Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadHeinrich Meyer Commentary - 1 Peter 1:3 - 1:3
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
1Pe_1:3. εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρ . ἡμ . Ἰ . Χριστοῦ ] The same formula occurs in 2Co_1:3; Eph_1:3.
εὐλογητός , not: “worthy of praise,” but: “praised;” in the LXX. the translation of áÌÈøåÌêÌ ; in the N. T. the word εὐλογητός used only with reference to God. εἴη and not ἐστίν is probably to be supplied, as is done by most commentators, cf. Meyer on Eph_1:1; Winer, p. 545 [E. T. 732] (Schott; Buttm. p. 120); at least from the fact that in the doxologies introduced by means of relatives, ἐστίν is to be found (cf. Rom_1:25; also 1Pe_4:11), it cannot be concluded that the indicative is to be supplied in an ascription of praise quite differently constructed, cf. LXX. Job_1:21. The adjunct καὶ πατὴρ κ . τ . λ . to ὁ Θεός is explainable as a natural expression of the Christian consciousness. It is possible “that the whole formula of doxology has its origin in the liturgical usage, so to speak, in the primitive Christian church” (Weiss, p. 401).
ὁ κατὰ τὸ πολὺ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος ἀναγεννήσας ἡμᾶς ] The participial clause states the reason why God is to be praised. πολύ gives prominence to the riches of the divine mercy, Eph_2:4 : πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει . κατά is used here in the same sense as in 1Pe_1:2. ἀναγεννήσας has its nearer definition in the subsequent εἰς ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν . De Wette joins these intimately connected ideas in a somewhat too loose way, when he thus interprets: “who hath awakened us to repentance and faith, and thereby at the same time to a hope.” Similarly Wiesinger, who takes ἀναγεννήσας as a self-contained idea, and connects εἰς ἐλπίδα with it, in this sense, “that in the idea of regeneration this particular determination of it is brought into prominence, that it is a new birth to living hope, i.e. as born again we have attained unto a lively hope;” thus Schott. This view, however, refutes itself, because it necessitates unjustifiable supplements. More in harmony with the expression is Brückner’s interpretation, according to which εἰς denotes the aim of the new birth (“the hope is conceived of as the aim of him by whom the readers have been begotten again;” thus Morus already: Deus nos in melius mutavit, cur? ut sperare possimus). But if the attainment of σωτηρία be conceived as the aim and end of the new birth, the hopes directed to it cannot be so, all the less that this hope forms an essential element of the new life itself. The verb ἀναγεννᾷν is here taken not as an absolute, but as a relative idea, its supplement lying in εις ἐλπ . ζ . (so also Steinmeyer, Weiss, Hofmann). The ἐλπὶς ζῶσα is then to be thought of as the life into which the mercy of God has raised or begotten the believer from the death of hopelessness (Eph_2:12 : ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς Χριστοῦ … ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες ); the connection is the same as in Gal_4:24, where the simple γεννᾷν , is also construed with εἰς .[49] This view is justified, not only by the close connection of εἰς with the idea ἀναγεννᾷν , but also by the corresponding adj. ζῶσαν . In this there is no weakening of the idea ἀναγεννᾷν (in opposition to Wiesinger), for ἐλπίς need not be conceived as representing one single side of the Christian life, but under it may he understood the whole Christian life in its relation to the future σωτηρία . It is incorrect to take ἐλπίς here in the objective sense, as: object of hope; Aretius: res, quae spei subjectae sunt, h. e. vita aeterna; Bengel: haereditas coelestis; so also Hottinger, Hensler, etc. It is used rather in the subjective sense to denote the inward condition of life.
The expression ζῶσα has been variously translated by the commentators; thus Beza explains it as: perennis; Aretius: solida; Piscator: vivifica; Gualther: spes viva certitudinem salutis significat; Heidegger: ζῶσα : quia et fructus vitae edit, et spes vitae est et permanet; quia non languida, infirma est, sed παῤῥησίαν et πεποίθησιν habet et perpetua simul semperque exhilarans est, neque unquam intermoritur, sed semper renovatur et refocillatur; in the first edition of this commentary; “the hope of the Christian is pervaded by life, carrying with it in undying power the certainty of fulfilment (Rom_5:5), and making the heart joyful and happy;” it “has life in itself, and gives life, and at the same time has life as its object” (de Wette). Taken strictly, ζῶσα characterizes the hope as one which has life in itself, and is therefore operative. All else may as a matter of fact be connected with it, but is not contained in the word itself (Weiss, p. 92); more especially, too, the idea that it has the certainty of its own realization (Hofmann); cf. 1Pe_1:23 : λόγος ζῶν ; 1Pe_2:4, 1 Peter 5 : λίθος ζῶν . Gerhard incorrectly interprets ἐλπίς by fides, sive fiducialis meriti Christi apprehensio quae est regenerationis nostrae causa formalis. For apart from the fact that Peter is not here speaking of regeneration at all, ἐλπίς and πίστις are in themselves separate ideas, which cannot be arbitrarily substituted for one another. It is erroneous also, with Luther, Calvin, and others, to resolve ἐλπὶς ζῶσα into ἐλπὶς ζωῆς ; ζῶσα denotes not the end, but the nature of the hope.
διʼ ἀναστάσεως Ἰησ . Χριστοῦ ἐκ νεκρῶν ] is not to be joined with ζῶσαν (Oecum., Luth., Bengel, Lorinus, Steiger, de Wette, Hofmann), but with ἀναγεννήσας , more nearly defined by εἰς … ζῶσαν (Calvin, Gerhard, Knapp, Weiss, p. 299; Schott, Brückner[50]); for ΖῶΣΑΝ does not define a particular kind of hope, but only gives special prominence to an element already contained in the idea ἘΛΠΊς . The resurrection of Christ is the means by which God has begotten us again to the living hope. It is the fact which forms the living ground of Christian hope. Wiesinger joins ΔΙʼ ἈΝΑΣΤ . somewhat too loosely with ἈΝΑΓ ., explaining as he does: “He hath begotten us again, and thus in virtue of the resurrection of Jesus Christ hath aided us to living hope.”
As ζᾶσαν corresponds to the term ἈΝΑΓΕΝΝΉΣΑς , so does ἈΝΆΣΤΑΣΙς in the most exact manner to both of these ideas. By the resurrection of Christ the believer also is risen to life. It must be remarked the prepositions κατά , ἐν , εἰς , 1Pe_1:2, are used to correspond with ΚΑΤΆ , ΕἸς , ΔΙΆ ; cf. 1Pe_1:5, the use of the prepositions: ἘΝ , ΔΙΆ , ΕἸς .
[49] Against this interpretation Schott urges: that ἀναγεννᾷν does not mean “to awaken,” that “a death of despair” is not alluded to, that neither ἐλπίς nor ἐλπὶς ζῶσα denotes “a life of hope.” These reasons are insignificant, for (1) the expression “awakened” is not employed in order to give the full meaning of ἀναγεννᾷν ; (2) even on the opposite interpretation their former condition may be considered as a hopeless one, and can undoubtedly be regarded as a death; and (3) it cannot be denied that hope is life. In opposition to Schott’s assertion, that ἀναγεννᾷν is everywhere, a self-contained idea, it is to be noted that the word occurs in the N. T. only here and in ver. 23.
[50] Schott and Brückner, while accepting the construction above indicated, apply it, in accordance with their interpretation of ἀναγ . εἰς ἐλπίδα , διʼ ἀναστάσεως , both to regeneration and the hope therewith connected, which, however, they term “a single homogeneous fact.”