The First Epistle of St Peter (1 Peter)

The First Epistle of St Peter, in the Vulgate Epistola I Petri, is the second of the seven Catholic Epistles, after the Epistle of St James and before the Second Epistle of St Peter. It is short, five chapters and 105 verses, but Challoner's preface sums it up: it "contains much doctrine concerning Faith, Hope, and Charity," written "with such apostolical dignity as to manifest the supreme authority" of "the Prince of the Apostles." Here the first Pope teaches suffering converts to hope, to be holy, and to suffer well.

Who wrote 1 Peter?

St Peter the Apostle, Simon son of John, whom Our Lord named the rock of His Church. The letter opens: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers dispersed through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (1 Peter 1). The writer calls himself "an ancient, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ" (1 Peter 5), sends greetings from "my son Mark," and charges the elders to "feed the flock of God," the very office Christ gave Peter by the lake: "Feed my sheep" (John 21). The Second Epistle of St Peter refers back to it: "Behold this second epistle I write to you."

No book of the New Testament has stronger early witness. St Polycarp of Smyrna echoes it repeatedly in his Letter to the Philippians; Papias, Eusebius tells us, "used testimonies from the first Epistle of John and from that of Peter likewise"; St Irenaeus quotes it by name: "Peter says in his Epistle, Whom, not seeing, ye love." Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian and St Cyprian all ascribe it to Peter, and Eusebius places it among the books received by all: "One epistle of Peter, that called the first, is acknowledged as genuine."

The letter itself says how it was written: "By Sylvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I think, I have written briefly" (5:12). The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 judges it "probable if not certain" that Peter used Silvanus, St Paul's companion, as his interpreter or secretary, which may account for the quality of its Greek. The Pontifical Biblical Commission issued no special decree on the Petrine Epistles. Many modern scholars hold that a disciple wrote the letter in Peter's name later in the first century; the Church reads it, with the Fathers, as the Apostle's own. For his life, see our article on St Peter, the Apostle and first Pope.

Who was 1 Peter written to?

To the faithful of five Roman provinces of Asia Minor: "the strangers dispersed through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect." Origen thought them converted Jews, but the Catholic Encyclopedia holds them largely of pagan origin, "by far the more common and the better opinion," since Peter recalls the days when they "walked in... unlawful worshipping of idols" (1 Peter 4), and calls them those "who in time past were not a people: but are now the people of God" (1 Peter 2). Slandered by their neighbours, they receive a letter written, in the Encyclopedia's words, "to confirm them in the Faith, to console them amid their tribulations."

When and where was 1 Peter written?

At Rome. "The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth my son Mark" (5:13). Challoner explains that Peter "wrote it at Rome, which figuratively he calls Babylon," and Eusebius records the same tradition, adding that Peter mentions Mark in this Epistle. The Apocalypse uses the same name for pagan Rome.

The date is less certain. Challoner places it "about fifteen years after our Lord's ascension." The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 judges the most probable date "the end of the year 63 or the beginning of 64": after St Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, which the letter often echoes, and before Nero's persecution broke out, which it does not yet describe.

What is 1 Peter about? A summary

Its thread is hope: a living hope born of the Resurrection, which makes the Christian holy now and patient under trial.

Greeting and the living hope (1:1-12)

After his greeting, Peter blesses God, "who according to his great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible" (chapter 1). Present trials prove faith as fire proves gold. The prophets "diligently searched" after this salvation, "on whom the angels desire to look."

A call to holiness (1:13 - 2:10)

"Be you also in all manner of conversation holy: because it is written: You shall be holy, for I am holy," the command of Leviticus 11. The price of our redemption is "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." Born again of "incorruptible" seed, the word of God that "endureth for ever," Christians must "as newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile." In 1 Peter 2 they come to Christ "as to a living stone," the corner stone of Isaias 28 and the rejected stone of Psalm 117 (118), and are built into "a spiritual house, a holy priesthood," "a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation."

Christians among the pagans (2:11 - 4:19)

As "strangers and pilgrims," the faithful must live so well "among the Gentiles" that their accusers glorify God. They are to be subject to the king "for God's sake," and servants to their masters, after the example of Christ, who "bore our sins in his body upon the tree," as Isaias 53 foretold. 1 Peter 3 turns to wives and husbands, after the example of Sara and Abraham.

All are to bless rather than curse, and to be ready to give "a reason of that hope which is in you." Christ suffered "the just for the unjust," preached "to those spirits that were in prison," and saves us by baptism, prefigured in the ark of Noe. 1 Peter 4 arms the reader with the same thought: "The end of all is at hand. Be prudent therefore, and watch in prayers." Above all, charity; and in the "burning heat" of persecution, joy.

Pastors, humility and watchfulness (5:1-14)

In 1 Peter 5 Peter, "myself also an ancient," charges the priests: "Feed the flock of God which is among you," not "for filthy lucre's sake," nor "as lording it over the clergy," awaiting "the prince of pastors." All are to be humble, "for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace," and to cast every care upon God. The devil prowls "as a roaring lion"; resist him "strong in faith," and "the God of all grace... will himself perfect you." Greetings from Silvanus, Mark and "the church that is in Babylon" close the letter.

Themes and the Catholic reading of 1 Peter

Christ suffering, the Christian's pattern. No book of the New Testament ties suffering to Christ's Passion more closely. "Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps" (2:21); "if you partake of the sufferings of Christ, rejoice" (4:13). We treat the question more fully in What Does God Say About Suffering?

The royal priesthood and the ministerial priesthood. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, on Holy Orders, teaches that "Sacred Scripture describes a twofold priesthood, one internal and the other external." The internal belongs to all the baptized, and it cites this Epistle: "Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices." The external belongs only to those ordained by the imposition of hands, and the same Epistle that calls the faithful "a kingly priesthood" also distinguishes the "ancients" who feed the flock from the young who obey. The words echo Exodus 19, "a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation."

Baptism and the ark. "Baptism being of the like form, now saveth you also" (3:21). Challoner notes that baptism is "of the like form with the water by which Noe was saved, because the one was a figure of the other," and that its power comes not from washing the body but "from its purging the conscience from sin." The flood of Genesis 7 is the first figure of the sacrament; see our article on Catholic baptism.

Christ's descent to the dead. "He preached to those spirits that were in prison" (3:19) is a principal scriptural witness to the article of the Apostles' Creed, "He descended into hell." Challoner draws from it "a proof of a third place, or middle state of souls," since these spirits "were not in heaven; nor yet in the hell of the damned: because heaven is no prison: and Christ did not go to preach to the damned." St Augustine, in his letter to Evodius (Ep. 164), weighed the passage at length and proposed that Christ preached in spirit through Noe to the men of his day.

The primacy of Peter. The Epistle does not argue the primacy; it exercises it, as the Prince of the Apostles writes from Rome with a shepherd's authority to the churches of five provinces and charges their priests to feed the flock. See our article on the Chair of St Peter.

Famous verses from 1 Peter

1 Peter 5:7. "Casting all your care upon him, for he hath care of you" (1 Peter 5). The most searched verse of the Epistle, joined to 5:6, "Be you humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation." It echoes the Psalmist's "Cast thy care upon the Lord" (Psalm 54 (55)); we develop it in Be Anxious for Nothing.

1 Peter 5:8-9. "Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith." The Church reads these words every night at the beginning of Compline, the last hour of the Breviary.

1 Peter 5:10. "But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you."

1 Peter 4:8 and 4:10. "But before all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins," drawn from Proverbs 10. Then: "As every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another: as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4).

1 Peter 2:9. "But you are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people: that you may declare his virtues, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2).

1 Peter 2:24. "Who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed." 2:17 sums up the Christian in society: "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king."

1 Peter 3:15. "But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you" (1 Peter 3), the charter of Christian apologetics, to be done "with modesty and fear."

1 Peter 3:1-7. Wives are to adorn themselves not with "the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold," but with "the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a quiet and a meek spirit, which is rich in the sight of God" (3:3-4). Husbands are to dwell with them "according to knowledge, giving honour to the female as to the weaker vessel, and as to the co-heirs of the grace of life: that your prayers be not hindered" (3:7). See our article on Catholic marriage.

1 Peter in the canon and the liturgy

The Douay-Rheims calls it "The First Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle"; Protestant Bibles, simply 1 Peter. It was never among the disputed books, and the Council of Trent, in Session IV (1546), lists among the canonical Scriptures "two [Epistles] of Peter the apostle." It is called a Catholic Epistle because it is addressed not to one church but to the faithful at large.

The 1962 Missal reads it often, above all in Eastertide. The Epistle of the Saturday in the octave of Easter, when the newly baptized laid aside their white garments, is 2:1-10, "As newborn babes." The Second Sunday after Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, reads 2:21-25, ending "you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls." The Third Sunday after Easter reads 2:11-19; the Sunday after the Ascension, 4:7-11; the Third Sunday after Pentecost, 5:6-11; the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, 3:8-15. The feast of the Chair of St Peter on 22 February takes its Epistle from 1:1-7. Follow these Sundays in our liturgical calendar.

How to read 1 Peter

Read it first in one sitting, then chapter by chapter with the Sunday Epistles of Eastertide, which give it its setting: the joy of the newly baptized. Keep the Gospel of St Mark, traditionally Peter's preaching set down by his "son" Mark, and the sermons of Peter in Acts 2 close at hand, and follow it with 2 Peter. On each chapter page the Vulgate stands beside the Douay text. Our articles on the Douay-Rheims Bible and the Latin Vulgate explain both texts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote 1 Peter?

St Peter the Apostle, Prince of the Apostles and first Bishop of Rome. The letter names him in its first verse, calls him "a witness of the sufferings of Christ," and was received as his by Polycarp, Papias, Irenaeus, Tertullian and the whole early Church; Eusebius counts it among the undisputed books. Peter wrote "by Sylvanus" (5:12), who probably served as his secretary.

Who was 1 Peter written to?

To the Christians "dispersed through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," five provinces of Asia Minor. Most were converts from paganism, slandered by their neighbours for their faith. Peter calls them "strangers and pilgrims."

When was 1 Peter written?

At Rome, which the letter calls "Babylon" (5:13), before Peter's martyrdom under Nero. Challoner dates it "about fifteen years after our Lord's ascension," while the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 judges the end of 63 or the beginning of 64 most probable, just before Nero's persecution.

What is 1 Peter about?

It is a letter of hope to Christians who suffer. Peter teaches the living hope born of the Resurrection, calls the faithful to holiness as "a kingly priesthood," gives rules for life among pagans, in civil society and in marriage, and exhorts priests to feed the flock and all to be humble and watchful.

How many chapters are in 1 Peter?

1 Peter has 5 chapters and 105 verses, the same in the Douay-Rheims, the Latin Vulgate and Protestant Bibles. You can read every chapter here, beginning with 1 Peter 1, Latin and English side by side.

Did Peter write both 1 Peter and 2 Peter?

The Church receives both as his, and the Council of Trent lists "two [Epistles] of Peter the apostle" in the canon. The second calls itself "this second epistle." The first was never disputed in antiquity; the second was doubted by some before it was universally received. See our guide to 2 Peter.

What does 1 Peter 3:19 mean?

"He preached to those spirits that were in prison." The Church reads it of Christ's descent among the dead between His death and Resurrection, the "He descended into hell" of the Creed. Challoner sees in it "a proof of a third place, or middle state of souls," since heaven is no prison and Christ did not preach to the damned. Read it in context in 1 Peter 3.

What does 1 Peter 5:7 mean?

"Casting all your care upon him, for he hath care of you." Peter joins it to humility (5:6): the humble man does not carry his burdens alone but hands them to a Father who provides. It is a command to trust God with our cares, followed at once by the call to watch against the devil (5:8).

Read the whole First Epistle of St Peter verse by verse, Latin and English, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. The First Epistle of St Peter, Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims (Challoner revision, 1749-1752), with Challoner's preface and notes; St Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians; St Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History II.15, III.3, III.39; St Augustine, Letter 164 to Evodius; Council of Trent, Session IV (1546); Catechism of the Council of Trent, on the Sacrament of Holy Orders; The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Epistles of Saint Peter"; Missale Romanum (1962); Breviarium Romanum (1962).