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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:11

If any man speak - In order to explain or enforce God's word, and edify his neighbor, let him do it as those did to whom the living oracles were committed: they spoke as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. Those, therefore, at Pontus, etc., who undertook to teach others, should speak by the same influence; or, if not under this immediate influence, should speak as or according to the oracles already delivered, grounding all their exhortations and doctrines on some portion of that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:12

Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial - Πυρωσει· The burning. The metaphor is old, but noble; it represents the Christians at Pontus as having fire cast upon them for the trying of their faith, as gold is tried by fire, 1 Peter 1:7 , to which the apostle alludes - Macknight. St. Peter returns here to what he had often touched upon in this epistle, namely, to exhort the Christians to behave with patience and integrity under their present severe persecution; to which purpose he... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:14

If ye be reproached for the name of Christ - To be reproached for the name of Christ is to be reproached for being a Christian, that is, for being like Christ. This is the highest honor to which any man can arrive in this world, and therefore the apostle says to such? Happy are ye. The Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you - As this Divine Spirit rested upon Jesus, so does it rest upon his persecuted followers. There is a various reading here, και δυναμεως , and of power, which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:15

But let none of you suffer - as a busybody in other men's matters - Αλλοτριοεπισκοπος· The inspector of another; meddling with other people's concerns, and forgetting their own; such persons are hated of all men. But some think that meddling with those in public office is here intended, as if he had said: Meddle not with the affairs of state, leave public offices and public officers to their own master, strive to live peaceably with all men, and show yourselves to be humble and unaspiring. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:16

Yet if - as a Christian - If he be persecuted because he has embraced the Christian faith, let him not be ashamed, but let him rather glorify God on this very account. Christ suffered by the Jews because he was holy; Christians suffer because they resemble him. The word Χριστιανος , Christian, is used only here and in Acts 11:26 ; Acts 26:28 . See the note on the Acts 11:26 ; (note). read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:17

Judgment must begin at the house of God - Our Lord had predicted that, previously to the destruction of Jerusalem, his own followers would have to endure various calamities; see Matthew 24:9 , Matthew 24:21 , Matthew 24:22 ; Mark 13:12 , Mark 13:13 ; John 16:2 , etc. Here his true disciples are called the house or family of God. That the converted Jews suffered much from their own brethren, the zealots, or factions into which the Jews were at that time divided, needs little... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:18

And if the righteous scarcely be saved - If it shall be with extreme difficulty that the Christians shall escape from Jerusalem, when the Roman armies shall come against it with the full commission to destroy it, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Where shall the proud Pharisaic boaster in his own outside holiness, and the profligate transgressor of the laws of God, show themselves, as having escaped the Divine vengeance? The Christians, though with difficulty, did escape, every... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:19

Suffer according to the will of God - A man suffers according to the will of God who suffers for righteousness' sake; and who, being reviled, reviles not again. Commit the keeping of their souls - Place their lives confidently in his hand, who, being their Creator, will also be their preserver, and keep that safely which is committed to his trust. God is here represented as faithful, because he will always fulfill his promises, and withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly. ... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:1

Verse 1 1Forasmuch then as Christ When he had before set forth Christ before us, he only spoke of the suffering of the cross; for sometimes the cross means mortification, because the outward man is wasted by afflictions, and our flesh is also subdued. But he now ascends higher; for he speaks of the reformation of the whole man. The Scripture recommends to us a twofold likeness to the death of Christ, that we are to be conformed to him in reproaches and troubles, and also that the old man being... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:2

Verse 2 2That he no longer Here he sets forth the way of ceasing from sin, that renouncing the covetings of men we should study to form our life according to the will of God. And thus he includes here the two things in which renovation consists, the destruction of the flesh and the vivification of the spirit. The course of good living is thus to begin with the former, but we are to advance to the latter. Moreover, Peter defines here what is the rule of right living, even when man depends on... read more

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