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1 Peter 2:25

in 1 Peter 2

For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

KJV

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

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This verse in 1 Peter 2

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Hilary of Arles

INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER · Written before 449.

Error has three causes—darkness, loneliness and ignorance. The Gentile sheep were wandering among idols because of their foolish ignorance, and they found themselves lost in the darkness of sin and in the loneliness of a strange nation. Peter goes on to add that now they …

This site's exposition

as sheep going astray

For ye were as sheep going astray closes the servant song's own line from Isaiah 53:6, the wandering that needed no explanation to readers who knew sheep. But are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls names Christ with a double title, shepherd for the pastoral care already named at the chapter's opening image of milk and growth, and bishop, episkopos, overseer, the same word the letter will apply to human elders at 5:1-2 under this Chief Shepherd. The chapter that opened on newborn babes desiring milk closes on sheep found and shepherded, one sustained picture of a flock cared for from birth to return.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For ye were as sheep going astray,.... This is a proof of their being healed, namely, their conversion; in which an application of the blood of Christ, and pardon, and so healing by it, was made to their souls. The apostle has still in view the prophecy of Isa 53:

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Learn, [1.] Sinners, before their conversion, are always going astray; their life is a continued error. [2.] Jesus Christ is the supreme shepherd and bishop of souls, who is always resident with his flock, and watchful over them. [3.] Those that expect the love and care of this universal pastor must return to him, must die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For ye were as sheep going astray - Here also is an allusion to Isa 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” See the notes at that verse. The figure is plain. We were like a flock without a shepherd. We had wandered far away from the true fold, and were following our own paths. We were without a protector, and were exposed to every kind of danger. This aptly and forcibly expresses the condition of the whole race before God recovers people by the plan of salvation.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Shepherd and Bishop--The designation of the pastors and elders of the Church belongs in its fullest sense to the great Head of the Church, "the good Shepherd." As the "bishop" oversees (as the Greek term means), so "the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous" (1Pe 3:12).

The words behind it

16 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 23:1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.149 worksIsaiah 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.123 worksEzekiel 34:6My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’73 worksLuke 15:4–6“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?66 worksActs 20:28Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.59 worksJohn 10:11–16I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.56 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 40:11He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.50 worksPsalms 119:176I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.47 worksEzekiel 34:11–16For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.45 worksMatthew 9:36When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.40 worksEzekiel 34:23–24I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.36 worksMatthew 18:12What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?32 works1 Peter 5:4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.30 worksHebrews 13:20Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,30 worksJeremiah 23:2Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.24 worksJohn 10:16I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.22 worksHebrews 3:1Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.21 worksSong of Solomon 1:7–8Tell me, O one I love, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest them at midday? Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your companions?20 works

Where this verse connects

1 approved connection.

  • An echo of this verse

    Isaiah 53:6

    'All we like sheep have gone astray... returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls': near-verbatim, inside the 1 Pet 2:22-25 cluster

    Source: 1 Pet 2:25 reworking Isa 53:6; Laniak 2006

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 20:28

    Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 5:2–3

      Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;

    • 1 Timothy 4:16

      Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

    • 1 Peter 1:18–19

      For 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,

    • Isaiah 40:11

      He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.

  • Through

    Isaiah 53:6

    We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 3:18

      For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

    • Psalms 119:176

      I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.

    • Isaiah 55:7

      Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…

    • Romans 4:25

      He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Peter

Peter's Denial — the restored sufferer — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
Peter's Denial — the restored sufferer — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
1 Peter: the study guide →Read 1 Peter 2 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Hilary of Arles, INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Peter 2 →