1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect strangers in the Diaspora, in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
|
Term |
Tense |
Voice |
Mood |
Person/Case |
Gender/Number |
Lexical Form |
|
πληθυνθείη |
1 Aorist |
Passive |
Optative |
3rd |
Singular |
πληθύνω |
Lexical and Syntactical Notes
1:1 ἐκλεκτοῖς παρεπιδήμοις here revelas the identity of the audience Peter is writing to. They are chosen, referring to the eternal love that God has for them, yet they are strangers in the world, not just because their ultimate identity is in Christ, but because of the way they live (2:11).
1:2 χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη. This is an example where the nominatives are functioning as the subject of the verb, rather than as an absolute. It is the heart of the apostle that the grace and peace of God would grow and replicate in the lives of these believers. This is further indicated given that this verb is an example of the voluntative optative, which is commonly used when expressing a wish, desire, or prayer in the NT (cf. Mark 11:14; Luke 1:38; Acts 8:20; Rom 15:5, 13; 1 Thess 5:23; 2 Thess 2:17; 3:5, 16; 2 Tim 1:18; Phlm 20; Heb 13:21; 2 Pet 1:2; Jude 2, 9)(Wallace, 51,483).
Christian Perspectives 