The Holy Bible · 1 Peter

1 Peter — Editorial Guide

This reading edition follows the Saints-priority English text. Source chapter and verse labels are retained, including textual additions and numbered gaps. Square or double brackets signal textual or translation qualifications retained from the companion edition. This is a V1 working translation awaiting specialist review.

Companion translation and editorial notes: Saints Translation: 1 Peter [V1]

Textual and Christian reception review

Review date: Sep 11, 2026

Review scope

All 105 verses of the selected SBLGNT running text and the inherited textual notes have been reviewed in complete literary units. The reading wording is retained: no correction or eclectic departure was warranted. Every verse below has a textual observation and a pointer to a verified commentary unit; a unit pointer does not mean separate exposition of every verse. Additional early Christian and later reception is identified where checked. The accessed patristic presentations are English translations, not original-language manuscript witnesses. Calvin’s Reformed exposition is distinguished from John Owen’s editorial notes. Bunyan’s section numbers are Gutenberg editorial divisions. No verse-specific C. S. Lewis association was verified for this review; none is supplied. This is a source and editorial review, not independent specialist certification or an exhaustive reception census. No critical apparatus or manuscripts were collated.

Verse notes

Chapter 1 notes

1:1 Text [G]: “Chosen” describes the addressees; “resident aliens” preserves the language of displacement. The five regions remain individually named. Reception [R01]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:1-2 below.

1:2 Text [G]: The three prepositional phrases retain their distinct relations. The phrase “of Jesus Christ” can also connect obedience with Christ, alongside the explicit blood reference. Reception [R01]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:1-2 below.

1:3 Text [G]: The new birth is God’s act; resurrection is its stated means, and living hope its goal. Reception [R02]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:3-5 below.

1:4 Text [G]: All three descriptions of the inheritance and its preservation for the addressees remain. Reception [R02]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:3-5 below. Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part One, Gutenberg §21 [B]: Christian explicitly invokes the preserved inheritance in explaining his journey; allegorical reuse.

1:5 Text [G]: God’s power, faith, and the salvation to be revealed have distinct roles in the sentence. Reception [R02]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:3-5 below.

1:6 Text [G]: The conditional qualification “if necessary” and the coexistence of rejoicing and grief remain. Reception [R03]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:6-9 below.

1:7 Text [G]: The comparison concerns faith proved through testing. Praise, glory, and honor are retained separately. Reception [R03]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:6-9 below.

1:8 Text [G]: The earlier absence of sight and the present absence of sight are both expressed. “Full of glory” renders the participle describing the joy. Reception [R03]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:6-9 below. Polycarp, Philippians 1 [P]: quotes unseen faith and glorious joy in commending believers.

1:9 Text [G]: “Outcome” renders telos as the goal reached, without reducing salvation to intellectual knowledge. Reception [R03]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:6-9 below.

1:10 Text [G]: Both verbs of diligent inquiry remain. The grace is directed toward the addressees. Reception [R04]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:10-12 below.

1:11 Text [G]: The compressed phrase tina ē poion kairon is construed as asking when and what sort of time; a personal construal of tina, “what person,” is possible. The plural sufferings and glories remain. Reception [R04]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:10-12 below.

1:12 Text [G]: The contrast between the prophets and the addressees, the Spirit’s sending, and the angels’ desire all remain distinct. Reception [R04]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:10-12 below.

1:13 Text [G]: The bodily metaphor is preserved. “Completely” is attached to sobriety, consistent with G’s punctuation; it can instead qualify setting one’s hope fully on the coming grace. Reception [R05]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:13-16 below. Polycarp, Philippians 2 [P]: reuses girding language in exhorting faithful service.

1:14 Text [G]: The familial idiom “children of obedience” and the link between former desires and ignorance remain. Reception [R05]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:13-16 below.

1:15 Text [G]: Holiness is related to the One who calls and to the whole of the addressees’ conduct. Reception [R05]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:13-16 below.

1:16 Text [G]: The source has the future “you shall be”; no additional concluding divine title is inserted into the quotation. Reception [R05]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:13-16 below.

1:17 Text [G]: Fatherhood and impartial judgment are both retained. “Fear” is not silently replaced by a milder paraphrase. Reception [R06]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:17-22 below.

1:18 Text [G]: The ransom is from an inherited manner of life; silver and gold exemplify the perishable means denied. Reception [R06]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:17-22 below.

1:19 Text [G]: Both descriptions of the lamb remain. The repeated “blood” makes the final apposition intelligible in English. Reception [R06]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:17-22 below.

1:20 Text [G]: Foreknowledge and manifestation remain distinct verbs; manifestation is explicitly for the addressees. Reception [R06]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:17-22 below.

1:21 Text [G]: Christ mediates belief in God; the resurrection and giving of glory are God’s acts. Reception [R06]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:17-22 below. Polycarp, Philippians 2 [P]: explicitly reuses belief in God who raised and glorified Jesus.

1:22 Text [G]: G has “from the heart,” without an adjective meaning pure here. Brotherly love and the command to love one another remain connected but separately expressed. Reception [R06]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:17-22 below.

1:23 Text [G]: The imperishable seed image is not reduced to a biological claim. “Living and enduring” is attached to “word”; the construction can also be read with God as living and enduring. Reception [R07]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:23-25 below.

1:24 Text [G]: G has “its glory.” The quotation’s comparison and its two past-tense verbs are retained. Reception [R07]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:23-25 below.

1:25 Text [G]: The enduring word is identified with the good news proclaimed to the addressees. Reception [R07]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 1:23-25 below.

Chapter 2 notes

2:1 Text [G]: The repeated “all” and the plural forms in the list preserve its scope. Reception [R08]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:1-5 below.

2:2 Text [G]: Logikon is rendered “spiritual”; “rational” or “of the word” are possible explanatory renderings. Adolon means unadulterated, contrasting the deceit of the previous verse. G includes “into salvation.” Reception [R08]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:1-5 below.

2:3 Text [G]: The conditional “if” and the sensory metaphor remain; the Lord’s goodness is experienced as tasting. Reception [R08]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:1-5 below.

2:4 Text [G]: The contrast is between human rejection and God’s valuation. The stone is explicitly living. Reception [R08]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:1-5 below.

2:5 Text [G]: “Are being built” renders the passive as indicative; the same Greek form can be imperative, “be built.” House, priesthood, and sacrifices are distinct connected images. Reception [R08]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:1-5 below.

2:6 Text [G]: The emphatic negative is expressed by “certainly not.” The Greek pronoun can refer to the stone; personal “Him” follows the Christ reference in verse four. Reception [R09]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:6-8 below.

2:7 Text [G]: “Honor” preserves timē, related to the precious stone language. The architectural head-of-the-corner image is retained. Reception [R09]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:6-8 below.

2:8 Text [G]: The appointment clause remains without adding a theory of predestination. The exact scope of “to this” is an interpretive question. Reception [R09]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:6-8 below.

2:9 Text [G]: All four collective descriptions remain. “God’s” identifies the possessor from the sentence’s divine context; the Greek phrase is literally a people for possession. Reception [R10]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:9-10 below.

2:10 Text [G]: The two former-and-present contrasts, peoplehood and mercy, remain parallel. Reception [R10]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:9-10 below.

2:11 Text [G]: The warfare image and the description of the addressees as aliens and sojourners are preserved. Reception [R11]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:11-12 below. Polycarp, Philippians 5 [P]: adapts the warfare image when exhorting the young.

2:12 Text [G]: The intended movement from slander to recognition remains. “Visitation” preserves the source’s term without deciding between particular historical or final events. Reception [R11]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:11-12 below. Polycarp, Philippians 10 [P]: reuses good conduct among Gentiles to avert blasphemy.

2:13 Text [G]: Ktisis normally denotes creation; here “institution” follows its application to forms of human government. “Every human creation” is the more literal alternative. Reception [R12]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:13-16 below.

2:14 Text [G]: The lower-case “him” follows the immediately preceding king. Punishment and praise remain the two stated functions. Reception [R12]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:13-16 below.

2:15 Text [G]: “Silence” renders the verb whose physical image is muzzling. Doing good is the stated means. Reception [R12]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:13-16 below.

2:16 Text [G]: “Live” supplies the verbal connection for the Greek’s compressed construction. Freedom and slavery to God are both retained. Reception [R12]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:13-16 below.

2:17 Text [G]: The four imperatives remain distinct; the command to fear is directed to God, while the king is to receive honor. Reception [R13]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:17 below. Polycarp, Philippians 10 [P]: explicitly urges love for the brotherhood.

2:18 Text [G]: Oiketai denotes household slaves, not modern employees. The ancient social relation is preserved; the clause does not describe crooked treatment as good. Reception [R14]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:18-20 below.

2:19 Text [G]: Charis is rendered “grace”; in this context it can carry the sense of credit or favor. Consciousness of God is the stated motive. Reception [R14]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:18-20 below.

2:20 Text [G]: The contrast depends on whether suffering follows wrongdoing or doing good. The rhetorical question remains. Reception [R14]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:18-20 below.

2:21 Text [G]: G has “for you” and “leaving you,” both second-person plural. Reception [R15]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:21-23 below. Augustine, Tractates on John 88.1 [A88]: quotes Christ’s patient example and adds that following Him requires His help. The accessed English quotation uses first-person plurals; SBLGNT retains “you.”

2:22 Text [G]: Both the denial of sin and the denial of deceit remain. Reception [R15]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:21-23 below. Polycarp, Philippians 8 [P]: quotes Christ’s sinlessness while urging imitation of His patience.

2:23 Text [G]: The Greek does not state the object of “entrusted”; “His cause” supplies the implied object without claiming that a noun meaning cause appears in G. Reception [R15]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:21-23 below.

2:24 Text [G]: The emphatic Himself, bodily bearing, tree image, and ethical purpose all remain. “Wound” renders the source’s singular mōlōps, a mark or welt from a blow. Reception [R16]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:24-25 below. Polycarp, Philippians 8 [P]: quotes bodily sin-bearing on the tree as grounds for perseverance.

2:25 Text [G]: The sheep image and both personal titles remain. “Overseer” renders episkopos without substituting a later office designation. Reception [R16]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 2:24-25 below.

Chapter 3 notes

3:1 Text [G]: The command is directed to wives in relation to their own husbands. The contrast between disobeying the word and being won without a word remains. Reception [R17]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:1-4 below.

3:2 Text [G]: Both purity of conduct and fear are explicit. The object of fear is not repeated in this verse. Reception [R17]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:1-4 below.

3:3 Text [G]: The three outward activities are preserved. The sentence continues into the positive contrast in verse four. Reception [R17]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:1-4 below.

3:4 Text [G]: “Beauty” makes the adornment construction readable; the source speaks of the imperishable quality of the gentle and quiet spirit. Reception [R17]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:1-4 below.

3:5 Text [G]: Hope is expressly in God; the relation to their own husbands is retained. Reception [R18]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:5-6 below.

3:6 Text [G]: Sarah’s “lord” is a human title. The final participles describe the daughters’ doing good and refusal to be terrified; the conditional English makes that connection explicit. Reception [R18]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:5-6 below.

3:7 Text [G]: The difficult “weaker vessel” expression is preserved, together with the explicit equal participation as fellow heirs. “Your wives” clarifies the implied household relation; the verse does not identify a lesser share in salvation. Reception [R19]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:7 below.

3:8 Text [G]: All five qualities remain. G’s final term is humble-minded, not a term meaning merely courteous. Reception [R20]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:8-9 below.

3:9 Text [G]: Both prohibitions and the positive blessing remain, linked to calling and inheritance. Reception [R20]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:8-9 below. Polycarp, Philippians 2 [P]: quotes non-retaliation among exhortations to virtue.

3:10 Text [G]: The citation’s desires, tongue, lips, and two kinds of speech remain. Reception [R21]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:10-15 below.

3:11 Text [G]: Turning away, doing good, seeking, and pursuing are distinct commands. Reception [R21]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:10-15 below.

3:12 Text [G]: The divine bodily images and the contrast in the Lord’s relation to the righteous and evildoers remain. Reception [R21]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:10-15 below.

3:13 Text [G]: G describes zeal for the good. The question leads into the concession about suffering in the next verse. Reception [R21]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:10-15 below.

3:14 Text [G]: “Their fear” preserves the source’s compact expression: the fear they inspire or what they themselves fear. The blessing is specifically connected to suffering for righteousness. Reception [R21]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:10-15 below.

3:15 Text [G]: G has “Christ” with “Lord”; this wording is retained. The defense is addressed to everyone who asks about the hope. Reception [R22]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:15-16 below.

3:16 Text [G]: Gentleness and fear qualify the defense. Good conscience and good conduct in Christ remain separately expressed. Reception [R22]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:15-16 below.

3:17 Text [G]: The conditional divine-will clause and the comparison between kinds of conduct remain. Reception [R23]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:17-18 below.

3:18 Text [G]: G has “suffered” and “bring you.” The balanced flesh/spirit wording is retained without deciding by capitalization whether pneuma specifically denotes the Holy Spirit. Reception [R23]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:17-18 below. Augustine, Letter 164.18–20 [A164]: understands quickening in relation to Christ’s bodily resurrection, rejecting death by sin in Christ’s soul; later doctrinal exposition.

3:19 Text [G]: “In which” refers back to spirit without specifying a mechanism or location beyond prison. Reception [R24]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:19-22 below. Augustine, Letter 164.1–2,15–18 [A164]: first states the interpretive difficulty, then proposes Christ’s spiritual preaching to Noah’s living contemporaries. This proposal does not make the Greek identify the prisoners.

3:20 Text [G]: The temporal relation to Noah, the number eight, and the water as the medium of passage remain. “Souls” preserves the personal designation. Reception [R24]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:19-22 below. Augustine, Letter 164.15–16 [A164]: develops an ark/Church typology and compares Noah’s unbelieving contemporaries with later unbelief; a unit interpretation of 3:19–21.

3:21 Text [G]: Antitypon establishes correspondence with the preceding water event. Eperōtēma is rendered “appeal”; “pledge” or “answer” are alternatives, and the good conscience can be understood as the appeal’s object or its source. The express saving claim and resurrection clause remain. Reception [R24]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:19-22 below. Augustine, Letter 164.15–16 [A164]: compares salvation through baptism with deliverance in the ark. This is typological exposition, not a lexical decision between appeal and pledge.

3:22 Text [G]: All three named orders remain, along with the going into heaven and position at God’s right hand. Reception [R24]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 3:19-22 below. Polycarp, Philippians 2 [P]: explicitly reuses Christ’s exaltation and universal subjection.

Chapter 4 notes

4:1 Text [G]: G does not add “for us” after Christ’s suffering here. The assertion about ceasing from sin is retained without adding an explanation that removes its difficulty. Reception [R25]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:1-5 below.

4:2 Text [G]: The purpose or result of the preceding clause is maintained, with the two competing directions of life. Reception [R25]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:1-5 below.

4:3 Text [G]: All six descriptions remain; the emphatic sufficiency of past time is preserved. Reception [R25]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:1-5 below.

4:4 Text [G]: The running and flood imagery remains. “You” supplies the contextual object of the slander. Reception [R25]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:1-5 below.

4:5 Text [G]: Accountability and both groups to be judged remain explicit. Reception [R25]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:1-5 below.

4:6 Text [G]: The verse does not say “now dead” or “spiritually dead”; neither identification is inserted. Reception [R26]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:6-11 below. Augustine, Letter 164.10–11 [A164]: asks how judgment in flesh applies if the recipients have died; the difficulty remains explicit in this discussion.

4:7 Text [G]: Nearness is expressed as a completed approach. Both exhortations serve prayer. Reception [R26]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:6-11 below. Polycarp, Philippians 7 [P]: reuses watchfulness for prayer in an exhortation to perseverance.

4:8 Text [G]: The covering metaphor remains without replacing it with an explanation of forgiveness’s precise mechanism. Reception [R26]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:6-11 below. Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 49 [CL]: reuses love’s covering of sins in praise of concord; the wording is shared biblical tradition, not proof of literary dependence.

4:9 Text [G]: Mutual hospitality and the negative qualification are both retained. Reception [R26]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:6-11 below.

4:10 Text [G]: The gift is individually received and mutually exercised; the steward metaphor and variety of grace remain. Reception [R26]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:6-11 below.

4:11 Text [G]: The two conditional forms are completed naturally in English. The relative “to whom” is preserved without introducing an additional named antecedent into the doxology. Reception [R26]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:6-11 below.

4:12 Text [G]: The fire image, testing purpose, and denial of strangeness all remain. Reception [R27]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:12-17 below.

4:13 Text [G]: Present participation in suffering is related to future rejoicing; both joy expressions remain. Reception [R27]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:12-17 below.

4:14 Text [G]: G ends with the Spirit resting upon you; no further contrast about others blaspheming and believers glorifying is appended. Reception [R27]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:12-17 below.

4:15 Text [G]: The four categories remain. Allotriepiskopos is rendered descriptively as meddling in others’ affairs; the word’s precise social application is uncertain. Reception [R27]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:12-17 below.

4:16 Text [G]: G has “in this name.” The repeated “suffers” supplies the verb from the preceding sentence. Reception [R27]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:12-17 below. Polycarp, Philippians 8 [P]: applies suffering for Christ’s name to glorifying Him.

4:17 Text [G]: The beginning from God’s house and the rhetorical question about disobedience remain. Reception [R28]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:17-19 below.

4:18 Text [G]: “With difficulty” preserves molis; the question is not converted into a numerical claim about salvation. Reception [R28]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:17-19 below.

4:19 Text [G]: Trust in the Creator and continued good action remain joined; suffering is expressly qualified by God’s will. Reception [R28]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 4:17-19 below.

Chapter 5 notes

5:1 Text [G]: The writer’s three relations—fellow elder, witness, and participant—remain distinct. Reception [R29]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:1-4 below.

5:2 Text [G]: The two contrasts and “according to God” remain. The source’s oversight wording is translated as part of its main text. Reception [R29]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:1-4 below.

5:3 Text [G]: Klēroi evokes allotted portions or charges; “those allotted to you” applies it to the flock without inserting a later clergy/laity distinction. Reception [R29]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:1-4 below.

5:4 Text [G]: The singular Chief Shepherd and the unfading crown image remain. Reception [R29]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:1-4 below.

5:5 Text [G]: The younger group’s submission and everyone’s humility are separately expressed. The clothing metaphor remains. Reception [R30]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:5-7 below. Polycarp, Philippians 10 [P]: urges mutual subjection; related reuse, without importing that wording into SBLGNT.

5:6 Text [G]: The bodily image of God’s mighty hand and the purpose of future exaltation remain. Reception [R30]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:5-7 below.

5:7 Text [G]: The participle connects entrusting anxiety with humbling oneself; both the comprehensive “all” and the reason remain. Reception [R30]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:5-7 below.

5:8 Text [G]: The two imperatives and the lion comparison remain; the adversary is explicitly identified as the devil. Reception [R31]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:8-11 below. Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part One, Gutenberg §§96,319 [B]: explicitly reuses the roaring-lion warning in the pilgrimage narrative.

5:9 Text [G]: Resistance, firmness, and solidarity in suffering remain. The Greek construction is rendered as experience of suffering rather than a claim that every event is identical. Reception [R31]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:8-11 below.

5:10 Text [G]: G has “in Christ.” All four future actions are preserved; “Himself” represents the emphatic subject. Reception [R31]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:8-11 below.

5:11 Text [G]: G’s doxology names dominion here, without adding glory. Reception [R31]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:8-11 below.

5:12 Text [G]: Silvanus’s role is expressed by “through,” without deciding whether messenger or secretary. The closing verb is the imperative in G. Reception [R32]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:12-14 below.

5:13 Text [G]: The feminine “she” remains without inserting church as an explicit noun. Babylon and the familial description of Mark remain uninterpreted in the translation. Reception [R32]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:12-14 below. Eusebius, Church History 2.15.2 [E]: quotes the greeting while reporting the tradition that Babylon denotes Rome and linking Mark with Peter. This is historical reception, not an explicit place-name substitution in Greek.

5:14 Text [G]: G ends “in Christ,” without an additional Jesus or final Amen. The love greeting and peace wish remain distinct. Reception [R32]: see Calvin’s unit exposition of 5:12-14 below.

Verified reception passages

R01 — Calvin on 1:1-2. Calvin connects election with the observable calling and sanctification of believers, and distinguishes renewed obedience from cleansing by Christ’s blood. His interpretation addresses the greeting as a whole.

R02 — Calvin on 1:3-5. Calvin reads the opening blessing as encouragement to endure present troubles. He pairs the inheritance kept in heaven with believers guarded on earth by God’s power through faith.

R03 — Calvin on 1:6-9. Calvin describes testing as both refining faith and proving its genuineness. Faith in the unseen Christ kindles love, while salvation’s promised outcome sustains joy amid affliction.

R04 — Calvin on 1:10-12. Calvin distinguishes the prophets’ real participation in salvation from the fuller manifestation after Christ’s coming. He treats their Spirit-guided inquiry as a model of disciplined attention to revelation.

R05 — Calvin on 1:13-16. Calvin explains girding the mind through the practical preparation of ancient clothing for work or travel. He joins adoption to obedience and God’s holiness to the conduct of those He calls.

R06 — Calvin on 1:17-22. Calvin links holiness to the cost of redemption, interprets the lamb through sacrificial and Passover imagery, and presents Christ as mediator of faith in God. His comment on verse 22 includes a Spirit phrase absent from SBLGNT; that wording is not adopted here.

R07 — Calvin on 1:23-25. Calvin connects new birth with a changed life and the enduring efficacy of God’s word. He contrasts human frailty in Isaiah’s grass image with the life communicated through that word.

R08 — Calvin on 2:1-5. Calvin contrasts the former vices with the sincerity of a new life, distinguishing Peter’s milk image from permanent immaturity. He joins the living stones into one temple, united through mutual love and offering themselves to God through Christ.

R09 — Calvin on 2:6-8. Calvin takes the scriptural stone citations as reassurance when Christ is rejected. In his reading, stumbling occurs through resistance to the proclaimed word; this exposition is not an added explanation of the appointment clause.

R10 — Calvin on 2:9-10. Calvin connects the collective titles with Exodus 19:6 and the people-and-mercy contrast with Hosea. He understands gathering in Christ as renewed peoplehood; his historical identification of the recipients remains interpretation.

R11 — Calvin on 2:11-12. Calvin distinguishes inward resistance to corrupt desires from outward good conduct. He argues that conduct among unbelievers should remove grounds for slander and help draw others toward God.

R12 — Calvin on 2:13-16. Calvin reads civic submission within good conduct and denies that Christian freedom licenses harm to neighbors. At verse 14 he takes the sending agent as God, unlike the reading text’s contextual reference to the king.

R13 — Calvin on 2:17. Calvin distinguishes regard for every person from the particular bond among believers. He insists that special love for the brotherhood should not prevent love from extending to humanity generally.

R14 — Calvin on 2:18-20. Calvin acknowledges the harsh condition of ancient household slaves and distinguishes bearing deserved punishment from enduring unjust injury with consciousness of God. This is historical exposition of the slave/master instructions.

R15 — Calvin on 2:21-23. Calvin extends the example of Christ’s innocent suffering beyond the immediate address to slaves. He reads the refusal to retaliate as the particular conduct believers should imitate.

R16 — Calvin on 2:24-25. Calvin reads Christ’s bearing of sins as sacrificial expiation and connects the passage with Isaiah. This is an attributed theological interpretation of the bearing and healing imagery, not additional translated wording.

R17 — Calvin on 3:1-4. Calvin interprets the wives’ conduct as a means of drawing unbelieving husbands toward faith. He contrasts bodily ornament with cultivation of the inner person and the lasting quality of a gentle spirit.

R18 — Calvin on 3:5-6. Calvin presents the earlier holy women as examples for the conduct just described. He discusses fear in connection with Sarah’s daughters and the household relation; his social assumptions remain those of his exposition.

R19 — Calvin on 3:7. Calvin makes honor essential to married friendship: contempt undermines love. His exposition insists that the husband’s conduct requires prudence and respect, within the household framework he assumes.

R20 — Calvin on 3:8-9. Calvin reads the qualities as sustaining friendship and mutual care. He treats blessing an offender as active prayer and kindness, extending beyond merely refraining from revenge.

R21 — Calvin on 3:10-15. Calvin connects the Psalm citation with patient goodness and pursuing peace even when others refuse it. God’s care supports endurance; he expressly allows that innocent believers can nevertheless suffer.

R22 — Calvin on 3:15-16. Calvin emphasizes that the confession of hope must be given without pride or contentious display. Reverence for God and gentleness should govern the manner of speaking about divine mysteries.

R23 — Calvin on 3:17-18. Calvin reads Christ’s suffering as comfort for innocent sufferers and as a call to consecrated living: the stated purpose is to bring people to God, not to excuse wrongdoing.

R24 — Calvin on 3:19-22. Calvin relates the proclamation to Christ’s life-giving power reaching the dead. He treats Noah’s deliverance as corresponding to baptism and Christ’s heavenly session as assurance of His saving sovereignty. This is unit exposition, not identification supplied by the Greek.

R25 — Calvin on 4:1-5. Calvin connects conformity to Christ’s suffering with the putting away of the former life. Recollection of past excess should prompt repentance, while hostile surprise should not draw believers back into that conduct.

R26 — Calvin on 4:6-11. Calvin takes the announcement to the dead as assurance that death cannot defeat Christ’s saving power. He joins watchfulness to prayer, hospitality to willing kindness, and gifts to stewardship of what God has entrusted for others.

R27 — Calvin on 4:12-17. Calvin distinguishes suffering for Christ from ordinary affliction and from wrongdoing. He treats the Spirit’s presence as consolation under reproach and Christian suffering as a reason to glorify God.

R28 — Calvin on 4:17-19. Calvin connects judgment beginning with God’s people to endurance under His care. He understands entrusting one’s life to God as confidence in divine protection; his preferred rendering of ktistēs differs from the retained “Creator.”

R29 — Calvin on 5:1-4. Calvin reads elders as pastors charged with feeding the Church. He rejects domineering power, understands the allotted charges as congregations, and directs discouraged pastors toward the Chief Shepherd’s promised appearing.

R30 — Calvin on 5:5-7. Calvin connects humility toward God with kindness and teachability toward others. Trust in God’s care answers the fear that humility will merely expose a believer to injury.

R31 — Calvin on 5:8-11. Calvin explains sobriety and watchfulness as resistance to spiritual lethargy, and firm faith as the ground of resistance to the adversary. He turns the closing assurance into an exhortation for ministers to accompany teaching with prayer.

R32 — Calvin on 5:12-14. Calvin interprets Silvanus as a messenger reinforcing the written exhortation and the kiss as an outward expression requiring inward sincerity. He favors literal Babylon; Eusebius’s different identification is recorded at verse 13.

Sources and evidence limits

Calvin: Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles, translated and edited by John Owen (1855), accessed in CCEL. Each R-code links to its exact commentary unit. These are later Reformed interpretations; neither their biblical wording nor their historical assumptions replace the selected Greek text.

[G] Michael W. Holmes, ed., The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010), official Faithlife/SBLGNT electronic running text, repository version 1.2 (Jul 10, 2023). All 105 Greek running-text verses; main-text check only; apparatus boundary signs observed without manuscript or apparatus collation.

[P] Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians, chapters 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10.

[A88] Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John 88.1.

[A164] Augustine, Letter 164 to Evodius, §§1–2, 10–11, 15–20.

[CL] Clement of Rome, First Letter to the Corinthians 49.

[E] Eusebius, Church History 2.15.2.

[B] John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part One, Gutenberg editorial §§21, 96, 319.

The final reference’s continuous-reading format, five chapter headings, 105 references, companion chip, and twelve-point Times New Roman reading text are retained. Significant ambiguities remain at 1:11, 1:13, 1:23, 2:5, 2:8, 2:13–14, 3:14, 3:18–21, 4:1, 4:6, and 5:13; reception does not resolve them by insertion.