1 Peter 5

Now I have something to urge on the elders among you, the men who lead your churches. I write as a fellow elder, as someone who saw what Christ suffered, and as someone who will share in the glory that is going to be revealed.

1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

Note"Elder" here is a job title, not a statement about age. The Greek word is presbyteros, the name for the men who governed a local congregation, borrowed from the councils of elders that ran Jewish synagogues and towns. The English words "presbyter" and "priest" both descend from it. The word for "witness" (martys) can mean either someone who saw an event or someone who testifies about it, and readers have taken Peter's claim both ways.

2Take care of God's flock, the people who are right there with you. Watch over them, not because you are forced to, but because you want to, the way God wants it done. Do not do it out of greed for money, but with an eager heart.

2Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Note"Filthy lucre" is not a strong term of disgust in modern English so much as a flat description: "lucre" simply means money or gain, and "filthy" marks it as shamefully acquired. The single Greek word behind it means greed for profit. "Taking the oversight" translates a verb built on episkopos, "overseer," the word that later became "bishop." The whole verse runs on one image: the leaders are herdsmen, the congregation is the flock.

3Do not act like masters over the people God has put in your care. Instead, live in a way the flock can copy.

3Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

Note"Ensamples" is just an older spelling of "examples." "God's heritage" renders the Greek plural klēroi, meaning the portions or allotments assigned to someone, as land was allotted by lot. Here the congregations are the portions assigned to each leader's care. The same word eventually gave English the word "clergy."

4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will be given the crown of glory, and it will never fade.

4And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

NoteThe "crown" is a stephanos, the wreath awarded to a victor at the games or to a person publicly honored, not a king's crown. Since such wreaths were woven of leaves and withered within days, calling this one unfading is a deliberate contrast.

5In the same way, you who are younger, accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, be subject to one another and put on humility like clothing, because God stands against proud people, but he is kind and generous to humble ones.

5Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Note"Be clothed with humility" uses a rare Greek verb for tying on a garment, most likely the apron or overgarment a household slave fastened before serving. The saying quoted at the end is from Proverbs 3:34, in its Greek form; the same verse is quoted in James 4:6.

6So put yourselves low under God's powerful hand, and he will lift you up when the time is right.

6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Note"The mighty hand of God" is a fixed Old Testament phrase, used again and again for the power by which God brought Israel out of Egypt. It carries both senses at once: the hand that presses down and the hand that rescues.

7Hand him everything you are worried about, because he cares about you.

7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

NoteThe King James uses "care" twice for two different Greek words. The first is worry or anxiety, the thing you hand over. The second means to be concerned about someone, the way a person minds what happens to another. The verse turns on that difference.

8Keep a clear head and stay alert. Your enemy the devil is walking around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to swallow up.

8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Note"Be sober" in 1611 English means clear-headed and self-controlled, with literal freedom from drink only in the background. "Adversary" translates a legal word for an opponent in a lawsuit, and "devil" (diabolos) means slanderer or accuser, so both terms picture a prosecutor as much as a predator.

9Stand against him and hold steady in your faith. Remember that your brothers and sisters everywhere in the world are going through the very same sufferings.

9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Note"The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren" is hard to hear correctly now. "Accomplished" means being carried through or completed, not achieved as a success: the same sufferings are being worked out in fellow believers elsewhere. "Brethren" covers the whole community, men and women alike.

10But God, who gives all grace, called us to share his eternal glory through Christ Jesus. After you have suffered for a little while, he himself will make you complete, and set you on solid ground, and make you strong, and hold you steady.

10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Note"Make you perfect" translates katartizō, a workaday verb for putting something back into working order: mending a torn net, setting a broken bone. "Stablish" is simply the older form of "establish." The four verbs are near synonyms piled up for weight, all meaning to restore, secure and steady.

11To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

11To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Note"Dominion" here translates kratos, meaning might or power exercised, rather than territory ruled. "Amen" is a Hebrew word carried straight into Greek and then English, meaning roughly "so be it" or "this is sure."

12I have written this short letter to you through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother. I wrote to encourage you and to tell you plainly that this is the true grace of God, and you are standing in it.

12By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.

NoteSilvanus is the fuller Latin form of the name Silas, Paul's traveling companion in Acts. "By Silvanus" most likely means he carried the letter, and may also mean he wrote it down at Peter's dictation. "As I suppose" attaches to "a faithful brother": it is Peter vouching for the man, not hedging about him.

13The church at Babylon, chosen by God along with you, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

13The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

Note"The church that is at Babylon" has been read two ways since ancient times. Many early readers took Babylon as a covert name for Rome, the great imperial city, a usage found elsewhere in early Christian writing; others take it as the actual city in Mesopotamia, where a Jewish community still lived. "Marcus my son" uses "son" in the sense of a younger man trained up by an older one, and Marcus is the Latin form of the name Mark.

14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who belong to Christ Jesus. Amen.

14Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Note"Charity" in 1611 English means love, not giving to the poor; that narrower sense came later. A kiss on the cheek was the ordinary greeting between family members and close associates in that world, and the early congregations adopted it as the greeting believers gave one another when they met.