1 Peter 5

1-11 Tending the Flock of God

• As an elder and witness of Christ’s sufferings, I exhort other elders to:
  • tend your flocks
  • exercise oversight – willingly and eagerly
  • be examples to your flock, not authoritative lords
• You will receive a crown of glory when the chief shepherd appears
• You who are younger: Accept the elders’ authority
• All of you:
  • Clothe yourselves with humility. This is not saying “act humbly,” but to cover yourself with it; let it define who you are.
  • Be humble, and God will exalt you later
  • Cast your cares on him, for he cares for you
  • Discipline yourselves, stay alert
  • Resist the devil; he wants to consume you
  • Be steadfast in your faith, while realizing the suffering of others
  • Be willing to suffer a little while for the hope of eternal glory

12-14 Final Greetings and Blessing

• I have written this letter through Sylvanus for encouragement and testimony of God’s grace
• Your sister church in Babylon and Mark greet you. The original language does not say “church,” but rather “she who is elect with you.” Bible scholars disagree on whether this refers to a woman (possibly Peter’s wife) or to a church and on whether or not Babylon refers to the Chaldean capital or to Rome. This is consistent for those who believe Peter to be the first pope, but there’s no other evidence that he was there. The following is from the commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown:

How unlikely that in a friendly salutation the enigmatical title of Rome given in prophecy (John, Revelation 17:5), should be used! Babylon was the center from which the Asiatic dispersion whom Peter addresses was derived. PHILO [The Embassy to Gaius, 36] and JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 15.2. 2 23.12] inform us that Babylon contained a great many Jews in the apostolic age (whereas those at Rome were comparatively few, about eight thousand [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 17.11]); so it would naturally be visited by the apostle of the circumcision. It was the headquarters of those whom he had so successfully addressed on Pentecost, Acts 2:9, Jewish "Parthians . . . dwellers in Mesopotamia" (the Parthians were then masters of Mesopotamian Babylon); these he ministered to in person. His other hearers, the Jewish "dwellers in Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia," he now ministers to by letter.

• Greet each other with love
• Peace to you all