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15. The question whether the “suffering” referred to in this passage implies a legal persecution conducted by the state, and its consequent bearing upon the date of the Epistle has been fully discussed in the Introduction (p. xliii f.). It may therefore suffice here to give a brief summary of the conclusions which were there adopted.
(a) That πάσχειν in other passages of this Epistle, as well as in St Paul’s Epistles, is an inclusive word, and can denote any form of violence, buffetings, insults, slander, boycotting, without necessarily implying organized legal persecution such as torture and execution.
(b) That legal persecution is perhaps contemplated as a possibility from the fact that suffering ὡς Χριστιανός is coupled with at least three legal offences (φονεύς, κλέπτης, κακοποιός). But the fourth word ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος, which is separated from the others by the repetition of ὡς, denotes rather an alleged nuisance than a statutable offence and the same may therefore be true of Χριστιανός.
(c) That, even if legal persecution for the name Christian apart from other imputed crimes is intended, there is no necessity to postulate a later date than the reign of Nero.
μὴ γὰρ … πασχέτω. The γάρ means “Take care that it really is Christ’s reproach that you bear and do not incur suffering by any criminal act or social indiscretion.”
φονεὺς, κλέπτης, κακοποιός. Some would explain these as referring to such false charges as were brought against Christians, cf. the note on 1Pe 2:12 when κακοποιός is certainly described as a false charge. But Christians would have no choice in selecting what false charges their accusers should employ, and the merit of suffering unjustly for Christ would be the same, whatever the charge might be, provided that it was false. Therefore here St Peter must mean “Take care that no such charge can be brought with truth against you” (cf. 1Pe 2:20). In such a country as Asia Minor in days when violence and dishonesty were rife it might be by no means improbable that some imperfectly converted Christians might fall away and be guilty of such crimes. Clement of Alexandria tells a story of a favourite young convert of St John who became the leader of a band of brigands.
ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος = “a meddler in other men’s matters” R.V. occurs nowhere else. In the Vulgate it is translated “alienorum appetitor,” so Calvin and Beza “alieni cupidus” i.e., one who covets other people’s money. In one of the Fayyûm papyri 2nd cent. A.D. ἀλλοτρίων ἐπιθυμητής is coupled with ἄδικος. More probably it refers to the charge of being busybodies, interfering in the affairs of others. In their zeal for purity and truth Christians may not infrequently have been indiscreet, and exasperated their neighbours by officious attempts to reform their morals or eradicate their heathen superstitions. So Epictetus speaking of the Cynic Encheir. iii. 22 says, οὐ γὰρ τὰ ἀλλότρια πολυπραγμονεῖ ὅταν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἐπισκοπῇ ἀλλὰ τὰ ἴδια, cf. Horace, Sat. ii. 3. 19, “Aliena negotia curo excussus propriis” (see Chase, Hastings D. of B. iii. 783 f.).
But besides being thus regarded as a social nuisance, as meddlesome busybodies, Christians may have been attacked on a more legal charge for causing divisions in families (cf. Mat 10:35-36) or for interfering with trade (cf. Act 16:19 the masters of the divining girl at Philippi, and Act 19:24-27 the silversmiths at Ephesus—so also Pliny describes the trade in fodder and animals for sacrifices as having been seriously affected by the spread of Christianity). Such interferences with family or commercial life would cause disunion and discord, rousing discontent and disobedience, and as such would be an offence against the state. This is the explanation adopted by Ramsay who insists that an organized persecution conducted by legal methods is implied. But though the three preceding words are legal charges coupled together with ἢ, ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος seems to be separated from them as a different kind of offence by the repetition of the ὡς1[1].
[1] There is no warrant for the view of Jülicher that ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος means “delator,” i.e. a malicious informer, while Bigg’s suggestion, that it means one who takes part in trades or practices which do not befit a Christian but are ἀλλότρια—i.e. alien and unlawful for him—is most improbable. It is not likely that Christians would suffer at the hands of their heathen neighbours merely for being inconsistent Christians.