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On the Greek text. The Greek throughout follows the standard critical text — uniform in its main wording across the modern editions (NA28, SBLGNT, THGNT), and itself an ancient, public-domain text; NA28's distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced.

The First Epistle of Peter — Interlinear: Themes, Outlines & Translation Notes

A consolidated companion to the 1 Peter data set: every chapter of 1 Peter (1–5) rendered as a six-tier Greek reverse-interlinear (Greek · gloss · parsing/case · syntax · semantic force · lexical note), with per-verse discourse analysis and a chapter argument-outline.

This document gathers the theme, the argument outline (the outline movements authored into each data file), and the translation / textual / exegetical notes (the text_note of each file, reproduced verbatim) — followed by a summary of the major translation and interpretive cruxes that were deliberately annotated rather than silently resolved. It is part of the same project as the Pauline volumes and James; 1 Peter is the apostle's letter to the elect exiles of the dispersion, steadying a suffering church in living hope. The Greek follows the standard critical text (uniform across NA28 / SBLGNT / THGNT in its main wording, and itself an ancient public-domain text); the copyrighted NA28 apparatus is not reproduced.

Scope

Chapter Verses Words annotated Outline movements
1 Peter 1 25 407 4
1 Peter 2 25 392 4
1 Peter 3 22 369 3
1 Peter 4 19 305 3
1 Peter 5 14 206 3
Total 105 1,679 17

Each annotated word carries Greek, a working gloss, color-coded grammatical case, parsing (Tense·Voice·Mood·Person·Number + lemma), a Wallace-style syntactic-function label, an aspectual semantic-force label (verbal forms), and a condensed lexical note.


The argument of the book

The macro-structure of the whole letter — its major movements — under which the chapter-by-chapter detail below unfolds. Peter writes to Christians scattered as exiles, weaving doctrine and exhortation to fix their hope on grace and to do good while suffering. (Section divisions are interpretive; the more common analysis is generally followed.)


Chapter-by-chapter

1 Peter 1 — ΠΕΤΡΟΥ Α′ Α′

Theme. The living hope of the elect exiles: born again to an imperishable inheritance through Christ's resurrection, refined by trials, redeemed by the precious blood of the spotless Lamb, and called to holiness, reverent fear, and earnest love — grounded in the imperishable, abiding word of God.

Outline.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek follows the standard critical text of 1 Peter 1, uniform in its main wording across the modern editions (NA28, SBLGNT, THGNT) and itself an ancient, public-domain text; NA28's distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced. Verse punctuation, paragraphing, and capitalization are editorial and conventional. A few points of variation are passed over without a marginal note: at v.7 the editions divide over πολυτιμότερον ('more precious,' read here) versus the comparative πολὺ τιμιώτερον; at v.8 a few witnesses read εἰδότες ('having seen/known') for the better-attested ἰδόντες ('having seen'), and the participle ἀγαλλιᾶσθε is indicative here; at v.12 the dative αὐτοῖς ('to them,' read) is sometimes given as ἡμῖν/ὑμῖν; at v.16 some witnesses add a second γίνεσθε or read ἔσεσθε ('you shall be') for the imperatival ἔσεσθε of the LXX citation (Lev 11:44–45); at v.22 the phrase διὰ πνεύματος ('through the Spirit') and the qualifier καθαρᾶς before καρδίας are present in some witnesses and absent in others, the shorter ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας being printed. Orthographic variants (movable-ν, ι-subscript, ἀναγεγεννημένοι spelling) are not noted. The chapter has 25 verses; none is legitimately omitted by the critical text. Note further the chapter's web of verbal links: the regeneration verb ἀναγεννάω frames the body (vv.3, 23); the φθαρτός/ἄφθαρτος ('perishable/imperishable') antithesis ties inheritance, ransom, and seed (vv.4, 18, 23); the ἀναστροφή ('conduct') word-group runs from the holy life to the futile ancestral one to the abiding word (vv.15, 17–18); and the eschatological ἀγαλλιάω joy (vv.6, 8) and the ἀποκάλυψις of Christ (vv.7, 13) structure the believers' present and future.

1 Peter 2 — ΠΕΤΡΟΥ Α′ Β′

Theme. The new-born people of God, built on the living Stone into a spiritual house and royal priesthood, are summoned to live as honorable sojourners — submitting for the Lord's sake and, like household servants, enduring unjust suffering after the pattern of Christ, the sinless Sin-bearer of Isaiah 53.

Outline.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek follows the standard critical text of 1 Peter 2, uniform in its main wording across the modern editions (NA28, SBLGNT, THGNT) and itself an ancient, public-domain text; NA28's distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced. Verse punctuation, paragraphing, and capitalization are editorial and conventional. A few points are worth flagging. At v.2 the phrase εἰς σωτηρίαν ('unto salvation') is read with the earliest text, though it is absent from some later witnesses (e.g. the Byzantine tradition); it is printed here. At v.5 the text-critical and grammatical status of εἰσδέχομαι/ἀνενέγκαι and the construal of εἰς ἱεράτευμα ἅγιον are conventional. At v.21 the editions divide over ὑμῖν/ἡμῖν ('for you' / 'for us') and ὑμῶν/ἡμῶν ('your' / 'our') as ὑπολιμπάνων ὑπογραμμόν; the second-person readings are followed. At v.25 the editions read the present participle ἐπιστραφέντες ('having returned') against minor variation. The chapter is dense with Old Testament citation (Ps 33:9 LXX at v.3; Isa 28:16 at v.6; Ps 117:22 LXX at v.7; Isa 8:14 at v.8; Exod 19:6 / Isa 43:20–21 at v.9; Hos 1–2 at v.10; and the sustained Isa 53 substratum of vv.22–25), and its wording follows the LXX where it cites; orthographic variants (movable-ν, ι-subscript, -σσ-/-ττ-) are not noted.

Beyond the apparatus, several renderings rest on interpretive choices flagged in the lexical tier: λογικόν at v.2 ('pertaining to the word'/'rational,' here 'spiritual') deliberately echoes the λόγος of 1:23–25 and pairs with ἄδολον, negating the δόλος of v.1; οἰκοδομεῖσθε at v.5 is taken as indicative (God's building work) rather than imperative; παρεδίδου at v.23 has an unexpressed object (Christ committing either himself or his cause to God); and ἀνήνεγκεν at v.24 carries the double sense of 'carry' and cultic 'offer up,' linking back to the sacrifices of v.5.

1 Peter 3 — ΠΕΤΡΟΥ Α′ Γ′

Theme. The conduct of the people of God under pressure: wives and husbands ordering the home in reverence and honor, the whole community repaying evil with blessing and standing ready to give a gentle defense of its hope, and — grounding it all — Christ's once-for-all suffering, his proclamation to the spirits in prison, and his exaltation, with baptism as the flood's saving antitype.

Outline.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek follows the standard critical text of 1 Peter 3, uniform in its main wording across the modern editions (NA28, SBLGNT, THGNT) and itself an ancient, public-domain text; NA28's distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced. Verse punctuation, paragraphing, and capitalization are editorial and conventional. A few points are worth flagging without a marginal apparatus: at v.7 the wives are described as 'a weaker vessel' (τῷ γυναικείῳ … ἀσθενεστέρῳ σκεύει), and the co-heirs are read with the nominative plural participle συγκληρονόμοι (so that 'you' husbands are joint-heirs), some witnesses reading the dative; at v.15 the earliest text reads 'sanctify Christ as Lord' (κύριον δὲ τὸν Χριστόν), the later witnesses 'sanctify the Lord God' (κύριον δὲ τὸν θεόν) under assimilation to Isa 8:13 LXX; at v.16 the participle ἔχοντες and the verb καταλαλεῖσθε / καταισχυνθῶσιν vary in form among witnesses; at v.18 the editions divide between 'Christ suffered' (ἔπαθεν, read here) and 'Christ died' (ἀπέθανεν), between 'for sins' and 'for our sins,' and between 'that he might bring you/us to God' (ὑμᾶς / ἡμᾶς); at v.21 the relative ὃ ('which,' antecedent ὕδωρ) is read over the later ᾧ. Orthographic variants (movable-ν, ι-subscript, the spelling Σάρρα) are not noted. Beyond the text-critical points, the chapter's hardest renderings were flagged in the lexical tier rather than silently resolved — ἐν ᾧ (v.19), κηρύσσω (a heraldic proclamation, not necessarily εὐαγγελίζομαι), the local/instrumental δι’ ὕδατος (v.20), the antitype σῴζει language, and ἐπερώτημα (v.21) — and the verb πορεύομαι deliberately frames the section (the 'going' to the spirits in v.19 answered by the 'going' into heaven in v.22), while ὑποτάσσω brackets the chapter, from the household submission of vv.1, 5 to the cosmic subjection of v.22.

1 Peter 4 — ΠΕΤΡΟΥ Α′ Δ′

Theme. Suffering as the believer's calling and arena of grace: armed with the mind of the crucified Christ and done with sin, the readers are to live for God's will, to love and serve one another as the end nears, and — when the fiery trial comes — to rejoice in sharing Christ's sufferings and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator, for judgment begins at the house of God.

Outline.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek follows the standard critical text of 1 Peter 4, uniform in its main wording across the modern editions (NA28, SBLGNT, THGNT) and itself an ancient, public-domain text; NA28's distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced. Verse punctuation, paragraphing, and capitalization are editorial and conventional. A few points of variation are passed over without a marginal note: at v.1 some witnesses add ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ('for us') after παθόντος, and the editions divide over ἁμαρτίας ('from sin') versus ἁμαρτίαις; at v.3 the later Byzantine text prefixes ἡμῖν and reads ἡμῶν τοῦ βίου, while the best text has the shorter ὁ παρεληλυθὼς χρόνος; at v.14 a long Byzantine expansion (κατὰ μὲν αὐτοὺς βλασφημεῖται, κατὰ δὲ ὑμᾶς δοξάζεται) is not part of the critical text and is omitted here, and the divine title is read τὸ τῆς δόξης καὶ τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα. Where editions legitimately differ the more widely printed reading is given. The chapter has 19 verses; none is legitimately omitted by the critical text. Beyond these, note the rich cluster of NT hapax legomena (ὁπλίζω v.1; ἐπίλοιπος, βιόω v.2; οἰνοφλυγία, πότος v.3; ἀνάχυσις v.4; ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος v.15; κτίστης, ἀγαθοποιΐα v.19), and the deliberate verbal threads binding the chapter: the keyword πάσχω/πάθημα (vv.1, 13, 15, 19), the ξενίζω/ξένος wordplay turning the pagans' 'surprise' (v.4) back on the readers (v.12), the antithetical θέλημα θεοῦ vs. βούλημα τῶν ἐθνῶν (vv.2–3), and the σαρκί/πνεύματι pair (vv.1–2, 6) carried over from 3:18.

1 Peter 5 — ΠΕΤΡΟΥ Α′ Ε′

Theme. Peter, a fellow-elder and witness of Christ's sufferings, charges the elders to shepherd God's flock willingly and as examples until the Chief Shepherd appears, then calls the whole church to humility, watchful resistance of the prowling devil, and confident trust in the God of all grace who will himself restore them after a little suffering — closing with greetings from "Babylon," Mark, the kiss of love, and peace.

Outline.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek follows the standard critical text of 1 Peter 5, uniform in its main wording across the modern editions (NA28, SBLGNT, THGNT) and itself an ancient, public-domain text; NA28's distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced. Verse punctuation, paragraphing, and capitalization are editorial and conventional. A few points of variation are passed over without a marginal note: at v.2 the phrase ἐπισκοποῦντες ('exercising oversight') is omitted by a few witnesses (notably Vaticanus) but read by the majority and printed here, and the modifier μηδὲ αἰσχροκερδῶς ('nor for shameful gain') is uniform; at v.2 some witnesses add κατὰ θεόν ('according to God') after ἐπισκοποῦντες; at v.5 the citation of Proverbs 3:34 LXX (ὁ θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται) is shared with James 4:6; at v.8 the participle order and the article before διάβολος are conventional; at v.10 the editions divide over whether to read ὑμᾶς after καταρτίσει (printed) and over the future indicatives καταρτίσει/στηρίξει/σθενώσει/θεμελιώσει versus optatives in later witnesses; at v.11 the doxology is shorter in the best text (ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, some witnesses adding only ἡ δόξα or expanding). Orthographic variants (movable-ν, ι-subscript) are not noted. The chapter is dense with NT hapax legomena and rare words drawn from the shepherd-and-suffering matrix of the letter: συμπρεσβύτερος (v.1), ἀναγκαστῶς and αἰσχροκερδῶς (v.2), ἀρχιποίμην and ἀμαράντινος (v.4), ἐγκομβόομαι (v.5), ὠρύομαι (v.8), σθενόω (v.10), ἐπιμαρτυρέω (v.12), and συνεκλεκτή (v.13); the fourfold future of v.10 (καταρτίσει, στηρίξει, σθενώσει, θεμελιώσει) piles up the divine restoration, and the εἰρήνη of v.14 forms an inclusio with the grace-and-peace of 1:2.


Major translation & exegetical cruxes

Where the Greek legitimately admits more than one rendering or reading, the point was flagged in the lexical notes and chapter text_notes rather than decided silently; the more common analysis was generally taken and the alternative noted. The principal cruxes in 1 Peter:

Reference Crux Discussion
1:2 ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος — 'sprinkling of blood' The goal of election evokes the covenant-ratifying blood of Exod 24:8 (and the cleansing/ordination sprinklings of Lev), framing obedience-and-blood as entry into covenant — not the bare cleansing of the conscience.
1:6 ἐν ᾧ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε — 'in which you rejoice' The antecedent of ᾧ is disputed — 'in whom' (God/Christ), 'in which (time),' or (taken here) 'in which' = the whole salvation-reality of vv.3–5; and ἀγαλλιᾶσθε is read as indicative ('you rejoice'), not imperative.
1:7 τὸ δοκίμιον ... τῆς πίστεως δοκίμιον is rendered 'tested genuineness' (the proven quality of faith) rather than 'the means/process of testing'; the comparison outvalues even fire-assayed gold, the printed πολυτιμότερον preferred over πολὺ τιμιώτερον.
1:11 τὸ ... πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ ... τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα 'The Spirit of Christ' in the prophets is read as the pre-incarnate Christ's own Spirit; εἰς Χριστόν is taken as 'destined for / pointing to Christ' (the sufferings appointed for Messiah), the sufferings-then-glories pattern being the gospel sequence.
1:13 τελείως ... ἐλπίσατε τελείως ('fully, completely') is construed with the imperative 'hope' ('hope fully'), though it may modify the preceding νήφοντες ('be perfectly sober'); the former is taken.
1:17 ἐν φόβῳ ... ἀναστράφητε φόβος is reverent awe before the holy Father-Judge, not servile dread (cf. 1 Jn 4:18); grounded in the impartial, works-based judgment of the one invoked as Father.
1:23 διὰ λόγου ζῶντος θεοῦ καὶ μένοντος The participles ζῶντος/μένοντος may modify λόγου ('the living and abiding word') or θεοῦ ('the word of the living and abiding God'); the former is taken, matched to the abiding ῥῆμα of v.25 (Isa 40:8).
1:25 ῥῆμα κυρίου In the Isaiah citation κύριος is YHWH; Peter's application ('this is the word preached to you as gospel') lets it embrace the Lord Jesus and the apostolic message, identifying the imperishable seed of v.23 with the gospel.
2:2 τὸ λογικὸν ἄδολον γάλα — 'the pure spiritual milk' λογικόν may be 'rational' or 'of the word'; rendered 'spiritual' with an eye to the λόγος of 1:23–25, and ἄδολον ('guileless') deliberately negates the δόλος laid aside in v.1.
2:5 οἰκοδομεῖσθε — 'are being built' / 'be built' Indicative (God's ongoing construction of the temple-people, taken here) or imperative ('let yourselves be built'); the form is ambiguous.
2:8 εἰς ὃ καὶ ἐτέθησαν — 'to which they were appointed' The disobedient are 'appointed' to their stumbling; the appointment attaches to the stumbling that follows disobedience, not bare reprobation apart from it — the syntax of the relative is the chapter's hardest line.
2:12 ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐπισκοπῆς — 'on the day of visitation' God's visiting may be for judgment or for grace; read here of a gracious visitation in which the slanderers are converted to praise (cf. Isa 10:3; Luke 19:44).
2:23 παρεδίδου — 'kept entrusting' The object is unexpressed: Christ entrusted either himself or his cause to 'the one who judges justly'; the imperfect depicts a sustained committal under abuse.
2:24 ἀνήνεγκεν … ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον — 'bore … on the tree' ἀναφέρω carries both 'carry up' and cultic 'offer up' (cf. v.5); ξύλον ('tree') frames the cross with the curse of Deut 21:23 (cf. Gal 3:13).
3:7 συγκληρονόμοι χάριτος ζωῆς — 'fellow heirs of the grace of life' Read with the nominative (so husbands are joint-heirs with their wives); the equality of the 'weaker vessel' as co-heir is the ground for honoring her, and mistreatment 'hinders prayers.'
3:15 κύριον … τὸν Χριστόν — 'sanctify Christ as Lord' The earliest text applies Isa 8:13 LXX's κύριος (YHWH) to Christ — a striking identification; later witnesses read τὸν θεόν, assimilating to the OT.
3:18 ἔπαθεν / ἀπέθανεν, σαρκί … πνεύματι 'Suffered' is read (some witnesses 'died'); the μέν … δέ datives are taken as spheres — put to death in (the realm of) flesh, made alive in (the realm of) spirit, i.e. his resurrection-life — not 'by the Spirit' vs. 'in the body' simply.
3:19 ἐν ᾧ … τοῖς ἐν φυλακῇ πνεύμασιν … ἐκήρυξεν — 'in which he proclaimed to the spirits in prison' The classic crux: ἐν ᾧ ('in which [spirit]' or 'on which occasion'), the identity of the 'spirits' (fallen angels of Gen 6 / 1 Enoch, or Noah's contemporaries), the time and content of the κήρυγμα (preincarnate preaching through Noah, a descent to the dead, or the risen Christ's heraldic announcement of victory), are all disputed; flagged, not resolved. κηρύσσω ('herald'), not εὐαγγελίζομαι, leaves the message's nature open.
3:20 διεσώθησαν δι’ ὕδατος — 'were brought safely through water' δι’ may be local ('through the midst of [the] water') or instrumental ('by means of water'); the ambiguity is deliberate, feeding the typology of v.21 — the very element of judgment becomes the medium of rescue.
3:21 ὃ … ἀντίτυπον νῦν σῴζει … βάπτισμα — 'baptism … now saves you' The bold 'baptism saves' is at once qualified: not as a washing of bodily dirt but through what baptism signifies and Christ's resurrection effects (δι’ ἀναστάσεως) — the rite saves not ex opere operato but as the appeal of faith resting on the risen Lord. ἀντίτυπον may modify the water or stand in apposition to βάπτισμα.
3:21 συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς ἐπερώτημα εἰς θεόν — 'the appeal/pledge of a good conscience toward God' ἐπερώτημα is the chapter's lexical crux: an 'appeal/request' to God for a good conscience, an 'answer/pledge' of a good conscience (the baptismal interrogation and response), or a formal 'undertaking'; the genitive συνειδήσεως may be subjective (the conscience that appeals) or objective (the appeal for a conscience).
4:1 πέπαυται ἁμαρτίας — "has ceased from sin" Whether the maxim speaks of Christ (who in suffering vicariously 'finished with sin') or of the believer (whose willingness to suffer marks a decisive break with sin) is debated; the believer-reading is taken, with the genitive of separation after παύομαι.
4:6 νεκροῖς εὐηγγελίσθη — "the gospel was preached to the dead" The chapter's chief crux: not (on the dominant reading) a postmortem evangelism, nor primarily 3:19's 'spirits in prison,' but the gospel preached to people now dead — heard in their lifetime — so that, though they meet the human verdict of death 'in the flesh,' they live 'in the spirit' by God's verdict. Patristic interpreters did read a descent-preaching here; the difficulty is flagged rather than resolved.
4:8 ἀγάπη καλύπτει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν — "love covers a multitude of sins" From Prov 10:12; 'covers' = forgives/forbears (not condones), and whose sins are covered — the lover's or the loved's — is left open, the forbearing-love sense taken.
4:15 ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος — "meddler in others' affairs" A rare, obscure compound (lit. 'overseer of what belongs to another'); proposed senses range from busybody to informer, embezzler, or infringer of others' rights — rendered 'meddler,' the uncertainty noted.
4:16 ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ — "in this name" The best text reads ὀνόματι ('name,' i.e. Χριστιανός, the slur reclaimed as honor); some witnesses read μέρει ('in this matter/respect'). The name-reading is followed.
4:17 ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ ... κρίμα — "judgment begins at the house of God" The OT motif of judgment commencing with God's own sanctuary/people (Ezek 9:6; Jer 25:29) grounds the a fortiori of vv.17–18: present suffering is the refining onset of the end, far milder than the disobedient's fate.
4:18 ὁ δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται — "the righteous is scarcely saved" A near-verbatim citation of Prov 11:31 LXX; μόλις ('with difficulty') marks not the uncertainty of salvation but the hard, fiery path through which the righteous is brought safely.
5:2 ἐπισκοποῦντες — "exercising oversight" Omitted by Vaticanus and a few witnesses (possibly to avoid linking πρεσβύτεροι and ἐπίσκοποι), but read by the great majority and printed; some add κατὰ θεόν after it. The longer text is retained as authentic.
5:3 τῶν κλήρων — "those allotted to your charge" κλῆρος ('lot, portion') is here the people/charges apportioned to each elder (cf. God's 'heritage,' Deut 9:29), not 'offices' or 'clergy'; rendered 'those allotted to your charge.'
5:5 ἐγκομβώσασθε — "clothe yourselves with" A NT hapax from κόμβος ('knot'): to tie on the slave's apron — perhaps recalling Jesus girding himself to wash feet (John 13); rendered 'clothe yourselves with humility.'
5:10 καταρτίσει ... θεμελιώσει — the fourfold future The best text reads four future indicatives (a confident promise) where later witnesses have optatives (a wish/prayer); the indicatives are printed, with ὑμᾶς after καταρτίσει.
5:13 ἡ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι συνεκλεκτή — "she who is in Babylon, chosen together with you" The feminine substantive is most likely the church Peter is with (ἐκκλησία understood), personified as the co-elect sister-congregation, and 'Babylon' a cryptic name for Rome (so the early church; cf. Rev 17–18). Minority views take Babylon literally (the Mesopotamian or Egyptian city) or read a literal woman (e.g. Peter's wife). The church-at-Rome reading is taken, the alternatives flagged.

How the data set is organized

The interpretive tiers (syntactic function, semantic force, discourse structure, and the proposed argument outlines) are interpretive by nature; where readings legitimately differ, the more common analysis was generally chosen, and the lexical notes are condensed orientation rather than a substitute for a lexicon (e.g. BDAG) or a full commentary.