This post begins with Fr. MacEvilly’s brief analysis of chapter 3 follwed by his commentary on the reading. He also included a paraphrase of the text he was commenting on and these have been reproduced here in purple text.
Analysis: In the preceding chapter the Apostle had been inculcating the duty of political subjection, on the part of the governed, to their rulers, and the domestic subjection of servants to their masters, from which he digressed at verse 18, to treat of the benefits of redemption. In this, he resumes the subject with reference to another species of subjection, somewhat different from the preceding, viz., that which is due by wives to their husbands ; and he inculcates this duty, by pointing out the advantages its observance might confer on the husbands, in case they should have continued to be unbelievers (verses 1, 2). H next shows, in what manner women should adorn themselves, viz., by attending more to the decoration of their souls than of their persons (3, 4). He inculcates the same duty of subjection, by the examples of the wives of the patriarchs of old, and particularly by that of Sara (5, 6).
He then enjoins on husbands the faithful observance of the reciprocal duties of more abundant attention and respect, which they owe their wives.
He briefly and summarily enjoins on all, the exercise of charity and compassion for one another (8). He prohibits retaliation for injuries, whether in word or deed (9); and proves from the Psalms, that in order to be heirs to their destined benediction, they must return blessing for cursing, avoid evil, and do good (10-12). He shows that if they are zealous in the practice of good works, unjust persecutions will not only be ultimately harmless (13), but will procure a special benediction for them (14). He exhorts them to fear God only, and to be prepared with some satisfactory answer when questioned, in due circumstances, respecting their faith. He encourages then to suffer patiently for justice sake; since, in doing so, they conform to God’s will (17); and moreover, by so doing, they perfectly conform to the example of Christ, who also suffered unjustly, even death, for our sins; he shows, for their consolation, the efficacy and good effects of the unjust suffering of Christ, both in reference to himself, who was raised to a glorious and immortal life, enlivened in the spirit” (18), and with reference to his creatures, whether we regard past generations—and among them the most signal instance of the great efficacy of his merits was the salvation of the Antediluvians; to whom he went a d preached during the interval between his death and resurrection, in the prison of Limibo, the glad tidings of their approaching admittance into glory (19, 20)—or, whether we regard present or future generations during the entire term of the law of grace, during which, men are saved by the waters of baptism, received with due dispositions, of which waters those of the deluge were a type figure (21, 22).
1Pe 3:18 Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit,
(And by thus suffering unjustly you will more perfectly conform to Christ). For he also suffered, nay, even died, once, not for his own, but for our sins; the just suffered for the unjust; that he might offer us to God; and, by breaking down the enmities that existed between him and us, bring us nearer to him, by a conformity of our virtues, by our faith and belief in his gospel, “being indeed put to death in the flesh,” when his mortal life was put an end to, but again resuscitated in the reunion of his soul—now become the principle of a glorious and immortal life—with his body, on which were conferred tlie properties of glorification.
In this verse, the Apostle adduces another motive for consolation under the unjust sufferings for justice sake, to which the faithful, whom he is addressing, may have been exposed. This is, the example of Christ, to whom in such circumstances they most perfectly conform. “Because Christ also died once for our sins.” “Also,”shows that the Apostle is exhorting them to suffer for justice sake even unto death; which can happen only once, “and Christ also died once for our sins,” for, he was himself incapable of sinning; “the just for the unjust;” hence, he could not himself merit the tortures and death to which he was subjected. “That he might offer us to God,” for which we have in the Greek, προσαγαγη, “that he might bring us to God.” The meaning furnished by both readings is given in the Paraphrase. We were afar off from God owing to our sins. Christ “broke down the wall of separation,” “the enmities in his flesh” (Ephes 2:14), and by paying an adequate and sufficient ransom, of which a Man-God alone was capable, purchased the grace by which we were enabled to draw near and approach to God. “Being put to death indeed in the flesh,” that is, his mortal and animal life, requiring the aid of earthly aliments, for its continuance—which life Christ voluntarily led, and preferred up to the time of his death, although he might, if he pleased, have enjoyed, from his Incarnation, a life independent of all the requirements of animal existence—was put an end to by the separation of his soul from his body on the cross. “But enlivened in the spirit.” By “the spirit,” some interpreters understand, the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of Christ, by whom Christ was raised from the dead; this resuscitation was an act of the Divinity, of the three Adorable Persons of the Trinity, to whom all acts, ad extra are common. Others, and it would seem with greater probabihty, understand it of the Soul of Christ, in which Christ “was enlivened,” just as it is said (1 Cor 15:45), “the last Adam was made into a quickening spirit,” inasmuch as his soul, after his Resurrection, imparted to his glorified body the gift of spirituality, in virtue of which it subsists without the aid of earthly aliments, such as food, clothing, &c.—required for the continuance of an animal life,—and will also be the principle of similar spiritual life, at a future day, to others. Of course, from his very Incarnation, Christ could have led such a life, exempt from all the necessities of animal existence; but it was only after his glorious birth at his Resurrection, that he actually entered on that glorified spiritual state.— Vide 1 Cor 15:45, Commentary.
1Pe 3:19 In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison:
In which soul he came, during the interval between his death and resurrection, and preached to the departed souls of the ancient just who died in the Lord, and were confined in the prison of Limbo, the glad tidings of their near deliverance, when they were to accompany Hun on high, while he ”led captivity captive.”
1Pe 3:20 Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.
And among those to whom Christ then preached, should be reckoned, and especially noted by us, those who for some time, had been great sinners and incredulous in the days of Noe (Noah), for whose conversion the patience of God had been waiting during the term of years that Noe had been employed in constructing the ark, wherein only eight persons were saved from death, by the water on which, borne aloft, it floated in security amidst the surrounding desolation.
19, 20 ~”In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison.” There is a great diversity of opinion respecting the meaning of this obscure passage. Dismissing the improbable and heretical interpretations, the probable opinions regarding it may be reduced to two: the one, that of St. Augustine (Epistola 99), who, at first, understood the word “spirits in prison,”‘ to refer to the souls of men departed out of life; but when he came to interpret the words, verse 6, of next chapter, “for this cause, was the Gospel preached also to the dead” he made the word “dead ” refer to the same person with ” spirits” in this verse. Seeing the difficulties involved in the interpretation of verse 6, of next chapter, should it be understood of the preaching of the Gospel to the departed souls of men; and still holding, that in both passages there was reference made to the same persons, he adopted a different interpretation of the words of this verse, and understood “spirits in prison,” to refer to those who were detained, while in the body, in the prison of vice and infidelity. According to St. Augustine’s interpretation, the meaning of the passage is this: “Christ was vivified in the spirit,” that is, by the Holy Ghost (verse 18); and to prove that Christ always lived in the spirit, he says it was in the same spirit that he came and preached to the unbelievers, who were detained in the prison of vice and infidelity, through the ministry of his prophets and chosen servants (verse 19), and he particularizes one signal instance, viz., that of the great sinners, to whom he preached through the ministry of Noe, during the one hundred and twenty years employed by him in building the ark, in which only eight persons were saved from the waters of the deluge (verse 20). Instead of the Vulgate reading, “when they waited for the patience of God,” the Greek reading preferred by St. Jerome and St. Augustine, and preserved in the Roman Missal, corrected by Clement VIII., in the Epistle of Friday in Easter week is οτε απεξεδεχετο η του θεου μακροθυμια, When the patience of God was waiting in the days of Noe; and this seems the more natural reading of the passage; since, of the incredulous, who mocked and derided Noe, it could hardly be said, that “they waited for the patience of God;” this is true only of such as, sincerely anxious for a reconciliation with him, expect, that in his patience he will avert the scourges of his wrath, which their sins deserve; whereas, it is quite fair to say, that the patience of God was waiting for the conversion of these sinful, incredulous men, whom he graciously forewarned of their impending destruction, during the one hundred and twenty years that Noe had been employedl in building the ark.
The interpretation of St. Augustine appears open to insuperable difficulties. In the first place, it makes the word “spirits” refer, not to the disembodied souls of men, but to the very persons, souls and bodies, of the antediluvians, to whom he supposes Christ, in his Divine Spirit, to have preached through Noe; now, this is clearly opposed to the general usage of sacred Scripture, designating men by the flesh—their visible part, rather than by the spirit, which is invisible. Besides, it might suit prophetic style, to call men, while in this life, “spirits in prison,” such a form of expression is, however, clearly unsuited to the plain, historical style here employed by the Apostle. In the next place, the form of expression used here, far from supposing the preaching attributed here to Christ, to have been the same with the preaching, for which the ministry of Noe was employed (as St. Augustine has it), supposes the very reverse; it supposes that the preaching made by Christ (verse 19), to which the antediluvians were incredulous (verse 20) was posterior to that made by Noe: τοις πνευμασιν εκηρυξεν απειθησασιν ποτε. He preached to those spirits which had been some time incredulous in the days of Noe. Is it not plain, then, that the preaching of Noe must have preceded his? His could be no other (since they all perished in the waters of the deluge) than that made to their departed souls, in the prison of Limbo. In truth, in order to be warranted in making the preaching of Christ referred to (verse 19) identical with that which, in the opinion of St. Augustine, he is supposed to have made (verse 20) by the ministry of Noe, we should change the entire structure of tlie sentence, and make it run thus: “In which coming formerly, in the days of Noe, when the patience of God was waiting for them, he preached to spirits that had been incredulous to himself;” but, this is, obviously, quite different from the real construction of the sacred text.
But what particularly militates against this opinion is the context of the Apostle. For, in the preceding passage (verse 18), he is encouraging the faithful to endure unjust persecutions, nay, even martyrdom, for the faith, by the example of the unjust sufferings of Christ; and, as a further inducement, he proposes the salutary effects of these unjust sufferings with regard to Christ himself, who “was enlivened in the spirit,” and underwent these sufferings “to offer us,” (or, to bring us nearer) “to God,” doubtless by our faith and belief in the gospel. He next adds (verse 19), that Christ went and preached to the incredulous men, who had been mocking the preaching of Noe; now, what connexion can there be between our reconciliation (verse 18), and the incredulity of the antediluvians, who perished in the waters of the deluge, and were eternally lost, according to the interpretation of St. Augustine? What object could the Apostle have in view, in introducing the example of the inefficacious preaching of Noe in a passage, where, from the context, it is evident, he is recommending the efficacy of the death and resurrection of Christ? Hence, it is, that the common interpretation seems by far the more probable, as being more in accordance with the obvious meaning of the words of the text, as also with the context. The Apostle is encouraging the faithful to endure persecution, nay, even death itself for the faith, and, as a most consoling motive, he adduces the example of Christ, who died for the unjust (verse 18), and for the purpose of bringing us nearer to God. (This is the Greek reading for, “that he might offer us to God.”) As a further motive, he proposes the efficacy of the death of Christ, both with reference to himself, who was raised to a glorious and immortal lite, “enlivened in the spirit;” and with reference to his creatures, whether we regard those who in ages past, preceded him, to whom his future
merits were applied; or, those of the present and future generations (verse 21). As an example of the efficacy of the merits of Christ, with reference to past ages, he adduces one of the most signal manifestations of his great mercy, in the salvation of those giant sinners who perished in the deluge, whose crimes are described (Genesis 5); and, in order to extol still more this great mercy of God, the Apostle mentions the aggravating circumstances of their obstinacy. God had through Noe, preached to them their coming destruction; they continued in their obstinate unbelief ; and it was only when they saw the waters of the deluge overflow the earth, that, touched with repentance amid the wreck of all nature, they felt concern for the salvation of their souls, while their bodies were submerged in the desolating waters. It was to announce to these souls confined in the Prison of Limbo, expiating the temporal punishment due to their sins, that the soul of Christ, after his death on the cross, descended, announcing the joyous tidings of their near deliverance, the termination of their pains, and the throwing open of the gates of heaven, for so many ages closed against them.
The chief difficulties against this opinion are:—First, What grounds are there for saying that the incredulous, to whom Noe preached, on seeing the waters of the deluge overflow the earth, were converted, and died in sentiments of penance? Secondly, why should St. Peter, in this passage, confine to those who perished in the flood, whose conversion and salvation is supposed in this opinion, the preaching which Christ addressed to all the souls of the just, detained in the prison of Limbo, including patriarchs and prophets?
In answer to the second point of objection it may be said, that although Christ had preached to all the souls shut up in the prison of Limbo, and while announcing to them their near deliverance, had, most probably, remitted what remained to be discharged of the temporal debt due to their sins, thereby consecrated, by being the first himself to exercise it, the power of granting indulgences, to be afterwards exercised by his Church; still, the Apostle specially refers to those, who were converted in the waters of the deluge, as the most signal instance he could adduce of the divine mercy, whether the number or the enormity of their crimes be considered, by which “all flesh corrupted its way on the earth” and which provoked an immutable God to cry out, “it repenteth me that I have made them ” (Genesis 6); and he, thereby supplies the firmest grounds of confidence in the merits of Christ, for such as died for righteousness sake; seeing that his future merits were so efficacious in saving the souls of those sinful men, whose crimes provoked the divine justice to sweep them off the face of the earth. Another reason why St. Peter particularizes those who perished in the deluge is, that the deluge, in which they were drowned, was typical of the baptismal waters, in which those whom he addresses received their spiritual regeneration, and the surest earnest of the efficacy of Christ’s merits with reference to themselves.
Who, after considering the consoling teaching of the Apostle in this passage, can, for an instant, distrust the boundless mercy of God? The salvation of those giant sinners of old, whose crimes drew down the deluge or universal shipwreck of the first creation, and provoked an immutable God to exclaim, that he was ”sorry for creating man” furnishes the most striking and the most consoling exemplification, that could be adduced, of his boundless mercies. Well therefore, may we all, whom God has spared in our sins, cry out with the Psalmist; “mercies of the Lord I shall sing for ever.” “His mercy is above all his works.”
1Pe 3:21 Whereunto baptism, being of the like form, now saveth you also: not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but, the examination of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To this diluvian water, baptism corresponding, as the antitype, or thing typified, to its type and figure, now, in the New Law, saves you too from the death of your souls by the graces and right to life eternal, which it confers; and these effects it produces not inasmuch as it is a mere external rite, washing away bodily uncleanness; but, inasmuch as this external rite is accompanied by the internal dispositions which the subject of baptism, when interrogated sincerely, and before God, declares that he possesses; these effects baptism produces owing to the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ; for “he rose for our justification.”—(Romans 14).
In this verse the Apostle points out the efficacy of Christ’s merits, in regard to the present and future generations, during the time of the New Law. “Whereunto, baptism being of the like form.” In our English version the Greek reading is followed, and the same has been adopted in the Paraphrase. The Vulgate reading runs thus: quod et vos nunc similis formæ salvos facit Baptisma; and this accords with the Vatican reading:—”Which (water), the antitype of that in the deluge, and which is Baptism, now saves you.” According to others, there is a Hebraism in the Vulgate readings wherein the relative precedes the antecedent, and is thus explained: “and now baptism,
saves you, which baptism of like form,” &c. “Whereunto,” that is, to which water of the deluge, “baptism being of like form.” The Greek for “like form,” αντιτυπον, means, being the antitype, corresponding with it, as the antitype to the type, the truth to the shadow. “Now,'”‘ that is, in the New Law, “saveth you,” (in Greek, saveth us, the Codex Vaticanus has υμας, you), from the death of the soul; as the waters, on which the ark was borne aloft, saved Noe and his family from temporal drowning. The points of correspondence between the diluvian water and baptism are many. In the former, while the inmates of the ark were saved, the wicked, were drowned and buried; in the latter, our sins are buried, and we are become dead to sin. In the former, the ark was borne aloft, and salvation secured to its inmates; in the latter, we are raised to a new life and saved from the consequences of our sins, viz., spiritual and eternal death. “Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,” that is; it is not inasmuch as it is an external rite cleansing our bodies, that baptism produces these salutary effects of grace and spiritual regeneration; “but the examination of a good conscience;” but, inasmuch as this rite is accompanied by the internal conditions and dispositions (“a good conscience”), which the subject of baptism, when interrogated, sincerely, and in the presence of God, declares he possesses. There is allusion in this to the questions usually put to the person to be baptized, whether ”he believes in God? &c., “renounces Satan and all his pomps?” The word “examination,” or interrogation, is put for the aforesaid dispositions, regarding which the subject of baptism is usually interrogated before receiving the sacrament, and “a good conscience towards God,” regards the sincerity of his conviction that he possesses the necessary dispositions. These salutary effects are ascribed to baptism in consequence of ”the resurrection of Jesus Christ;” either, because this resurrection is the exemplary cause or model of our spiritual resurrection and justification; ”resurrexit propter justificationem nostram,” or its supplemental cause; since, “if Christ had not risen, our faith would be vain,” and proved to be unfounded, as resting on the promises of one who would have deceived us, and proved himself to be an impostor.
1Pe 3:22 Who is on the right hand of God, swallowing down death that we might be made heirs of life everlasting: being gone into heaven, the angels and powers and virtues being made subject to him.
Who, in his divine nature, being equal to God in his human nature, sits at His right hand, and holds next him, the most honorable place in heaven, by his own death and resurrection he destroyed death, and deprived it of its sting, in order that we might be made heirs of life everlasting; he has, also, ascended and gone into heaven, the entire heavenly host, of every order and degree, whether from the ranks of angels, powers, virtues, or any other order, having been subjected to him by his heavenly Father.
“Who is on the right hand of God;” this refers to his human nature; considered according to this nature, he holds the highest place in heaven next to the Divinity, and before all other creatures. In these words, the Apostle conveys a tacit exhortation to us to suffer with Christ for justice sake, in order to become partakers in his glory. “Swallowing down death, that we might be made heirs of life everlasting.” These words are not found in the Greek; they are, however, read in all Latin copies, and cited by the Latin Fathers. They contain an allusion to the words of the Prophet Osee (i.e., Hosea 13, 14), death! I will be thy death; O hell! I will be thy bite.” This will be fully accomplished only on the final day, when the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed.-(1 Corinthians, chapter 15).
“Being gone into heaven,” whither he ascended by the power of his own divinity. These words are immediately connected with the words, “on the right hand of God.” “The angels,” viz: those belonging to a lower order of blessed spirits; “and powers and virtues,” refer to the higher ranks; under these are included all the the orders of heavenly spirits, and of all creatures that can be named, or that exist.—(Col 1:18, and Col 2:10; Eph 1:22) ; “being made subject to him,” as man; for, his heavenly Father “has subjected all things under his feet.”—(Psalm 8; 1 Cor 15; Eph 1 &c.) As man, Christ is the head of the entire Church, militant and triumphant, comprising both angels and men.
The Divine Lamp 