1 Peter 5:12

By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly ; rather, as in the Revised Version, by Silvanus , our faithful brother , as I account him , I have written unto you briefly . The preposition "by" διά has the same sense as διὰ χειρός in Acts 15:23 . Silvanus was the bearer of the Epistle; he may have been the amanuensis also. In all probability he is the Silas of the Acts of the Apostles, and the Silvanus whose name St. Paul associates with his own in the address of both Epistles to the Thessalonians; he is mentioned also in 2 Corinthians 1:19 . As the companion of St. Paul, he must have been known to the Churches of Asia Minor. The word rendered in the Authorized Version "I suppose" λογίζομαι does not imply any doubt (comp. Romans 3:28 ; Romans 8:18 ; Hebrews 11:19 ). The Christians of Asia Minor knew Silvanus as a faithful brother; St. Peter adds his testimony. Some connect it with the clause, " I have written unto you briefly," as if St. Peter meant to say that he regarded his letter as a short one, the subjects being so important; but this does not seem natural. It is better to take the pronoun ὑμῖν , unto you, with the verb "I have written," than with the words, "a faithful brother," as in the Authorized Version. The verb ἔγραψα is the epistolary aorist, and may therefore be rendered "I write." Exhorting, and testifying . The general tone of this Epistle is hortatory: St. Peter comforts his readers in the sufferings which were coming on them, and exhorts them to patient endurance. The word rendered "testifying" ἐπιμαρτυρῶν occurs only here in the New Testament. Bengel and others take the preposition ἐπί in the sense of insuper , in "addition:" "Petrus insuper testatur;" he adds his testimony to that of Paul and others who have gone before; or, he not only exhorts, he also testifies—the testimony is in addition to the exhortation. But more probably the ἐπί is intensive, or expresses simply the direction of the testifying (comp. Acts 1:1-26 :40, where the same words nearly; the Greek for "testified" is διεμαρτύρατο are used in describing St. Peter's exhortations). That this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand ; rather, as in the Revised Version, that this is the true grace of God: stand ye fast therein . The reading εἰς ἢν στῆτε is supported by the oldest manuscripts. The construction involves a common ellipse, "Into which (having entered) stand fast." Some think that it was St. Peter's intention in these words to set the seal of his apostolic authority upon the truth of the teaching which the Christians of Asia Minor had received from St. Paul. It may be so. The whole Epistle corroborates the teaching of St. Paul, and shows St. Peter's exact agreement with it. But it seems probable that, if St. Peter had thought it necessary to give a formal sanction to St. Paul's preaching, he would have done so plainly, as he does at the end of the Second Epistle. Again, there are no traces in the Epistle of any doubts now existing in the minds of the Asiatic Christians, or of any opposition to St. Paul, such as there once had been in the Churches of Corinth and Galatia. And St. Peter does not say, "These are the true doctrines," but "This is the true grace of God." He seems rather to be giving the testimony o£ his knowledge and spiritual experience to the fact that the grace which they had received came indeed from God, that it was his true grace, that it was he who was working within them both to will and to do. They must stand fast in that grace, and by its help work out their own salvation.