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COMMENTARIES

ON

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER
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THE ARGUMENT

The design of Peter in this Epistle is to exhort the faithful to a
denial of the world and a contempt of it, so that being freed from
carnal affections and all earthly hindrances, they might with their
whole soul aspire after the celestial kingdom of Christ, that being
elevated by hope, supported by patience, and fortified by courage and
perseverance, they might overcome all kinds of temptations, and pursue
this course and practice throughout life.

Hence at the very beginning he proclaims in express words the grace of
God made known to us in Christ; and at the same time he adds, that it
is received by faith and possessed by hope, so that the godly might
raise up their minds and hearts above the world. Hence he exhorts them
to holiness, lest they should render void the price by which they were
redeemed, and lest they should suffer the incorruptible seed of the
Word, by which they had been regenerated into eternal life, to be
destroyed or to die. And as he had said, that they had been born again
by God's Word, he makes mention of their spiritual infancy. Moreover,
that their faith might not vacillate or stagger, because they saw that
Christ was despised and rejected almost by the whole world, he reminds
them that this was only the fulfillment of what had been written of
him, that he would be the stone of stumbling. But he further teaches
them that he would be a firm foundation to those who believe in him.
Hence he again refers to the great honor to which God had raised them,
that they might be animated by the contemplation of their former state,
and by the perception of their present benefits, to devote themselves
to a godly life.

He afterwards comes to particular exhortations, -- that they were to
conduct themselves in humility and obedience under the government of
princes, that servants were to be subject to their masters, that wives
were to obey their husbands and to be modest and chaste, and that, on
the other hand, husbands were to treat their wives with kindness. And
then he commands them to observe what was just and right towards one
another; and that they might do this the more willingly, he sets before
them what would be the fruit -- a peaceable and happy life.

As, however, it happened to Christians, that how much soever they
sought peace, they were often harassed by many injuries, and had the
world for no just cause inimical to them, he exhorts them calmly to
bear their persecutions, which they knew would promote their salvation.
For this purpose he brings forward the example of Christ. On the other
hand, he reminds them what unhappy end awaits the ungodly, whilst in
the meantime God wonderfully delivers his Church from death by death.
He still further refers to the example of Christ to enforce the
mortification of the flesh. To this exhortation he adds various and
brief sentences; but shortly after he returns to the doctrine of
patience, so that the faithful might mingle consolation with their
evils, regarding it as good for them to be chastised by the paternal
hand of God.

At the beginning of the fifth chapter he reminds the elders of their
duty, that they were not to tyrannize over the Church, but to preside
under Christ with moderation. He recommends to the young modesty and
teachableness. At length, after a short exhortation, he closes the
Epistle with a prayer.

As to the place from which he wrote, all do not agree. There is,
however, no reason that I see why we should doubt that he was then at
Babylon, as he expressly declares. [3] But as the persuasion had
prevailed, that he had moved from Antioch to Rome, and that he died at
Rome, the ancients, led by this sole argument, imagined that Rome is
here allegorically called Babylon. But as without any probable
conjecture they rashly believed what they have said of the Roman
episcopate of Peter, so also this allegorical figment ought to be
regarded as nothing. It is indeed much more probable that Peter,
according to the character of his apostleship, traveled over those
parts in which most of the Jews resided; and we know that a great
number of them were in Babylon and in the surrounding countries.
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[3] Horne, in his Introduction, vol. 4, p. 425, mentions four opinions
on this subject. According to Bishop Pearson, Mill, and Le Clerc, it
was Babylon in Egypt; according to Erasmus, Drusius, Beza, Dr.
Lightfoot, Basnage, Beausobre, Dr. Cave, Wetstein, Drs. Benson and A.
Clarke, it was Babylon in Assyria; according to Michaelis, it was
Babylon in Mesopotamia; and according to Grotius, Drs. Whitby, Lardner,
Macknight, and Hales, Bishop Tomline, and all the learned of the Romish
communion, it is to be taken figuratively for Rome, according to what
was done by John in Revelation 17 and 18.What renders the last opinion
very improbable is, that to date an epistle at a place to which a
figurative name is given, is without another instance in Scripture, and
the thing itself seems quite absurd. The language of prophecy is quite
a different matter. Paul wrote several of his epistles at Rome,
and in
no instance did he do anything of this kind. Such an opinion would have
never gained ground, had there not been from early times a foolish
attempt to connect Peter with Rome. And it is to be regretted that some
learned Protestants have been duped on this subject by a mass of
fictitious evidence which has been collected by the partisans of the
Romish Church. -- Ed.