1 Peter 4:14

4:12-19 By patience and fortitude in suffering, by dependence on the promises of God, and keeping to the word the Holy Spirit hath revealed, the Holy Spirit is glorified; but by the contempt and reproaches cast upon believers, he is evil spoken of, and is blasphemed. One would think such cautions as these were needless to Christians. But their enemies falsely charged them with foul crimes. And even the best of men need to be warned against the worst of sins. There is no comfort in sufferings, when we bring them upon ourselves by our own sin and folly. A time of universal calamity was at hand, as foretold by our Saviour, Mt 24:9,10. And if such things befall in this life, how awful will the day of judgment be! It is true that the righteous are scarcely saved; even those who endeavour to walk uprightly in the ways of God. This does not mean that the purpose and performance of God are uncertain, but only the great difficulties and hard encounters in the way; that they go through so many temptations and tribulations, so many fightings without and fears within. Yet all outward difficulties would be as nothing, were it not for lusts and corruptions within. These are the worst clogs and troubles. And if the way of the righteous be so hard, then how hard shall be the end of the ungodly sinner, who walks in sin with delight, and thinks the righteous is a fool for all his pains!

{14} If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the {e} spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. (14) Secondly, although the infidels think otherwise, who in afflicting the godly blaspheme God, yet the godly in that they are so abused, are honoured by God with true spiritual glory, and their adoption is sealed by the Spirit of God. (e) By Spirit he means the gifts of the Spirit.

1 Peter 4:14-16 . If ye be reproached for Christ — Reproaches and cruel mockings were always one part of their sufferings, and to an ingenuous mind, reproach is often worse than the spoiling of goods, or even than bodily pain; happy are you — The apostle alludes to Christ’s words, Matthew 5:11 , Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, &c. For the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you — Conquering all reproach, and spreading a lustre around you, while he supports and comforts you in a glorious manner under all your trials. The apostle alludes to Isaiah 11:2 . “The Spirit of glory, which rested on the persecuted disciples of Christ in the first age, was a Spirit of fortitude, enabling them to suffer the greatest evils without shrinking, a virtue which the heathen greatly admired. For which reason, when they put the first Christians to death for refusing to worship idols, they were so struck with the constancy, patience, meekness, and benevolence wherewith they suffered, that it led many of them to think well, both of a religion which inspired its votaries with such admirable virtues, and of those votaries themselves. And as this constancy in suffering, from which the Christians derived so much glory, proceeded from the aid of the Spirit of God, the apostle justly termed it, both the Spirit of glory, and the Spirit of God.” — Macknight.

But let none of you — Who have the honour to bear the Christian name; suffer — By your own fault; suppose as a murderer, or as a thief &c. — At the time St. Peter wrote this epistle, the unbelieving Jews in Judea were extremely addicted to murder and robbery, and every kind of wickedness, as we learn from Josephus; for they robbed and killed, not only the heathen, but their own brethren, who would not join them in their opposition to the Romans. Hence the apostle judged it proper to caution the Christians, especially the Jewish Christians, in this manner, lest, being corrupted by such bad examples, they should be led to the commission of any such crimes. As the apostle is here cautioning them against those sins which, if they committed them, would expose them to punishment from the civil magistrate, by αλλοτριοεπισκοπος , here rendered a busy-body in other men’s matters, he cannot well be supposed to mean merely one who pries into the concerns of private families, as such a one could not properly be ranked with such criminals as are here mentioned. But he might mean one that affected to inspect and direct the behaviour of persons in public offices, from a factious disposition to find fault with their conduct, and thereby to raise commotions in the state; which Lardner hath shown was the practice of the Jews in Alexandria, Cesarea, and other places.

The spirit of glory and of God (τὸ τῆς δόξης καὶ τὸ τοῦ Φεοῦ πνεῦμα) Lit., the spirit of glory and that of God. The repetition of the article identifies the spirit of God with the spirit of glory: the spirit of glory, and therefore the spirit of God: who is none other than the spirit of God himself. Hence Rev., better, the spirit of glory and the spirit of God. Resteth (ἀναπαύεται) Compare Isaiah 11:2; Luke 10:6; Numbers 11:25, Numbers 11:26; Mark 6:31; Matthew 26:45; Revelation 14:13. Also, Matthew 11:28, where the word is used in the active voice, to give rest or refreshment.

1 Peter 4:14 . Εἰ ὀνειὸίζεσθε ἐν ὁνόματι Χριστοῦ , if ye are reproached in the name of Christ ) The Gentiles thought it a reproach if they called any one a Christian : 1 Peter 4:16 .— τὸ τῆς δόξης καὶ τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ Πνεῦμα , the Spirit of glory and of God ) The same Spirit which was on Christ: Luke 4:18 . He is here called the Spirit of glory , overcoming all the reproaches of the world, and the Spirit of God , whose Son is Jesus Christ. The abstract, glory , is put for the concrete; as 2 Peter 1:17 ; 2 Peter 1:3-4 . The article τὸ is with great force put twice, as Apocalypse, Revelation 21:6 . And glory may be taken so as to be ἕν διὰ δυοῖν , Glory and God , that is, the God of glory , or as an appellation of Christ (comp. 1 Peter 4:16 , as a Christian , and 1 Peter 4:13 ; Jam 2:1 , note); and it may be implied that the Spirit of Christ is also the Spirit of God the Father.

The faithful, deeply feeling joy, experience the same Spirit sometimes as the Spirit of Glory and sometimes as the Spirit of God, in a different sense, the difference of which the Spirit itself reveals.— ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς ἀναπαύεται , rests upon you ) That spirit is upon the righteous even before they suffer reproaches; but then they are more confirmed on this very account, and receive more abundant consolations of the Spirit: Numbers 11:25-26 , ἐπανεπαύσατο ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς τὸ πνεῦμα , the spirit rested upon them .— βλασφημεῖται , He is evil spoken of ) namely, Christ.— δοξάζεται , He is glorified ) in the midst of your reproaches, 1 Peter 4:16 . He writes from his own experience. Comp. Acts 5:41 .

Happy are ye; viz. because of the Spirit’s dwelling in you, which is both the means and evidence of your happiness. The spirit of glory and of God; i.e. the glorious Spirit of God, or that Spirit of God which is likewise a Spirit of glory, as being not only glorious in himself, but a glory to them in whom he dwells, and the cause of their future glorification. This he adds in counterbalance to the reproaches they suffered for the name of Christ; q.d. It is a greater glory to you to have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you, (whereof your patient bearing reproaches and persecutions is an argument), than all the calumnies and obloquies wherewith your enemies load you can be a shame to you. Resteth upon you: in allusion to Isaiah 11:2 ; dwells in you, and shall abide with you for ever, John 14:16 , not leaving you in your sufferings. On their part he; either Christ, or rather the Spirit. Is evil spoken of; the reproaches your enemies cast upon you, reach that Spirit himself that dwells in you, when they revile that good confession into which the Spirit led you, deride the consolations he gives you, and speak evil of your persons, who are the temples in which he dwells. But on your part he is glorified; viz. by your patience and constancy in your sufferings, which shows forth the power of that Spirit which resteth upon you, in that he works so mightily in you, as to enable you to bear what without the assistance of his grace were intolerable.

1 Peter 4:14 . The Beautitude, μακάριοι … ὅταν ὀνειδίσωσιν ὑμᾶς ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ is supported by prophecy which referred originally to the root of Jesse. Both are partially paraphrased for sake of clearness. For ἐν ὀνόματι ; cf. Mark 9:41 , ἐν ὀνόματι ὅτι Χριστοῦ ἔστε . For the reproach cf. Hebrews 13:13 , let us come out to him bearing His reproach , with Psalms 89, so remember Lord the reproaches ( ὀνειδισμῶν LXX) of thy servants .— ὅτι … ἀναπαύεται , quoted from a current Targum of Isaiah 11:1 f., a branch ( נצר : LXX, ἄνθος : Targ. Messiah ) from his roots shall grow and there shall rest upon him the spirit of Jehovah . An elaborate description of this spirit follows, which Peter summarises by τὸ τῆς δόξης . The Glory is a name of God in the Targums (so John 12:41 = Isaiah 6:5 ; Onkelos has יקרא די׳ for י׳ ) and its use here is probably due to the juxtaposition of Isaiah 11:10 , his rest shall be glorious . It is not impossible that καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ is an insertion by first or later scribes for the benefit of Greek readers.

14. for—Greek, "IN the name of Christ," namely, as Christians (1Pe 4:16; 3:14, above); "in My name, because ye belong to Christ." The emphasis lies on this: 1Pe 4:15, "as a murderer, thief," &c., stands in contrast. Let your suffering be on account of Christ, not on account of evil-doing (1Pe 2:20). reproached—Reproach affects noble minds more than loss of goods, or even bodily sufferings. the spirit … upon you—the same Spirit as rested on Christ (Lu 4:18). "The Spirit of glory" is His Spirit, for He is the "Lord of glory" (Jas 2:1). Believers may well overcome the "reproach" (compare Heb 11:26), seeing that "the Spirit of glory" rests upon them, as upon Him. It cannot prevent the happiness of the righteous, if they are reproached for Christ, because they retain before God their glory entire, as having the Spirit, with whom glory is inseparably joined [Calvin]. and of God—Greek, "and the (Spirit) of God"; implying that the Spirit of glory (which is Christ's Spirit) is at the same time also the Spirit of God. on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified—omitted in the two oldest Greek manuscripts and Syriac and Coptic versions, but supported by one very old manuscript, Vulgate, Sahidic, Cyprian, &c. "Evil spoken of," literally, "blasphemed"; not merely do they "speak against you," as in 1Pe 3:16, but blasphemously mock Christ and Christianity itself.