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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 1 Peter 4:11 - 4:11
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
11. εἴ τις λαλεῖ. In classical Greek λαλεῖν has generally a disparaging sense to chatter but in the N.T. it means to talk, to utter one’s thoughts, and is frequently used of God. Where it is contrasted with λέγειν it denotes the sound, pronunciation or form of what is said while λέγειν refers to the meaning and substance. λαγεῖν is frequently used in the N.T. of teachers, of our Lord, the apostles and others. So here the context implies that the “speaking” is a gift of God’s grace which they have to administer as stewards, and the primary reference is to the utterances of prophets or teachers, whether in preaching (προφητεία), exhortation or teaching (cf. Rom 12:6-8), but other unofficial utterances of Christians may be included, such as their answers to those who demand an account of their hope (1Pe 3:15): cf. Mat 10:20 where the Spirit of their Father is promised to speak in the mouth of His persecuted children.
ὡς λόγια θεοῦ. Bigg takes λόγια as a nominative = speaks as Scripture speaks, with sincerity and gravity, but it is better to take λόγια as an accusative. Anyone who undertakes to speak for God must do so in meekness and fear. He must remember that his message is not his own but God’s. He must not parade his eloquence, nor speak lightly and thoughtlessly.
λόγια occurs again in Act 7:38 of Moses receiving “living oracles,” i.e. the Law at Sinai; in Rom 3:2 of the Jews being entrusted with “the oracles of God” where it probably means the O.T. Scriptures in general. In Heb 5:12 the Hebrews “need to be taught again the rudiments of the beginning of the oracles of God,” i.e. elementary Christian truths. In Philo λόγια is certainly used of the narrative portions of the O.T., as well as of the Law or the utterances of the prophets. So in Christian writers τὰ λόγια τοῦ Κυρίου or Κυριακὰ λόγια may sometimes denote the Gospels and not merely “Sayings of our Lord,” e.g. in Polycarp, Papias, Eusebius, Ephraem Syrus.
ὡς ἐξ ἰσχύος. Any services for others, rendered by the Christian as a “minister” or servant of Christ, must be performed (a) modestly, because they are not due to his own strength, (b) strenuously, because God supplies him with strength.
χορηγεῖ (see Robinson on Eph 4:16). In classical Greek χορηγός means the leader of a chorus. Thence χορηγεῖν means (a) to be a chorus leader, (b) to furnish a chorus at one’s own expense, providing all necessary requisites to place a play upon the stage, and so (c) in late Greek, Polybius, Philo, Josephus and in the LXX. it means to supply, provide, or equip. In the N.T. χορηγεῖν only occurs again in 2Co 9:10 but the compound ἐπιχορηγεῖν is found in 2Co 9:10; Gal 3:5; Col 2:19; 2Pe 1:5; 2Pe 1:11, and ἐπιχορηγία in Eph 4:16; Php 1:19.
ἵνα … δοξάζηται ὁ θεὸς, cf. 1Pe 2:12 and Mat 5:16 “that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Just as the prayers of Christ’s members are offered to God “through Jesus Christ” as their Head and spokesman, so their good works redound to God’s glory through Him. In Rom 16:27 and Jud 1:25 glory is offered to God through Jesus Christ.
ᾧ ἐστὶν ἡ δόξα. Grammatically ᾧ might refer to θεός but in 2Ti 4:18 a similar doxology is addressed to “the Lord,” i.e. Christ, so also 2Pe 3:18; Rev 1:6. Therefore here, as also in Heb 13:21, the ᾧ may refer to Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ which immediately precedes it. δόξα occurs in 14 of the 16 doxologies in the N.T. and κράτος in 6, while εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων occurs in 8 and εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας in 5, ἀμήν being appended to all of them, marking the formula as liturgical. The concluding doxology in the Lord’s prayer is not found in the best texts either in Mt. or Lk. and is a liturgical addition.