1 Peter 2:17

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Jason Hare
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Re: 1 Peter 2:17

Post by Jason Hare »

timothy_p_mcmahon wrote: October 29th, 2019, 2:59 am If I could jump in on a question I’ve always had with this verse... why the tense/aspect shift between aorist and present forms of timao?
It is interesting, but I don't know. Maybe the issue of honoring the king came up more often — because there is a certain anarchic (anomistic) element of early Christianity that might risk revolution against earthly rulers. Believers are pushed to maintain their respect for authorities, to continuously show honor to the king.

What do you think?
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Jonathan Robie
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Re: 1 Peter 2:17

Post by Jonathan Robie »

I think the Exegetical Summaries are helpful to describe the relationship among these four verbs. It provides a variety of explanations, some more plausible than others.
QUESTION—What is the significance of the aorist imperative τιμήσατε ‘honor’ followed by three present imperatives, ‘love, fear, honor’?
  1. There is no distinction of meaning intended between aorist and present imperatives [BNTC, ICC, NIC].
  2. The first imperative sums up the other three, which amplify it [NIV, REB].
  3. The first imperative is a general statement, and would tend to indicate to do something if and when the case arises that requires it. The present imperatives denote habitual thinking and practice and also form a transition to the next paragraph where he becomes more specific [Alf].
  4. The aorist is used for the first verb to avoid ambiguity [EGT]. Since the three present imperatives could be confused as present indicatives, the first imperative in the aorist tense serves to clarify that the three that follow are also imperatives [WBC].
  5. The initial imperative in the aorist means to take this attitude once and for all, and the present imperatives that follow indicate ongoing obligation to continue to do those things [NIBC]. The aorist imperative followed by present imperatives indicates a moment of decision followed by permanent action, that is, let this be your motto from now on to do these things [Sel]. The aorist imperative serves as an effective or programmatic aorist, that is, begin doing these things and then keep on doing them [WBC].
  6. The initial aorist carries no special meaning, whereas the three present imperatives indicate a continuing necessity [TNTC].
  7. The initial aorist is constative, indicating action in its entirety, whereas the three present imperatives indicate the continuing nature of the action [NTC].
QUESTION—What is the relationship of the four verbs in this verse?
  1. The verbs move from the general to the limited, with actions relating to all people, believers, God, and the emperor [Sel].
  2. The first gives a general statement followed by three verbs that outline specific duties and which form a transition to the next section [Alf].
  3. The verbs are in two balanced sets of pairs, indicating general duties to all people and all believers, and then specific duties to God and the emperor [NTC, TH].
  4. The verbs are in two balanced sets of pairs in a chiastic arrangement, wherein the second and third have more weight or richer content than the first and fourth [BNTC, NIC].
  5. The second and third verbs have more weight or richer content than the first and fourth, but the third, which is to fear God, is paramount [TNTC].
  6. The verbs are a single series linked together, and the verb τιμάω at the beginning and end of the series forms a unit or group which relates back to the exhortation to submission in 2:13 [WBC].
QUESTION—What attitude toward the emperor is indicated by the choice and arrangement of verbs in this passage?
  • The emperor is to be honored but God alone is to be feared [BNTC, IVP, NCBC, NIBC, NIC, TH, TNTC, WBC]. The fear of God and the love of the brotherhood set limits on how the emperor is to be honored [NTC].
Abernathy, D. (2008). An Exegetical Summary of 1 Peter (2nd ed., pp. 95–96). Dallas, TX: SIL International.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Jonathan Robie
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Re: 1 Peter 2:17

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Playing with the options, I think it's important to honor the parallelism of the last three verbs. I could emphasize that with a little extra punctuation:
πάντας τιμήσατε - τὴν ἀδελφότητα ἀγαπᾶτε, τὸν Θεὸν φοβεῖσθε, τὸν βασιλέα τιμᾶτε.
Let me play with this a little ...

The aorist imperative πάντας τιμήσατε says "do this" as a whole, the present imperatives say what you should keep on doing to fulfill that overall command. Here's a translation that may convey that part of the meaning, if you think of the last three verbs as present imperatives.
Honor all men, loving the brotherhood, fearing God, honoring the King.
With a little commentary:
Honor all men (big picture command) - loving the brotherhood, fearing God, honoring the King (be doing these things to carry out that first command).
I'd be interested in what others think here. Translations don't seem to go that way ... am I stretching this too far?
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: 1 Peter 2:17

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Jonathan Robie wrote: November 4th, 2019, 5:32 pm Playing with the options, I think it's important to honor the parallelism of the last three verbs. I could emphasize that with a little extra punctuation:
πάντας τιμήσατε - τὴν ἀδελφότητα ἀγαπᾶτε, τὸν Θεὸν φοβεῖσθε, τὸν βασιλέα τιμᾶτε.
Let me play with this a little ...

The aorist imperative πάντας τιμήσατε says "do this" as a whole, the present imperatives say what you should keep on doing to fulfill that overall command. Here's a translation that may convey that part of the meaning, if you think of the last three verbs as present imperatives.
Honor all men, loving the brotherhood, fearing God, honoring the King.
With a little commentary:
Honor all men (big picture command) - loving the brotherhood, fearing God, honoring the King (be doing these things to carry out that first command).
I'd be interested in what others think here. Translations don't seem to go that way ... am I stretching this too far?
At least one commentary agrees with you:
JFB wrote:Honour all men—according to whatever honor is due in each case. Equals have a respect due to them. Christ has dignified our humanity by assuming it; therefore we should not dishonor, but be considerate to and honor our common humanity, even in the very humblest. The first “honor” is in the Greek aorist imperative, implying, “In every case render promptly every man’s due” [ALFORD]. The second is in the present tense, implying, Habitually and continually honor the king. Thus the first is the general precept; the three following are its three great divisions.
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 506). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

This is more or less how I intuitively read it.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
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Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
dougknighton
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Re: 1 Peter 2:17

Post by dougknighton »

The NIV does render the text in the way you’re construing it: "Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."

If this is a valid way to construe these propositions, you would need to tweak the explanation a little. I think you would have to say that the three present imperatives provide three specific ways to fulfill the general of the aorist command, but that they do not complete the picture, because the three specifics do not mention how to relate to the vast majority of people who have not been addressed.

Maybe it would be better to construe the aorist command as inceptive, which would make it parallel to the preceding aorist command in verse 13 (Ὑποτάγητε πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κτίσει διὰ τὸν κύριον). In this way, Peter doesn’t leave out anyone and the two versions of timάω form a bracket for the set.

Doug Knighton
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: 1 Peter 2:17

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

dougknighton wrote: November 5th, 2019, 2:15 pm The NIV does render the text in the way you’re construing it: "Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."

If this is a valid way to construe these propositions, you would need to tweak the explanation a little. I think you would have to say that the three present imperatives provide three specific ways to fulfill the general of the aorist command, but that they do not complete the picture, because the three specifics do not mention how to relate to the vast majority of people who have not been addressed.

Maybe it would be better to construe the aorist command as inceptive, which would make it parallel to the preceding aorist command in verse 13 (Ὑποτάγητε πάσῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κτίσει διὰ τὸν κύριον). In this way, Peter doesn’t leave out anyone and the two versions of timάω form a bracket for the set.

Doug Knighton
Or we could look at it as three specific examples without the necessity of being exhaustive.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
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