried injured animals, and was distrusted in town; the picture of a leader as a shepherd was not a compliment about dignity but a description of labor.

The warning against being in it for dishonest gain fits the era. Traveling religious teachers commonly lived off their followers, and a congregation's common fund for widows and the poor sat under the elders' hands.

The crown promised is a wreath, the victor's garland from the games or the honor given a benefactor at a civic ceremony. Everyone had seen one placed on someone's head; this one is described as unfading, which no leaf wreath ever was.

The lion image had bite in Rome. Wild beasts were used in the arena, and the sound of a lion was something residents of a city with games had actually heard. Peter's greeting from 'Babylon' is understood by nearly all readers, ancient and modern, as a coded name for Rome — the great city that had again taken God's people captive.

What it meant to them

Elders standing in front of a threatened congregation were told they were under-shepherds serving a chief Shepherd who would appear. That put a ceiling on their authority and a floor under their courage.

The last words are a set of hands on shoulders: cast your anxiety on him, because he cares for you; your brothers throughout the world are going through the same. Neither line is abstract for people who felt alone in their town.

Sources cited

  • Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
  • Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History

Every work MannaFest builds on →

The text of this chapter

This page carries no textual note on 1 Peter 5. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →

Connections from this chapter

v. 5 · Written to them

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God

topics/pride→

MannaFest topical index

v. 7 · Written to them

Casting all your care upon him

topics/anxiety→

MannaFest topical index

v. 8 · Written to them

Whom resist steadfast in the faith

topics/temptation→

MannaFest topical index

v. 10 · Written to them

God of all grace: stablish, strengthen, settle

topics/restoration→

MannaFest topical index

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.

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