1 Peter 1:18
in 1 Peter 1For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers;
KJV
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
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This verse in 1 Peter 1
Commentary
3 notes on this verseYe were not redeemed with corruptible things - To redeem, λυτροω, signifies to procure life for a captive or liberty for a slave by paying a price, and the precious blood of Christ is here stated to be the price at which the souls of both Jews and Gentiles were redeemed; is was a price paid down, and a price which God’s righteousness required. Corruptible things mean here any thing that man usually gives in exchange for another; but the term necessarily includes all created things, as all these are corruptible and perishing.
This site's exposition
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold
on 1 Peter 1:18-19
Redemption is priced against the readers' own former life, not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from a vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, a pointed line for readers whose inherited religion, pagan or merely formal, offered no real ransom. The price given instead is the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the Passover lamb's own qualifications, Exodus 12:5, applied to the Lamb of God. The redemption imagery, agorazo, buying out of the marketplace, states the cost of the readers' freedom in the most concrete terms the letter uses.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Man is "sold under sin" as a slave; shut up under condemnation and the curse. The ransom was, therefore, paid to the righteously incensed Judge, and was accepted as a vicarious satisfaction for our sin by God, inasmuch as it was His own love as well as righteousness which appointed it.
The words behind it
14 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἰδότες | eidotes | knowing | ||
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| φθαρτοῖς, | phthartois | by perishable things — | G5349 → | |
| ἀργυρίῳ | argurio | by silver | G694 → | |
| ἢ | e | or | G2228 → | 342 times |
| χρυσίῳ, | chrusio | by gold — | G5553 → | 12 times |
| ἐλυτρώθητε | elutrothete | you were redeemed | G3084 → | |
| ἐκ | ek | from | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τῆς | tes | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ματαίας | mataias | futile | G3152 → | |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἀναστροφῆς | anastrophes | manner of life | G391 → | 13 times |
| πατροπαραδότου, | patroparadotou | handed down from [your] fathers, | G3970 → |
εἰδότεςknowing
eidotes
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
φθαρτοῖς,by perishable things —
phthartoisG5349 →
ἀργυρίῳby silver
argurioG694 →
ἢor
eG2228 →342 times
χρυσίῳ,by gold —
chrusioG5553 →12 times
ἐλυτρώθητεyou were redeemed
elutrotheteG3084 →
ἐκfrom
ekG1537 →911 times
τῆςthe
tesG3588 →19766 times
ματαίαςfutile
mataiasG3152 →
ὑμῶνof you
humonG4771 →2973 times
ἀναστροφῆςmanner of life
anastrophesG391 →13 times
πατροπαραδότου,handed down from [your] fathers,
patroparadotouG3970 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 6:20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 7:23
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
- Romans 12:1
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
- Hebrews 9:12
He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
- 1 Peter 2:9
Through
Titus 2:14He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
it leads to
- Revelation 5:9
And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 9:14
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Revelation 5:9
Through
Galatians 1:4who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
it leads to
- Matthew 20:28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- Matthew 20:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
By subject
Redemption35 verses
About 1 Peter

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament.
