Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Peter 5:9
Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
9. whom resist stedfast in the faith ] The word for “resist” is the same as that used in the parallel passage of Jas 4:7. “Faith” is probably used in its subjective rather than its objective sense, for unshaken trust in God rather than unwavering orthodoxy. Comp. the “shield of faith” in Eph 6:16.
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren ] Better, that the same sufferings (as keeping up the continuity of thought with chaps. 1Pe 1:11 , 1Pe 4:13, 1Pe 5:1) are being wrought out for your brotherhood (the same collective term as in chap. 1Pe 2:17) that are in the world. The Apostle appeals to the thought of sympathy with other sufferers as a ground of steadfastness. Those to whom he wrote were not isolated in their afflictions. Far and near there were comrades fighting the same battle. It was at once their duty and their privilege to follow all examples of steadfastness of which they heard elsewhere, and to set that example, so that others, cheered by it, might be strengthened to endure even to the end.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Whom resist – See the notes at Jam 4:7. You are in no instance to yield to him, but are in all forms to stand up and oppose him. Feeble in yourselves, you are to confide in the arm of God. No matter in what form of terror he approaches, you are to fight manfully the fight of faith. Compare the notes at Eph 6:10-17.
Steadfast in the faith – Confiding in God. You are to rely on him alone, and the means of successful resistance are to be found in the resources of faith. See the notes at Eph 6:16.
Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world – Compare for a similar sentiment, 1Co 10:13. The meaning is, that you should be encouraged to endure your trials by the fact that your fellow-Christians suffer the same things. This consideration might furnish consolation to them in their trials in the following ways:
(1) They would feel that they were suffering only the common lot of Christians. There was no evidence that God was especially angry with them, or that he had in a special manner forsaken them.
(2) The fact that others were enabled to bear their trials should be an argument to prove to them that they would also be able. If they looked abroad, and saw that others were sustained, and were brought off triumphant, they might be assured that this would be the case with them.
(3) There would be the support derived from the fact that they were not alone in suffering. We can bear pain more easily if we feel that we are not alone – that it is the common lot – that we are in circumstances where we may have sympathy from others. This remark may be of great practical value to us in view of persecutions, trials, and death. The consideration suggested here by Peter to sustain those whom he addressed, in the trials of persecution, may be applied now to sustain and comfort us in every form of apprehended or real calamity. We are all liable to suffering. We are exposed to sickness, bereavement, death. We often feet as if we could not bear up under the sufferings that may be before us, and especially do we dread the great trial – death. It may furnish us some support and consolation to remember:
(1) That this is the common lot of people. There is nothing special in our case. It proves nothing as to the question whether we are accepted of God, and are beloved by him, that we suffer; for those whom he has loved most have been often among the greatest sufferers. We often think that our sufferings are unique; that there have been none like them. Yet, if we knew all, we should find that thousands – and among them the most wise, and pure, and good – have endured sufferings of the same kind as ours, and perhaps far more intense in degree.
(2) Others have been conveyed triumphantly through their trials. We have reason to hope and to believe that we shall also, for:
(a)Our trials have been no greater than theirs have been; and,
(b)Their natural strength was no greater than ours. Many of them were timid, and shrinking, and trembling, and felt that they had no strength, and that they should fail under the trial.
(3) The grace which sustained them can sustain us. The hand of God is not shortened that it cannot save; his ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. His power is as great, and his grace is as fresh, as it was when the first sufferer was supported by him; and that divine strength which supported David and Job in their afflictions, and the apostles and martyrs in theirs, is just as powerful as it was when they applied to God to be upheld in their sorrows.
(4) We are especially fearful of death – fearful that our faith will fail, and that we shall be left to die without support or consolation. Yet let us remember that death is the common lot of man. Let us remember who have died – tender females; children; the timid and the fearful; those, in immense multitudes, who had no more strength by nature than we have. Let us think of our own kindred who have died. A wife has died, and shall a husband be afraid to die? A child, and shall a father? A sister, and shall a brother? It does much to take away the dread of death, to remember that a mother has gone through the dark valley; that that gloomy vale has been trod by delicate, and timid, and beloved sisters. Shall I be afraid to go where they have gone? Shall I apprehend that I shall find no grace that is able to sustain me where they have found it? Must the valley of the shadow of death be dark and gloomy to me, when they found it to be illuminated with the opening light of heaven? Above all, it takes away the fear of death when I remember that my Saviour has experienced all the horrors which can ever be in death; that he has slept in the tomb, and made it a hallowed resting-place.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Whom resist] Stand against him, . Though invulnerable, he is not unconquerable: the weakest follower of God can confound and overpower him, if he continue steadfast in the faith-believing on the Son of God, and walking uprightly before him. To a soul thus engaged he can do no damage.
The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren] It is the lot of all the disciples of Christ to suffer persecution. The brotherhood, , the Christian Church, everywhere is exposed to the assaults of men and devils; you are persecuted by the heathen among whom ye live, and from among whom ye are gathered into the fold of Christ: but even those who profess the same faith with you, and who are resident among the Jews, (for so I think , in the world, is here to be understood,) are also persecuted, both heathens and Jews being equally opposed to the pure and holy doctrines of the Gospel. Any man who has read the Greek Testament with any attention must have observed a vast number of places in which the word , which we translate world, means the Jewish people and the Jewish state, and nothing else.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whom resist; by not yielding to his temptations, Eph 4:27, and by employing your spiritual armour against him, Eph 6:11-13, &c.: see Jam 4:7.
Stedfast in the faith; either:
1. Hold your faith, persevering in it, which the devil would fain bereave you of, (as soldiers used in war to look to their shields, it being dishonourable to lose them), and without which ye will never be able to stand out against the devil: or:
2. Stedfast or strong by faith; intimating, that faith is a Christians greatest strength, it being by faith that he engageth the power of God and grace of Christ on his side, whereby he comes to be victorious over all his enemies, 1Jo 5:4.
Knowing that the same afflictions; either:
1. The devils temptations, which here he calls afflictions, because believers are passive in them, and count them the greatest afflictions; or rather:
2. Persecutions, which though they come upon them immediately from the men of the world, yet it is by the instigation of the devil, the prince of the world, who hath a principal hand in them, and acts by men as his instruments: so that when men oppress them, they are to resist the devil, who thereby tempts them. They have a spiritual enemy to deal with even in temporal afflictions.
Are accomplished in your brethren; or, fulfilled, or perfected: either:
1. Others of your brethren are filling up the measure of sufferings God hath allotted them, for the mortifying of the flesh, and conforming them to Christ their Head, as well as you are filling up yours, Col 1:24; or:
2. He speaks of the community of their sufferings: q.d. What afflictions ye endure, others endure too, and therefore ye should not grudge to suffer, when ye have so good company in your sufferings.
That are in the world; either this notes the sufferings of the saints to be universal, so as to reach them all, wheresoever they are dispersed throughout the world; or, to be short, as being confined to the time only of their abode in the world.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. (Luk 4:13;Eph 6:11-17; Jas 4:7.)
steadfastCompareestablished in the truth,” 2Pe1:12. Satan’s power exists only in respect to the unbelieving;the faithful he cannot hurt (1Jo5:18). Faith gives strength to prayer, the great instrumentagainst the foe (Jas 1:6, c.).
knowing,&c.”encouragement not to faint in afflictions”: yourbrethren suffer the same nothing beyond the common lot of Christiansbefalls you (1Co 10:13). It isa sign of God’s favor rather than displeasure, that Satan is allowedto harass you, as he did Job. Your fellow Christians have the samebattle of faith and prayer against Satan.
areare beingaccomplished according to the appointment of God.
in the worldlying inthe wicked one, and therefore necessarily the scene of “tribulation”(Joh 16:33).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Whom resist,…. By no means give way to him, by indulging any sin, or yielding to any temptation, but oppose him, and stand against his wiles, his cunning and his power:
steadfast in the faith; both in the doctrine of faith, which Satan endeavours to remove from, or cause to stagger in; and in the grace of faith, exercising it on the promises of God, and his perfections, particularly his power and faithfulness concerned in them, and in the blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and person of Christ, which faith is capable of making use of, as a shield, to good purpose, against all the fiery darts of Satan; as also in a profession of faith, which, as it should be held fast without wavering, and which the devil is very busy to keep persons from making, or to cause them to drop it when they have made it, by violent suggestions, strong temptations, and a flood of reproaches and persecutions; all which should be disregarded:
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world; and therefore should not be surprised and staggered by them, nor think them strange, but endure them without murmuring, and with patience and cheerfulness; since they are the “same afflictions” and trials which others have been exercised with in all ages: the same which the fraternity, or “brotherhood”, as the word signifies, see 1Pe 2:17 who stand in the same relation to God and Christ as they do, endure; yea, the same which Christ himself, who stands in this relation to them, has endured: and which must be expected while they are “in the world”; but this is the great mercy, that they are only endured in this world; there will be none in the world to come; they will be “accomplished” and finished here; and every believer has his measure, which must be filled up; and so has the whole of Christ, his church, and when they are fulfil they will be no more.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Whom withstand ( ). Imperative second aorist active (intransitive) of ; same form in Jas 4:7, which see. Dative case of relative (). For the imperative in a subordinate clause see verse 1Pet 5:12; 2Thess 3:10; 2Tim 4:15; Heb 13:7. Cowardice never wins against the devil (2Ti 1:7), but only courage.
Steadfast in your faith ( ). Locative case . is old adjective for solid like a foundation (2Ti 2:19).
The same sufferings ( ). An unusual construction with the genitive rather than the usual , perhaps as Hofmann suggests, “the same tax of sufferings” (“the same things in sufferings”). Probably this is correct and is like Xenophon’s phrase in the Memorabilia (IV. 8. 8), (to pay the tax of old age).
Are accomplished (). Present (and so process) middle (you are paying) or passive (is paid) infinitive of , old verb, to accomplish (2Co 7:1).
In your brethren who are in the world ( ). Associate-instrumental case (in N.T. only here and 2:17, which see) after (like 1Co 11:5) or dative after . Even so (second perfect active participle of ) with an infinitive usually means “knowing how to” (object infinitive) as in Luke 12:56; Phil 3:18 rather than “knowing that” (indirect assertion) as taken above.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Resist [] . The Rev., very judiciously, substitutes withstand; resist having been already used in ver. 5 for ajntitassetai. Withstand is, moreover, the more accurate rendering; as the verb means rather to be firm against onset than to strive against it. With in withstand is the Saxon wid, against, which appears in the German wider.
Steadfast [] . Compare 2Ti 2:19; and the kindred verb stereow, to strengthen (Act 3:7, 16; Act 16:5). Paul, in Col 2:5, uses a cognate noun, sterewma, evidently as a military metaphor : “Beholding your order (taxin, compare ajntitassetai, ver. 5) and your solid front or close phalanx” [] . It might be difficult to find, on the whole, a better rendering than steadfast, yet it falls a little short of the meaning. Steadfast is Anglo – Saxon, stede, a place, and faest, fast; and hence means firm in its place; but stereoi conveys also the sense of compactness, compact solidity, and is appropriate, since a number of individuals are addressed and exhorted to withstand the onset of Satan as one compacted body. Stereov implies solidity in the very mass and body of the thing itself; steadfastness, mere holding of place. A rock is stereov, firm, solid; but a flexible weed with its tough root resisting all efforts to pull it up, may be steadfast. The exhortation is appropriate from Peter, the Rock. The same afflictions [ ] . Rev., better, sufferings. A very peculiar construction, occurring nowhere else in the New Testament. Lit., the same things of sufferings, emphasizing the idea of identity.
Are accomplished [] . More correctly, are being accomplished. The present infinitive denotes something in process of accomplishment.
Brethren [] . Lit., brotherhood. Only here and ch. 2 17.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Whom resist steadfast in the faith.” How can he be encountered? (Greek ho antistete) whom stand up against resist.” (Greek stereoi te pistei) “firm in the faith,” the Word of God — as Jesus did, Mat 4:4; Mat 4:7; Mat 4:10-11.
2) “Knowing that the same afflictions.” Knowing or recognizing that the (Greek auta) “Same things,” sufferings or afflictions — same kind of afflictions, sufferings and even persecutions.
3) “Are accomplished in your brethren.” Are to be finished or experienced in your brethren. All who live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, 2Ti 3:12.
4) “That are in the world.” Fallen men are heir to afflictions, troubles, and persecutions. None escapes them, not even the most holy, Job 5:7; Job 14:1; 1Co 10:13; Heb 4:15-16.
SATAN IS A PERSON – RESIST HIM
The Bible gives more than thirty names to the devil, and every one of them implies or predicates his personality.
Among other unflattering titles he is called “a liar,” “a thief,” “a murderer.”
It is perfectly puerile to talk about “a principle of evil” in order to avoid the fact of the devil’s personality.
Imagine a policeman chasing “the principle of evil” down the street or firing his pistol into the spirit of murder”!
There could be no such thing as a “lie” without a “liar”, or a “theft” without a “thief,” or a “murder” without a “murderer.”
To deny the existence and personality of the devil is not only to give the lie to your own experience, but also to impeach the truthfulness of both reason and revelation.
–Dr. Wm. E. Biederwolf
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9 Whom resist As the power of an enemy ought to stimulate us and make us more careful, so there would be danger lest our hearts failed through immoderate fear, except the hope of victory were given us. This then is what the Apostle speaks of; he shows that the issue of the war will be prosperous, if we indeed fight under the banner of Christ; for whosoever comes to this contest, endued with faith, he declares that he will certainly be a conqueror.
Resist, he says; but some one may ask, how? To this he answers, there is sufficient strength in faith. Paul, in the passage which I have already quoted, enumerates the various parts of our armor, but the meaning is the same, (Eph 6:13,) for John testifies that faith alone is our victory over the world.
Knowing that the same afflictions, or sufferings. It is another consolation, that we have a contest in common with all the children of God; for Satan dangerously tries us, when he separates us from the body of Christ. We have heard how he attempted to storm the courage of Job,
“
Look to the saints, has any one of them suffered such a thing?” — Job 5:1.
The Apostle on the other hand, reminds us here that nothing happens to us but what we see does happen to other members of the Church. Moreover a fellowship, or a similar condition, with all the saints, ought by no means to be refused by us.
By saying that the same sufferings are accomplished, he means what Paul declares in Col 1:24, that what remains of the sufferings of Christ is daily fulfilled in the faithful.
The words, that are in the world, may be explained in two ways, either that God proves his faithful people indiscriminately everywhere in the world, or that the necessity of fighting awaits us as long as we are in the world. But we must observe that having said before that we are assailed by Satan, he then immediately refers to every kind of afflictions. We hence gather that we have always to do with our spiritual enemy, however adversities may come, or whatever they may be, whether diseases oppress us, or the barrenness of the land threatens us with famine, or men persecute us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Whom resist stedfast in the faith.The expression is somewhat more picturesque in the Greek than in the English. Stand and face him, instead of running away from posts of duty (1Pe. 5:2), or lying still and letting things take their course (1Pe. 5:8). And the words for stedfast in the faith seem to mean not only that each individual is to stand firm, but that they are to present all together a solid front to the lion.
Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.The phraseology of the original is very strange. The sameness of the sufferings is brought out by an expression which literally runs the same things in the way of sufferings; the fraternal unity, by the use of the same abstract word which we had in 1Pe. 2:17. The verb rendered to accomplish sometimes denotes execution or infliction. So the whole will run, knowing that the very same things in the way of sufferings are being inflicted upon your brotherhood which is in the world. There is one thing, says Archbishop Leighton, that much troubles the patience and weakens the faith of some Christians; they are ready to think there is none, yea, there was never any beloved of God in such a condition as theirs. Therefore the Apostle St. Paul breaks this conceit (1Co. 10:13), no temptation hath taken you but such as is common to man: and here is the same truth, the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren. This is the truth, and, taken altogether, is a most comfortable truth; the whole brotherhood go in this way, and our eldest Brother went first. The addition, that are in the world, points the suffering Christians indirectly to solace themselves with the thought of that portion of the brotherhood which has got beyond the infliction. It would be possible to translate, though somewhat far-fetched in point of thought, knowing that the same sufferings (or, the identity of the sufferings) is completed by your brotherhood in the worldi.e., finds a consummation in making closer the bonds of brotherhood between you.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Whom resist Stand against him to the very last. Never surrender or compromise.
Steadfast Solid and immovable in faith in Christ, the sure means of victory. Nor must they think their case an exception, for they knew that the same persecutions were carried on among their brethren throughout the world. The Christian name was everywhere hated.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Whom withstand steadfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brothers who are in the world.’
Resisting the Devil is a concept also found in Eph 6:11-13; Jas 4:6-8. In the former case it is by faith in God through His word, and in the latter case it is by humility, submission to God and faith, as here. In Ephesians 6 it is expanded in terms of being clothed in the armour of God, in other words it is through trust in God’s word and promises, so again by faith. Jude stresses how necessary it is to depend on the Lord totally in dealing with Satan (Jud 1:9). According to Jude it is the foolish who treat him lightly (Jud 1:8; Jud 1:10). We must deal with him in the Lord’s strength.
And as they make their stand against persecution they are to recognise that all their brothers who are still in the world are subject to similar persecution. Only the saints in glory (1Pe 4:6), who are not in the world, escape it. Thus it is confirmed that it is ‘no strange thing’ that is happening to them (1Pe 4:12) for it happens to God’s people everywhere. This may suggest that some had panicked when persecution arose, feeling that it contradicted the onward march of the Gospel of Christ. Unlike the Jews they were not used to it.
‘In your faith.’ The question often raised with regard to this is whether it is their personal faith that is in mind or the body of faith that has been preserved by the churches. Whichever it is it really means the same. Peter would not have exhorted them to any other kind of faith than faith in God and His promises, and that would be faith in ‘the faith’. And being steadfast in the faith would necessarily indicate being steadfast in personal faith.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Pe 5:9. Whom resist, stedfast in the faith, See Eph 4:27; Eph 6:10; Eph 6:24 and Jam 4:7. The word , rendered accomplished, signifies perfected, or brought to an end. It seems here to mean particularly, that the persecutions of the unbelieving Jews, stirred up by the devil, were every where carried to as great a length upon the Christians, as our Lord foretold they would be, before the destruction of Jerusalem. The argument contained in these words lies thus: “You are not the only persons that suffer for the sake of Christ, neither do you suffer more than others. The persecution is now carried on with asmuch fierceness, wherever there are any disciples of Jesus your Master. Do not therefore expect to escape while others suffer: murmur not that you are subject to the common lot of Christians in this hour of trial, neither come behind your brethren in patience and fortitude.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Pe 5:9 . ] cf. Jas 4:7 ; Eph 6:11 ff. does not belong to (Bengel), but to ; not as the dat. instrum. (Beza, Hensler), but as the dative of nearer definition: “firm in the faith;” cf. Act 16:5 ; Col 2:7 ; cf. Winer, p. 202 [E. T. 270]. It is only a firm faith that can resist the devil.
] Almost all interpreters assume that the construction here is that of the accus. c. inf. Hofmann nevertheless denies this, remarking that in the N. T. (in the sense of “knowing”) never takes the accus. c. inf., but always the particle , and that when is followed by the accus. c. inf., it signifies “to understand how to do a thing.” [278] If this be correct, must have an active meaning, . be the accusative after it, and the dative be dependent on . Explaining on the analogy of the phrase: (Xen. Mem . iv. 8. 8), and seeing in the idea of measure expressed, Hofmann translates: “knowing how to pay for your Christianity the same tribute of affliction as your brethren in the world.” This explanation cannot be accepted without hesitation. For, on the one hand, from the fact that in other parts of the N. T. does not take the accus. c. inf., it cannot be concluded that here it does not do so either, the more especially that the construction of the accus. c. inf. occurs comparatively rarely in the N. T.; and, on the other hand, the phrase: . . , is not analogous with the expression: . , since in the former there is no conception corresponding to . Hofmann inserts, indeed, as such, the idea of the Christian calling, but it is purely imported, and nowhere hinted at in the text. Accordingly, grammatically considered can have a passive signification, not, indeed, equivalent to: “are completed” (Thuc. 7:2; Phi 1:6 , and other passages), for this idea would not be suitable here, but rather: “are being accomplished” (thus Herod. 1:51, in connection with ; 1:138: ). This idea is, in truth, not very appropriate either; it seems to be more fitting to take the verb in a middle sense, as equivalent to: “are accomplishing themselves;” and to translate: “knowing (or better rather: considering) that the same sufferings are accomplishing themselves in the brethren.” This rendering is to be preferred to all others. The Vulg. translates . by fieri; Luther by “befall;” both are too inexact renderings of the sense. [279] In the explanation above given, is used as a substantive, as frequently happens with the neuter of adjectives (Winer, p. 220 [280] [E.T. 294]), and is put here to emphasize the sameness of the sufferings (thus de Wette, Wiesinger); is to be taken as the more remote object; on no condition can the dative be understood as equivalent to in passives. With the idea , cf. chap. 1Pe 2:17 .
The addition, , alludes to the reason of the afflictions (Steiger). Wiesinger justly remarks: “in the world, the dominion of the Evil One, the Christian can and dare expect nothing else.” Possibly it may contain at the same time a reference to the , which the Lord has already taken to Himself . The thought that the brethren have to bear the same afflictions, serves to give strength in resisting the devil, since the consciousness of bearing similar afflictions in common with all Christian brethren, encourages to patient endurance.
[278] Cf. the passages quoted by Hofmann: Mat 7:11 ; Luk 11:13 ; Luk 12:36 ; Jas 4:17 ; Php 4:12 ; 1Ti 3:5 ; 2Pe 2:9 .
[279] The translation of Wichelhaus: “ to be laid upon ,” is entirely unjustifiable.
[280] Hofmann erroneously appeals to Hartung’s Gr. II. p. 238, in support of the interpretation: “the same measure of suffering.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Ver. 9. Stedfast in the faith ] Gr. , stiff, solid, settled.
That the same afflictions ] Art not thou glad to fare as Phocion? said he to one that was to die with him. (Plutarch.) Ignatius, going to suffer, triumphed in this, that his blood should be found among the mighty worthies, and that when the Lord maketh inquisition for blood, he will recount from the blood of righteous Abel not only to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, but also to the blood of mean Ignatius.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9 .] whom resist (see ref. James) firm in the faith (dat. of reference, as Phi 2:8 , Eph 2:3 , &c.), knowing ( being aware : it is an encouragement against their giving way under Satan’s attacks, to remember that they do not stand alone against him; that others are, as Gerhard expresses it, not only , but in “precibus et pugna contra Satanam ”) that the very same sufferings (this construction, a gen. after , is not elsewhere found in N. T. In it, as in the dat. construction in reff., the adj. is made into a subst. to express more completely the identity. It is (see Winer, 34. 2) much as when an adj. is made into a subst. governing a gen.: e. g. Heb 6:17 , Phi 3:8 , Thuc. i. 68, Plato, Phdr. 240 A) are being accomplished in ( the case of : the dat. of reference, as in and similar phrases. Much unnecessary difficulty has been found in the word . It has its usual N. T. meaning of ‘accomplish,’ ‘complete,’ as in reff. and Phi 1:6 , al.; these sufferings were being accomplished, their full measure attained, according to the will of God, and by the appointment of God, in, with reference to, in the case of, the . The Dative must not be regarded as = a gen. with : but there is another way of taking it, viz. as dependent on , making middle: “knowing that ye are accomplishing the same sufferings with” &c. This is defended by Harless; but in this case we should certainly expect to be inserted, as in Luk 4:41 , and in Rom 2:19 ) your brotherhood (ref.) in the world ( , not to direct attention to another brotherhood not in the world, as Huther; but as identifying their state with yours: who, like yourselves, are in the world, and thence have, like yourselves, to expect such trials).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Pe 5:9 . . St. James adds the same exhortation to his quotation of Prov. The connexion is not obvious but is perhaps due to the traditional exposition of = as referring to the Devil and his children. As God ranges Himself against scoffers, so must Christians resist the Devil who is working with their slanderous tempers. Oecumenius and Cramer’s Catena both appeal to an extract from Justin’s book against Marcion (?) which is preserved in Irensus and quoted by Eusebius. The main point of the passage is that before Christ came the devil did not dare to blaspheme against God, for the prophecies of his punishment were enigmatic; but Christ proclaimed it plainly and so he lost all hope and goes about eager to drag down all to his own destruction. , rock like in your faith , abbreviation of , Col 1:23 ; cf. , Col 2:5 and Act 16:5 , . The metaphorical use of . in a good sense is not common. Peter perhaps thinks of the ( ) of Isa 51:1 and warns them against his own failing. . The rendering (first suggested by Hoffmann) knowing how to pay (that you are paying) the same tax of sufferings as the brotherhood in the world is paying seems preferable to the common knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being accomplished for ( by ) it assumes the proper idiomatic force of and accounts for ( sc. ) followed by the genitive. Xenophon who is a good authority for Common Greek uses . thus twice: Mem. iv. 8. 8, “but if I shall live longer perhaps it will be necessary to pay the penalties of old age ( ) and to see and hear worse ” Apol , 33 nor did he turn effeminate at death but cheerfully welcomed it and paid the penalty ( ). For the dative with . same as , cf. 1Co 11:5 , .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
stedfast. Greek. stereos. See 2Ti 2:19.
faith. App-150.
knowing. App-132.
afflictions. Same as “sufferings”, 1Pe 5:1.
accomplished. App-125.
brethren = brotherhood. See 1Pe 2:17.
world. App-129.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] whom resist (see ref. James) firm in the faith (dat. of reference, as Php 2:8, Eph 2:3, &c.), knowing (being aware: it is an encouragement against their giving way under Satans attacks, to remember that they do not stand alone against him; that others are, as Gerhard expresses it, not only , but in precibus et pugna contra Satanam ) that the very same sufferings (this construction, a gen. after , is not elsewhere found in N. T. In it, as in the dat. construction in reff., the adj. is made into a subst. to express more completely the identity. It is (see Winer, 34. 2) much as when an adj. is made into a subst. governing a gen.: e. g. Heb 6:17, Php 3:8, Thuc. i. 68, Plato, Phdr. 240 A) are being accomplished in (the case of: the dat. of reference, as in and similar phrases. Much unnecessary difficulty has been found in the word . It has its usual N. T. meaning of accomplish, complete, as in reff. and Php 1:6, al.; these sufferings were being accomplished, their full measure attained, according to the will of God, and by the appointment of God, in, with reference to, in the case of, the . The Dative must not be regarded as = a gen. with : but there is another way of taking it, viz. as dependent on , making middle: knowing that ye are accomplishing the same sufferings with &c. This is defended by Harless; but in this case we should certainly expect to be inserted, as in Luk 4:41, and in Rom 2:19) your brotherhood (ref.) in the world ( , not to direct attention to another brotherhood not in the world, as Huther; but as identifying their state with yours: who, like yourselves, are in the world, and thence have, like yourselves, to expect such trials).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Pe 5:9. , through or by the faith) Constructed with resist [not stedfast in the faith, as Engl. Vers.]- , the very same sufferings) Not merely like sufferings, but the very same. The same governs the Dative , brotherhood. Thus Lucretius: eadem aliis sopitus quiete est. Chrysost. de Sacerd., p. 202: , to fall into the same madness with them. The meaning of the apostle is: the same sufferings which happen to your brethren are also undergone by you. Comp. Mat 5:12; 2Co 1:6; Php 1:30. [Therefore it is not a bad sign in a person, if the devil harasses him with sufferings.-V. g.]- ) in the whole of this world, which lies in the evil one, the devil: 1Pe 5:8. It is antithetical to the eternal glory of God, 1Pe 5:10.- , to your brotherhood) of Jews and Gentiles.-, are accomplished) The measure of sufferings is gradually filled up.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
world
kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
resist: Luk 4:3-12, Eph 4:27, Eph 6:11-13, Jam 4:7
stedfast: Luk 22:32, Eph 6:16, 1Ti 6:12, 2Ti 4:7, Heb 11:33
the same: 1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 2:21, 1Pe 3:14, 1Pe 4:13, Joh 16:33, Act 14:22, 1Co 10:13, 1Th 2:15, 1Th 2:16, 1Th 3:3, 2Ti 3:12, Rev 1:9, Rev 6:11, Rev 7:14
Reciprocal: Mat 4:10 – Get Luk 4:8 – Get Luk 22:38 – It Luk 22:40 – Pray Rom 11:20 – and 2Co 1:24 – for 2Co 5:7 – General 2Co 13:5 – in the faith Col 2:5 – and the Heb 12:8 – General 1Pe 4:12 – as 2Pe 3:17 – from 1Jo 2:13 – because
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Pe 5:9. This verse will throw more light on the preceding one. The pronoun whom refers to the devil, and Christians are exhorted to resist Then in direct connection with the subject they are told that their brethren have been experiencing the same afflictions. This makes it plain that when Christians are tempted and persecuted by evil men, as these disciples had been, the apostle would say it is the work of the devil, and in that way he goes about like a roaring (ravenous) lion. The reference to your brethren is for the purpose of encouraging them in their conflicts with the enemy. When they know that these afflictions are accomplished (endured to the end) by their brethren in Christ elsewhere, they may conclude they can do the same since what one can do (under Christ) another can accomplish by endurance.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Pe 5:9. Whom resist, stedfast in the faith. The stedfast means stable or firm. It is translated sure in 2Ti 2:19, and strong in Heb 5:12; Heb 5:14 (its only other New Testament occurrences), while its verb is rendered establish in Act 16:5, and receive strength, make strong, in Act 3:7; Act 3:16. By the faith here is meant not the objects believed, but the subjective conviction, the power or principle of faith (cf. 1Jn 5:4-5). The spiritual adversary is neither to be fled from nor to be supinely regarded, but to be withstood. He will be faced, however, to little purpose where he is met by weak and wavering conviction. Only he who is strong in the faith which makes him a Christian, is strong enough to vanquish this foe in the assaults which he makes with the engine of persecution. Compare Jas 4:7, and above all, Pauls view of the shield of faith and its efficiency in Eph 6:16.
knowing that the same sufferings are being accomplished in your brotherhood who are in the world. The phrase the same sufferings means, literally, the same things of the sufferings, or the identities of the sufferings. The construction of the sentence is also otherwise peculiar. Hence it is variously rendered, e.g., as = considering that the same sufferings are accomplishing themselves in your brotherhood, etc. (Huther); or as = knowing that ye are accomplishing the same sufferings with your brotherhood, etc.; or as = considering how to pay the same tribute of suffering as your brethren in the world; or simply as = knowing that the same sufferings are being inflicted on your brotherhood, etc. (Wilke). The idea in any case is sufficiently plain. Their courage in withstanding, with a firm faith, the devils attempts to seduce them through their sufferings, should be helped by the consideration that they occupied no singular position (cf. 1Co 10:13). They suffered only as the whole Christian brotherhood suffered. The same dispensation of tribulation was fulfilling itself in them and in the brotherhood, the same tribute of suffering was being paid by them and by the brotherhood, and for the same reason. They were both in the world. On the phrase the brotherhood see on chap. 1Pe 2:17. Compare Grays lines:
To each his sufferings, all are men, Condemned alike to groan; The tender for anothers pain, The unfeeling for his own.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if the apostle had said, “Resist Satan’s temptations, occasioned by your sufferings, remembering that it is not your case alone, but others also suffer with you, even all that will live godly in Christ Jesus.”
Learn hence, That Christians should not desire, and cannot reasonably expect, a better condition in the world, with respect to freedom from sufferings, than the rest of their brethern, who have all a share of affliction to suffer, and a measure of hardship to endure, as well as ourselves: The same afflictions are accompolished in your brethren that are in the world.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 9
Are accomplished in your brethren; that is, that all your Christian brethren, wherever scattered, share in your afflictions and trials.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, {12} knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your {c} brethren that are in the world.
(12) The persecutions which Satan stirs up, are neither new nor proper to any one man, but from old and ancient times common to the whole Church, and therefore we must suffer patiently, in which we have such and so many fellows of our conflicts and combats.
(c) Amongst your brethren which are dispersed throughout the world.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Whereas God commands us to forsake the world and deny the lusts of the flesh, we should resist the devil (cf. Eph 6:11-13; Jas 4:7). Satan’s desire is to get the Christian to doubt, to deny, to disregard, and to disobey what God has said. The Greek word translated "resist" means to defend oneself against as opposed to attacking. It is easier to resist when we remember that this duty is common to all Christians; it is not unique to us alone. A better translation of "accomplished by" might be "laid upon." Suffering is the common experience of all committed believers as long as we are in the world (cf. 2Ti 3:12).
|
The Christian’s Three-Fold Enemy |
|
Problem |
Solution |
|
The World Lust of the flesh |
Flee |
|
The flesh |
Deny |
|
The devil |
Resist |
Peter advocated three responses to Satan in this passage. We should respect him ("be of sober spirit," 1Pe 5:8). If Peter had respected Satan more he might not have slept in the Garden of Gethsemane after Jesus had warned him to watch and pray so that he would not enter into temptation. Second, Peter said we should recognize Satan ("be on the alert," 1Pe 5:8). If Peter had been alert he might not have denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of the high priest. Third, we should resist Satan (1Pe 5:9). If Peter had resisted Satan he might not have felt that he had to resist Malchus’ advance in Gethsemane and cut off his ear.
"Before we can stand before Satan [1Pe 5:8-9], we must bow before God [1Pe 5:6-7]. Peter resisted the Lord and ended up submitting to Satan!" [Note: Wiersbe, 2:433.]