From: Chris and Julie Kavanagh (kavanagh@xtra.co.nz)
Date: Sun Jan 11 1998 - 21:42:19 EST
Dear All,
Greetings from sunny, warm, windy New Zealand.
I am taking the liberty of commenting off list on the thread of 1 Peter
3.18-22, because some comments will be of interpretation, rather than on
the Greek, and my Greek is probably not up to the intricacies of Peter's
( SILOUANOS'?- but that is another story). It's just that I preached on
this passage yesterday evening (11th Jan), as part of a series in 1
Peter 3.13 to end of letter, and so spent some time last week reading up
the various interpretations.
Martin Luther commented that it was 'A more obscure passage than any
other in the New Testament, so I do not know for a certainty just what
Peter means', and Calvin said, in his 1 Peter commentary that the
obscurity of the passage has produced a variety of interpretations - he
was surely not wrong here.
It seems to me that the action of Christ's preaching happened post
resurrection. Selwyn's theory that EN hWi of v19 ruled this out seems
fairly well demolished by Grudem
(Tyndale NT Commentary, in loc). So this would seem to rule out any idea
of 'Harrowing of Hell' by Christ, between death and resurrection.
PNEUMATI, being taken to be Spirit with capital S, the antecedant of EN
hWi.
I plumped for the interpretation of Christ, in the Spirit (ie Holy
Spirt) preaching to the disobedient (APEIQHSASIN)people of Noah's day,
through Noah, - who were 'now' in prison ie when Peter was writing. The
NASB actually supplies the word 'now'.
If I said to someone:'John Wesley preached to many who are in hell' - it
would be understood he did it when he was alive, and they able to hear
him in this world.
Peter speaks of the prophets of the OT (1.11): TO EN AUTOIS PNEUMA
CRISTOU PROMARTUROMENON TA EIS CRISTOU PAQHAMATA KAI TAS META TAUTA
DOXAS - - the Spirit of Christ within them indicating the sufferings of
Christ and the later glories , and although Noah is not called a
prophet, he functions as one, being a preacher of righteousness, (2 Pet
2.5), and condemning the world (Hebs 11.7).
The point of the pericope 3.18-22 being that of the example to Noah to
the people Peter was writing to - in context they were few in number,
threatened, surrounded on all sides by a Godless world, and perhaps
feeling afraid and uncertain of the future. Christ preached to the
pre-flood world, through Noah; he speaks to the ungodly world today
through believers. The world was condemned, Noah was saved, etc..
A post-resurrection visit of Christ to the spiritual underworld seems to
rely too much on 1 Enoch. Would the people Peter was writing to have
read it (they were mostly Gentiles)? Would they be able to pick up on
the imagery without direct reference to it?
(Jude at least says he is quoting Enoch). The evidence in favour of this
view is given by France in ' New Testament Interpretation' ed IH
Marshall.
It is fascinating to read the various EVV and paraphrases of the
pericope to see the translators' ideas being brought to the text.
(Again, another story).
Sorry for the long post, it's Monday, and my head is still buzzing with
it.
Yours, Chris Kavanagh
-- ___________________________________________________________________ CJ and JM Kavanagh, 2 Christian Place, Palmerston North, New Zealand. kavanagh@xtra.co.nz Phone: +64-6-354 5678. ___________________________________________________________________
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