1 Peter 5:1

This chapter concludes the epistle with exhortations concerning the eldership and the general attitude of submission and obedience for all (1 Peter 5:1-11), ending with salutations and benediction (1 Peter 5:12-14).

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: (1 Peter 5:1)

In this verse, "There is neither self-exaltation nor disparagement, nor any hint of primacy, such as some have claimed for Peter."[1] The storm of persecution coming upon the church naturally focused Peter's mind upon "the need for adequate leadership."[2]

The elders which are among you ... Since these men are those exercising the oversight of the church (1 Peter 5:2), the church officials of that name are meant here. Significantly, in some of the older manuscripts "exercising the oversight" is omitted, probably for the purpose of denying the eldership the same authority which came, in time, to be attributed to "bishops" only. However, as Hunter noted, "In New Testament times the government of the local church was in the hands of a body of men called almost indifferently elders or overseers (bishops)."[3] Other New Testament synonyms for the same office are presbyters, pastors, shepherds and stewards. See more on this under 1 Peter 5:2.

Which are among you ... As Zerr noted, "Elders have no authority over disciples among whom they are not residing."[4] This is the reason that the apostles commanded elders to be ordained in "every church" (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5).

Whom am a fellow-elder ... The authority of the eldership is in the group sharing the office and is not to be exercised individually, each elder himself being subject, as is the whole church, to the eldership. Zerr noted that "Thayer defines the word elder as a fellow-elder."[5]

Who am a witness of the sufferings of Christ ... Primarily, this is a reference to Peter's apostleship; for as Hart said:

The qualifications of an apostle in the strict sense limited the office only to those who were companions of the Twelve in all the time from John's baptism to the Assumption, or at least witnesses of the resurrection (Acts 1:22).[6]

Construing "witness of the sufferings" as meaning an eyewitness of the crucifixion, however, some are "inclined to doubt this, for we are told that after the arrest in the garden, 'all the disciples forsook him and fled' (Matthew 26:56)."[7] But there is no validity to the view that Peter did not actually see the crucifixion. He could well have been among the number mentioned by Luke who beheld the event "from afar" (Luke 23:49); for Mark, shortly after saying that all the apostles forsook him and fled, placed Peter in the courtyard as an observer of the trials (Mark 14:50-54); and even beyond this, there is the fact that Peter witnessed the agony in Gethsemane.

Who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed ... Selwyn thought this clause has reference to the transfiguration which Peter, along with James and John, had witnessed during the Lord's ministry, saying:

Peter had experienced and was known to have experienced the special revelation of the glory that had been restored to Jesus at the Ascension ... and would be manifested to all when he came again at the End.[8]

[1] Roy S. Nicholson, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 299.

[2] David H. Wheaton, New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1247.

[3] Archibald M. Hunter, The Interpreter's Bible. Vol. XII (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 147.

[4] E. M. Zerr, Bible Commentary, 1Peter (Marion, Indiana: Cogdill Foundation, 1954), p. 265.

[5] Ibid.

[6] J. H. A. Hart, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 76.

[7] William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 268.

[8] E. G. Selwyn, The First Epistle of St. Peter (London: Macmillan and Company, 1946), p. 229.