1 Peter 4:7 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7-11

We have here an awful position or doctrine, and an inference drawn from it. The position is that the end of all things is at hand. The miserable destruction of the Jewish church and nation foretold by our Saviour is now very near; consequently, the time of their persecution and your sufferings is but very short. Your own life and that of your enemies will soon come to their utmost period. Nay, the world itself will not continue very long. The conflagration will put an end to it; and all things... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

4:7a The end of all things is near. Here is a note which is struck consistently all through the New Testament. It is the summons of Paul that it is time to wake out of sleep, for the night is far spent and the day is at hand ( Romans 13:12 ). "The Lord is at hand," he writes to the Philippians ( Philippians 4:5 ). "The coming of the Lord is at hand," writes James ( James 5:8 ). John says that the days in which his people are living are the last hour ( 1 John 2:18 ). "The time is... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

4:7b-8 Be, therefore, steady and sober in mind so that you will really be able to pray as you ought. Above all cherish for each other a love that is constant and intense, because love hides a multitude of sins. When a man realizes the nearness of Jesus Christ, he is bound to commit himself to a certain kind of life. In view of that nearness Peter makes four demands. (i) He says that we must be steady in mind. We might render it: "Preserve your sanity." The verb Peter uses is sophronein (... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

"Love," says Peter, "hides a multitude of sins." There are three things which this saying may mean; and it is not necessary that we should choose between them, for they are all there. (i) It may mean that our love can overlook many sins. "Love covers all offences," says the writer of the Proverbs ( Proverbs 10:12 ). If we love a person, it is easy to forgive. It is not that love is blind, but that it loves a person just as he is. Love makes patience easy. It is much easier to be patient... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7

But the end of all things is at hand ,.... With respect to particular persons, the end of life, and which is the end of all things in this world to a man, is near at hand; which is but as an hand's breadth, passes away like a tale that is told, and is but as a vapour which appears for a while, and then vanishes away. Or this may be said with regard to the Jews, the end of their church and civil state was near at hand, of their sacrifices, temple, city, and nation; or with respect to the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

But the end of all things is at hand - I think that here also St. Peter keeps the history of the deluge before his eyes, finding a parallel to the state of the Jews in his own time in that of the antediluvians in the days of Noah. In Genesis 6:13 , God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me. This was spoken at a time when God had decreed the destruction of the world by a flood. Peter says, The end of all things is at hand; and this he spoke when God had determined to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

Verse 7 7But, or, moreover, the end of all things is at hand Though the faithful hear that their felicity is elsewhere than in the world, yet, as they think that they should live long, this false thought renders them careless, and even slothful, so that they direct not their thoughts to the kingdom of God. Hence the Apostle, that he might rouse them from the drowsiness of the flesh, reminds them that the end of all things was nigh; by which he intimates that we ought not to sit still in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-7

This passage is the most difficult in the entire Epistle. We can see a meaning in each of its sentences taken separately, but when we take them together their meaning, as a whole, is obscure. As far, however, as I can understand it, I would entitle the paragraph, The persecuted Christian reminded of the necessity of suffering for righteousness. Peter here states the fact that suffering for righteousness is no strange thing, but what Christians must reasonably look for. I. CHRIST 'S ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7

But the end of all things is at hand. The mention of the judgment turns St. Peter's thoughts into another channel. The end is at hand, not only the judgment of persecutors and slanderers, but the end of persecutions and sufferings, the end of our great conflict with sin, the end of our earthly probation: therefore prepare to meet your God. The end is at hand: it hath drawn near. St. Peter probably, like the other apostles, looked for the speedy coming of the Lord. It was not for him, as it... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

But the end of all things is at hand - This declaration is also evidently designed to support and encourage them in their trials, and to excite them to lead a holy life, by the assurance that the end of all things was drawing near. The phrase, “the end of all things,” would naturally refer to the end of the world; the winding up of human affairs. It is not absolutely certain, however, that the apostle used it here in this sense. It might mean that so far as they were concerned, or in respect to... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7-11

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-7

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Peter 4:7

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