A very awkward preposition appears in 1 Peter 3:20 of the King James Bible: “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” The issue is not the gospel here but a victorious proclamation to fallen angels that they did not have to fall because Jesus did not fall. Occasionally, however (see above on ‘spirits’), it designates the departed. They are a typical instance of men who died “as evil doers” (1 Peter 3:17). 6. CHAPTER 3. The man Noah in Genesis doesn’t represent a nation or something else. Peter’s qualification points us to the significance of baptism. Scripture: 1 Peter 3:1–7. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed without a preacher to warn them, the Canaanites were annihilated without an offer of repentance, but these abandoned Antediluvians sinned in spite of the long ministry of Noah, and died impenitent. By entering the ark, in a sense, Noah saved himself. we have the analogous phrase ‘saved, yet so as by (or, through) fire’(1 Corinthians 3:15). 2. Verse 20 clearly indicates to whom he made the announcement. As in 1 Peter 2:4 et seq., so here, he establishes the readers against the thought, “Can I be right and all these people wrong?” by showing that from the beginning it was always a small number who accepted salvation, and they should naturally expect it to be so now. пояснение к Деян. 1 Peter 3:20, NLT: "those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Noah preached to their ears, but Christ in spirit, to their spirits, or spiritual natures. ‘in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water’-1. Notice the statement ‘once were disobedient’. The period of longsuffering included the time necessary for the building of the ark. How many of the opponents or critics of Christianity are willing to wait for justice? Hence his assiduity in building the ark; for being terrified by God’s judgment, he shook off all torpidity. 3. In the former case the idea will be either that those few were saved by passing through the water, or that they were brought safely through water into the ark. Eight souls; Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives. ... 1 Peter 3:21(NASB) Verse Thoughts. The ‘disobedient’ means here again, as in 1 Peter 2:7-8, 1 Peter 3:1 disbelieving, refusing belief and withstanding truth. When people read 1 Peter 3:21, they wonder if baptism is necessary for salvation. We should thus translate it: ‘when of old they were disobedient, to wit, at the time when the long-suffering of God,’ etc., rather than (with the R. V., etc. This pregnant word “water” leads on to the next thought. 1 In the same way, you wives should be obedient to your husbands. HOW DID THE GREAT FLOOD’S WATER SAVE THE EIGHT SOULS IN 1 PETER 3:20? Answer: As with any single verse or passage, we discern what it teaches by first filtering it through what we know the Bible teaches on the subject at hand. 1 Peter 3:18-20 does not support the theology that upon His death, Jesus descended down to hell. John Piper The counsels of 1 Peter 3:8-9 are yet again enforced by a still more pointed statement of the security of the righteous. Christ is ascended to heaven, all creatures being subject to him, 1 Peter 3:22. God’s patience with sinners, also gave Noah and his family time to build the ark. 19. “By which also he, having gone, preached to the spirits who are in prison, formerly disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah,” etc. Figure of speech Ellipsis. This passage in I Peter 3, particularly verses 19-20, is quite difficult to translate from Greek to English. Scripture: 1 Peter 3:1–7. 2. Water saved Noah (1 Peter 3:20). And this relation of water to the preservation of the righteous at the time of the Flood is introduced in view of what is to be said of the relation of water, namely that of Baptism, to the salvation of Christian believers now. Many expositors, afraid of the consequences of admitting that there could be a possible gospel for men who died impenitent, have supposed that the imprisoned spirits to whom Christ went were the less wicked people destroyed by the Flood; others that they were those who had some motions of penitence when the rain began to fall; but these ideas are foreign to the text, which only tells us that they “were disobedient,” and adds nothing to extenuate their crime. They were in the ark (according to God’s instructions), and the same water that destroyed the others, was the means of their salvation! It is better to be one of the eight in the ark than of the many disobedient in the water. Before we demand God to act right now! When Peter wrote this letter, they were now in prison, i.e. 2. It may, however, also indicate the date of the disobedience. This is just one of many “minor details” in the Old Testament which is confirmed as being historically accurate. Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, … 1 Peter 3:20. by Grant Richison | Oct 23, 1997 | 1 Peter | 2 comments. Heaven is their real home. The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission. they rejected the message that Jesus brought through Noah. This teaches us that we should not be prejudiced against the Good News when we see others rejecting it!”, John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament, Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary, Heinrich Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament, Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible, Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of Holy Scripture, Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament, Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, E.M. Zerr's Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament. Wait for wrongs to be righted? By ‘souls’ are meant here individuals or persons. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. 1 Peter 3:20, CSB: "who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. This latter seems favoured in the margin of the Revised Version, which gives ‘into which few, that is, eight souls, were brought safely through water.’ In favour of this local sense (which is preferred by Bengel, de Wette, etc.) They were in the ark (according to God’s instructions), and the same water that destroyed the others, was the means of their salvation! 1 Peter 1:21 who through Him are believers in God, Who raised (AAP) Him from the dead and gave (AAP) Him glory, so that your faith and hope are (PAN) in God. How can we get discouraged, when the Church in our generation is growing much faster than the results that Noah received. (See Note on 1 Peter 3:2.) 1:4; 8:11). 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