independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
Arm yourselves — done with sin 4:1–6
vv. 1–3 — the same mind: the past is enough
1
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,participial — genitive absolute — leans on the command below; resumes 3:18
you also arm yourselves with the same resolve,independent — the command — the sufferer's mind taken up as armor
because the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,cause — the maxim — suffering breaks with sin
2
so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.purpose — εἰς τό + infinitive — the arming's aim (read with ὁπλίσασθε, not πέπαυται); men's desires vs God's will
3
For the time that has passed is enoughcause — verbless ground of the 'no longer' — the past has had its share; irony
to have done the will of the Gentiles,content — epexegetic infinitive — enough for what: working out pagan intent
having walkedparticipial — accusative participle — the walk in which that will was worked out
in debaucheries, lusts, drunkenness, carousings, drinking-bouts, and lawless idolatries.phrase modifier — the vice list — six nouns, no verb, ending in ἀθεμίτοις εἰδωλολατρίαις
vv. 4–6 — the surprised slanderers, and the Judge of living and dead
4
In this they are surprisedrelative — connective ᾧ — the antecedent is the whole abandoned course
that you do not run with them into the same flood of dissipation,participial — genitive absolute — the occasion of the surprise: you no longer run along
and they malign you;participial — the surprise curdles into slander
5
they will give account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead;relative — οἵ — the slanderers themselves must render λόγος to the ready Judge
6
For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead,cause — the crux — believers now dead, who heard while alive; not a Hades-preaching (3:19 is another scene), not the spiritually dead
that though they were judged in the flesh according to men,purpose — μέν — the human verdict: death in the flesh
they might live in the spirit according to God.purpose — δέ — God's verdict: life in the spirit (echoing 3:18)
The end at hand — gifts for the household 4:7–11
vv. 7–9 — sober prayer, fervent love, open doors
7
But the end of all things has drawn near.independent — the eschatological headline over vv. 7–11
Be self-controlled, therefore, and sober for prayers;independent — the imperative pair — clear heads aimed at prayer
8
above all, keeping your love for one another fervent,participial — imperatival participle — πρὸ πάντων: love outranks the rest
because love covers a multitude of sins;cause — Prov 10:12 — love covers, it does not tally
9
being hospitable to one another without grumbling;phrase modifier — verbless — the bare adjective carries imperatival force
vv. 10–11 — stewards of varied grace, to God's glory
10
as each has received a gift,comparative — the stewardship frame — leans on the serving below; receipt sets the measure
employing it to serve one another,participial — imperatival participle — the gift turned toward the others
as good stewards of the varied grace of God:comparative — the standard — οἰκονόμοι of a ποικίλη grace
11
if anyone speaks,conditional — protasis 1 — leans on its elliptical apodosis
as oracles of God;independent — elliptical apodosis — (let him speak) as handling λόγια θεοῦ
if anyone serves,conditional — protasis 2 — the second class of gift
as out of the strength that God supplies —independent — elliptical apodosis — (let him serve) from supplied strength; ἧς attracted
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,purpose — the aim of the whole stewardship (vv. 10–11), hung from the nearest line
to whom belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.relative — the doxology — ᾧ read of Christ (the nearer antecedent), though some refer it to ὁ θεός
The fiery trial — judgment begins at God's house 4:12–19
vv. 12–14 — not strange but shared: rejoice, you are blessed
12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you,independent — the address turns — ξενίζεσθε throws v. 4's verb back at the readers
which comes upon you for a testing,participial — attributive dative participle — the fire is πρὸς πειρασμόν, assay not accident
as though something strange were happening to you;comparative — ὡς + genitive absolute — the mistaken construal forbidden
13
but insofar as you share in the sufferings of Christ,comparative — καθό — the measure of joy; leans on the imperative below
rejoice,independent — the counter-command — one word against the whole ordeal
that you may also rejoice exultantly at the revelation of his glory.purpose — joy now aimed at joy then — χαρῆτε ἀγαλλιώμενοι at the apocalypse of glory
14
If you are reproached for the name of Christ,conditional — protasis — leans on the beatitude below
you are blessed,independent — verbless beatitude — the Matthean μακάριοι (Mt 5:11)
because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.cause — Isa 11:2 — the Spirit of glory ἀναπαύεται where the reproach falls
vv. 15–19 — as a Christian, not a criminal: judgment from the house of God
15
For let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or a wrongdoer or as a meddler;independent — the prohibition — deserved suffering excluded; the ὡς-list ends on the odd ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος
16
but if anyone suffers as a Christian,conditional — elliptical protasis — πασχέτω supplied; Χριστιανός, the outsiders' label owned (Acts 11:26)
let him not be ashamed,independent — apodosis 1 — the shame refused
but let him glorify God in this name.independent — apodosis 2 — the name worn to God's glory
17
For it is the time for judgment to begin with the household of God;cause — verbless — ὁ καιρός (ἐστιν) with articular infinitive; Ezek 9:6, judgment starting at the sanctuary
and if it begins first with us,conditional — elliptical protasis — ἄρχεται supplied; leans on the question below
what will be the end of those who disobey the gospel of God?independent — verbless question — the a fortiori: what τέλος for the disobedient?
18
And if the righteous person is scarcely saved,conditional — Prov 11:31 LXX — the quotation itself a protasis
where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?independent — the proverb's own question — nowhere to stand
19
So then let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creatorindependent — ὥστε — the section's verdict; παρατίθημι the deposit-word (Ps 31:5; Lk 23:46), κτίστης only here in the NT
in doing good.phrase modifier — the manner of the deposit — well-doing, the letter's refrain
Analysis. Three exhortation blocks, and in each of them the margin belongs to imperatives: ὁπλίσασθε (v. 1), σωφρονήσατε καὶ νήψατε (v. 7), μὴ ξενίζεσθε…χαίρετε (vv. 12–13), παρατιθέσθωσαν (v. 19). What leans and hangs around them does the arguing. Three times a line leans forward, protasis-fashion, on the command below it: the opening genitive absolute Χριστοῦ οὖν παθόντος σαρκί over ὁπλίσασθε, the stewardship frame ἕκαστος καθὼς ἔλαβεν χάρισμα over the serving in v. 10, and the καθό-measure over χαίρετε in v. 13 — besides the olive protases proper (vv. 11, 14, 16, 17, 18), two of them verbless and two of them (v. 11) answered only by elliptical dashed ὡς-apodoses ('as oracles of God', 'as from supplied strength'). The first block runs deepest: from ὁπλίσασθε the chain descends through the εἰς τό purpose and the ἀρκετός ground to the one-word participle πεπορευμένους with its verbless six-noun vice list, then turns — ἐν ᾧ ξενίζονται — and climbs down through the slanderers to the Judge of living and dead and the νεκροῖς εὐηγγελίσθη crux, nine levels in all. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: the εἰς τό purpose of v. 2 is read with ὁπλίσασθε (the aim of the arming), not with πέπαυται; νεκροῖς in v. 6 is taken as those now dead, who heard the gospel while they lived — not Christ's preaching in Hades (3:19 is a different scene) and not the spiritually dead — with the ἵνα pair as the two verdicts on them, men's (death in the flesh) and God's (life in the spirit); the ᾧ of the doxology (v. 11) is referred to the nearer Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, though some carry it back to ὁ θεός; and the ὅτι of v. 14 grounds the beatitude in the Isaianic Spirit of glory resting where the reproach falls.