independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentphrase 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.)
The charge to the elders — shepherd the flock willingly 5:1–4
1
The elders among you therefore I exhort —independent — οὖν — the pastoral inference from 4:17; the addressees fronted
the fellow-elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ,phrase modifier — apposition to the subject 'I' — Peter alongside, not above
and also a partaker of the glory that is about to be revealed:phrase modifier — the apposition doubled — sharer already of the coming glory
2
shepherd the flock of God that is among you,content — the charge itself (asyndeton) — John 21:16 echoed; God's flock, not theirs
exercising oversight —participial — means — the shepherding as watchful oversight, defined by three antitheses
not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have it,phrase modifier — antithesis 1 — not conscripted but willing (κατὰ θεόν read with ἑκουσίως)
nor for shameful gain but eagerly,phrase modifier — antithesis 2 — not mercenary but eager
3
nor as lording it over those allotted to your charge,participial — antithesis 3, negative limb — the forbidden verb of Mark 10:42
but becoming examples to the flock;participial — antithesis 3, positive limb — authority exercised by pattern
4
and when the Chief Shepherd appears,participial — genitive absolute — leans forward, protasis-like, on the promise below
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.independent — the reward — the amaranthine crown, against the perishable 'gain' of v. 2
Humility — under one another, under God's hand 5:5–7
5
Likewise, you younger ones, submit to the elders.independent — the counterpart charge — the younger toward the elders of v. 1
And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another,independent — the widening — ἐγκομβώσασθε, tie on the slave's apron (John 13)
because God opposes the proudcause — Prov 3:34 LXX (with Jas 4:6) — God arrayed against the proud
but gives grace to the humble.cause — Prov 3:34, the promise limb — the hinge into v. 6
6
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,independent — οὖν — the maxim applied; the exodus 'mighty hand' (Deut 9:26)
that he may exalt you in due time,purpose — the reversal promised — exaltation at God's own καιρός
7
casting all your anxiety on him,participial — means of the self-humbling — Ps 55:22; trust, not a fourth command
because he cares for you.cause — the ground — it matters to him
The roaring lion and the God of all grace 5:8–11
vv. 8–9 — the adversary: sober, watchful, resisting
8
Be sober, be watchful.independent — double imperative, asyndeton — staccato alarm
Your adversary the devilindependent — the subject suspended — accuser-at-law and slanderer
like a roaring lioncomparative — the simile — the hunting-roar of Ps 22:13
prowls about,independent — the suspended subject's verb — restless circling (Job 1:7)
seeking someone to devour;participial — purpose — the hunt, anyone he can swallow
9
Resist him, firm in your faith,relative — relative-command, flush-left — ᾧ resumes the devil; stand, don't flee (Jas 4:7)
knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being accomplished in your brotherhood throughout the world.participial — causal — acc. + inf.: the worldwide ἀδελφότης shares the same lot
vv. 10–11 — the God of all grace: fourfold restoration, and the doxology
10
And the God of all grace,independent — the promise-sentence's subject, suspended — grace answering the accuser
who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,participial — attributive — the effectual call, glory the destination
after you have suffered a little while,participial — concessive-temporal — agrees with ὑμᾶς: the suffering brief, the glory eternal
will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and ground you.independent — the restoration cadence — αὐτός emphatic, four futures piled asyndetically
11
To him be the dominion forever. Amen.independent — the doxology — verbless: the κράτος is his already
Final greetings and benediction 5:12–14
12
By Silvanus, the faithful brother, to you,independent — the bearer named first — Silvanus, carrier (and perhaps amanuensis)
as I regard him,comparative — the aside — Peter's own estimate of Silvanus's faithfulness
I have written briefly,independent — epistolary aorist — the letter looked at from the readers' side
exhorting and testifyingparticipial — the letter's double purpose — appeal and attestation
that this is the true grace of God.content — acc. + inf. — the whole letter summed: this is the true grace
Stand fast in it.relative — relative-command on χάριν — the letter's last imperative stands on grace
13
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you,independent — the greeting — Babylon read as Rome, the συνεκλεκτή as the church there
and so does Mark my son.phrase modifier — the second greeter — Mark, Peter's son in the faith
14
Greet one another with a kiss of love.independent — the greeting returned — the kiss of love among the family
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.independent — the benediction — verbless: peace to all in Christ
Analysis. The chapter is four short movements, and the shape shows how each one pivots on a single verb. In vv. 1–4 everything hangs from παρακαλῶ: two verbless appositions (Peter's credentials — fellow-elder, witness, partaker) dangle beside the charge itself, ποιμάνατε, whose participle ἐπισκοποῦντες carries the three μὴ…ἀλλά antitheses as a matched column — not conscripted but willing, not mercenary but eager, not domineering but exemplary; then the genitive absolute καὶ φανερωθέντος τοῦ ἀρχιποίμενος leans forward, protasis-like and unanchored, over the promised crown. Verses 5–7 widen from the younger to πάντες, with the Prov 3:34 couplet hanging as a two-line ground under ἐγκομβώσασθε and the casting of anxiety (v. 7) read as the means of the self-humbling of v. 6, not a fourth imperative. In vv. 8–11 the devil-sentence is drawn apart — suspended subject, indented lion-simile, the bare verb περιπατεῖ back on the margin, the hunting participle beneath it — and the coral flush-left line ᾧ ἀντίστητε is a connective relative wielded as an independent command; then the promise-sentence mirrors the accuser's: suspended subject Ὁ δὲ θεὸς πάσης χάριτος, the calling participle, the concessive ὀλίγον παθόντας (taken with the ὑμᾶς of the calling), and the four future verbs left together on one flush line as a single restoration cadence, sealed by the verbless doxology. The close (vv. 12–14) suspends Διὰ Σιλουανοῦ over the epistolary aorist ἔγραψα, hangs the letter's self-description (ταύτην εἶναι ἀληθῆ χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ) from ἐπιμαρτυρῶν, and lets the final command εἰς ἣν στῆτε hang directly under χάριν — the whole letter's last imperative standing on the word grace. Interpretive choices taken: κατὰ θεόν is read with ἑκουσίως ('willingly, as God would have it'); ἐπιρίψαντες is means, not command; ὀλίγον παθόντας is concessive-temporal with the object of the futures; Babylon (v. 13) is read as Rome, the συνεκλεκτή as the church there.