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1Pe_1:18. The apostle strengthens his exhortation by reminding his readers of the redemption wrought out for them by the death of Christ. It is an assumption too far-fetched to suppose that this verse serves to show “the causal connection between the protasis and the apodosis of 1Pe_1:17” (Schott).
εἰδότες ] not: “since ye know,” but: “considering,” “reflecting;” Gerhard: expendentes; cf. 2Ti_2:23 and my commentary on the passage.
ὅτι οὐ ] The negation is placed foremost in order the more to give prominence to the position.
φθαρτοῖς , ἀργυρίῳ ἢ χρυσίῳ ] φθαρτοῖς is not an adjective here (Luther: “with perishable silver and gold”), but a substantive: “with perishable things;” see Winer, p. 491 [E. T. 662].
Benson thinks that by ἀργυρίῳ ἢ χρυσίῳ the apostle alludes to the custom of paying money as a sign of reconciliation, according to Exo_30:12-16; Num_3:44-51; Num_18:16; this is possible, but not probable.
ἐλυτρώθητε ] is here used in its strict signification of, to ransom, or redeem by a λύτρον (cf. Mat_20:28), as in Tit_2:14, whilst in Luk_24:21 this definite application is lost sight of; with the thought, cf. 1Co_6:20. The ransom is stated in the following verse.
ἐκ τῆς ματαίας ὑμῶν ἀναστροφῆς ] cf. 1Pe_1:14. μάταιος , “empty, without real contents,” does not occur in an ethical sense in the classics; LXX. Isa_32:6 translation of àÈåÆï is not to be limited specially to the idolatry of the heathen (Carpzov, Benson, etc.), still less to the ceremonial service of the Jews (Grotius).[90]
πατροπαραδότου ] belongs to the whole idea preceding: ΜΑΤΑΊΑς ὙΜῶΝ ἈΝΑΣΤΡΟΦῆς (see Winer, p. 489 [E. T. 659]). Aretius explains it by innata nobis natura; but this is not appropriate to ἈΝΑΣΤΡΟΦῆς ; correctly Erasmus: quam ex Patrum traditione acceperatis; Steiger: “by upbringing, instruction, and example” (thus also de Wette-Brückner, Wiesinger, Weiss, Schott). This attribute emphatically shows that the ΜΑΤΑΊΑ ἈΝΑΣΤΡΟΦΉ is peculiar, not to the individual only, but to the whole race, and has been from the earliest times, and consequently is so completely master of the individual that he cannot free himself from it.
There is here no “special reference to Judaeo-Christian readers” (Weiss, p. 181).
[90] Although ματαία ἀναστροφὴ πατροπαράδοτος does not necessarily apply to the heathen (Schott), yet the expression more aptly characterizes their mode of life than the Jewish.