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1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: 4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. 6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. 7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
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[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:1
The apostle did not say that Christ died in his divinity but in his flesh, so as to emphasize that it was not his divine nature which suffered but his human one. The sufferings are those of the one to whom the body belongs. Since the flesh belonged to the Word, the sufferings of the flesh must be attributed to the Word as well.

Source: CATENA
[AD 414] Nicetas of Remesiana on 1 Peter 4:1
Christ did not suffer in his divinity but in his flesh. God can never suffer. Christ suffered in the flesh, as the apostle teaches, so that from his wounds might flow salvation to humanity. This was foretold by the prophet Isaiah: Christ suffered for our sins so that grace might be given to us.

Source: EXPLANATION OF THE CREED 5
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:1
In order that Christ might be believed to be the Savior of all, according to their appropriation of his incarnation, he assumed the sufferings of his own flesh, as was foretold in Isaiah [50:6]: “I gave my back to lashes, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; I did not turn away my face from the disgrace of their spittings.”

Source: LETTERS 39
[AD 538] Severus of Antioch on 1 Peter 4:1
By proclaiming that he would suffer and die in the flesh, Christ was indicating that he was passible in his flesh but impassible in his divinity. The ineffable union of the two natures did not cut him in two, for he remains one Lord, one Christ and one Son, one person and one hypostasis, that of the Word incarnate. By becoming man he became capable of suffering and death, but in the divine nature which he had from eternity he remained impassible and consubstantial with the Father and the Son. But insofar as he was consubstantial with us also, he was able to partake of our sufferings and did so willingly and in truth.

Source: CATENA
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:1
The apostle Peter gave this comfort to those of us who are bound by the chains of persecution.

Source: Commentary on Acts 12.7
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:1
Because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sins, etc. Whoever among the saints has subjected his body to martyrdom under the violence of persecutors, there is no doubt that, as much as possible given human nature, he has abstained from sins until the end of his life. For what could he think about perpetrating sin, what about carnal desires, what but the will of God could he entertain in his mind, who, whether affixed to a cross, surrounded by blows of stones, subdued by the bites of beasts, placed upon flames, pierced by the whips of scorpions, or afflicted by any other kind of punishment, was compelled to desire only this: that with the battle ended, he might receive the crown of life? Therefore, blessed Peter wishes us always to imitate the minds of such people, when he instructs us to arm ourselves with the same thought against the wickedness of the depraved and against the delights of vices, proposing the example of the Lord's passion, wishing it to be understood that even we, resting in the peace of the Church, if we assume the disposition of a sufferer, easily avoid the falls of all sins and submit all desires to the commands of divine will, aided by the Lord. Finally, even the Psalmist prays to the Lord, saying: "Pierce my flesh with your fear, for I am in awe of your judgments" (Psalm 118). And the Apostle: "Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5). Therefore, whoever extinguishes carnal desires in the mind with the fear of heavenly judgments, already similar to the crucified and suffering for Christ, lives dead to sins, living only in service to God.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 449] Hilary of Arles on 1 Peter 4:2
The will of God which we live by is the witness of the gospel, which kills any interest we may have in human glory.

Source: INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on 1 Peter 4:2
Compare this with what Paul wrote: “If we are dead with Christ, we shall also live with him” and “dead therefore to sin but alive to God.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 160] Shepherd of Hermas on 1 Peter 4:3
""What, sir "say I, "are the evil deeds from which we must restrain ourselves? ""Hear "says he: "from adultery and fornication, from unlawful revelling,
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:3
"For "says Peter, "the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.".
And to the Gnostic false opinion is foreign, as the true belongs to him, and is allied with him. Wherefore the noble apostle calls one of the kinds of fornication, idolatry,

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book VI
[AD 538] Severus of Antioch on 1 Peter 4:3
What Peter is saying is this: We must depart from the evil deeds of pagan life and not go back to our old ways nor imitate those who have relapsed into debauchery and drunkenness.

Source: CATENA
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on 1 Peter 4:3
This is ironic, as if Peter were saying: “Have you not had enough of the pleasures which you once indulged in? Or do you still hanker after the Gentile life which you used to live?” It is in connection with this that he notes the various types of debauchery.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 538] Severus of Antioch on 1 Peter 4:4
These people are surprised and put off when they see us turning toward what is good rather than going along with them. And not only do they not seek the good, they fall away even into blasphemy.

Source: CATENA
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:4
In which they marvel, not running with you, etc. Because (he says) you have crucified your flesh with its passions and desires, it follows indeed that although they blaspheme you on account of their own infidelity, as separated from their company, yet in your behavior they always see works of justice and piety, which they rightfully marvel at and for which they rightly praise and revere the Christian faith.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 990] Oecumenius on 1 Peter 4:4
Not only do the Gentiles wonder at the change in you, not only does it make them ashamed, but they also attack you for it, for the worship of God is an abomination to sinners.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:5-6
"Who shall give account," he says, [1 Peter 4:5] "to Him who is ready to judge the quick and the dead."

These are trained through previous judgments. Therefore he adds, "For this cause was the Gospel preached also to the dead" — to us, namely, who were at one time unbelievers. "That they might be judged according to men," he says, "in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." Because, that is, they have fallen away from faith; while they are still in the flesh they are judged according to preceding judgments, that they might repent. Accordingly, he also adds, saying, "That they might live according to God in the spirit." So Paul also; for he, too, states something of this nature when he says, "Whom I have delivered to Satan, that he might live in the spirit;" [1 Corinthians 5:5] that is, "as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Similarly also Paul says, "Variously, and in many ways, God of old spoke to our fathers." [Hebrews 1:1]

Source: Fragment from the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Peter 4:5
It does not necessarily follow that we should here understand those who have departed from the body. For it could be that by “the dead” Peter means unbelievers, those who are dead in soul. Therefore we are not obliged to believe that he refers to hell when he mentions the dead in the next verse.

Source: LETTERS 164
[AD 538] Severus of Antioch on 1 Peter 4:5
This will happen in the future, when everyone will have to be ready to give an account of himself, and no one will be able to stop him from doing so. For everything will be laid bare before God, who judges the righteous and the wicked. At that time he will judge and separate the ones from the others, as the Savior himself said: “He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”

Source: CATENA
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on 1 Peter 4:5
Some people say that the soul is living and the body dead, but it is impossible for a soul to come to judgment without its own body. Rather here Peter calls the righteous “living,” because they do the works of the life to come, and the unrighteous he calls “dead,” because they are dead in their transgressions and dead works. But the gospel has been preached to both the righteous and the unrighteous, even to those who are dead in their sins, so that they may judge themselves by casting their vote against themselves.

Source: CATENA
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:5
Who shall give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Therefore (he says) care less, grieve less, if you are blasphemed by the reprobate while doing good, because even if you remain silent, God the judge, who is indeed just, will not remain silent or be restrained, and he will restore worthy rewards both for their blasphemy and for your patience.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 108] Ignatius of Antioch on 1 Peter 4:6
How shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, having come, raised them from the dead.

Source: The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, Chapter 9
[AD 125] Odes of Solomon on 1 Peter 4:6
Sheol saw me and was shattered, and Death ejected me and many with me.
I have been vinegar and bitterness to it, and I went down with it as far as its depth.
Then the feet and the head it released, because it was not able to endure my face.
And I made a congregation of living among his dead; and I spoke with them by living lips; in order that my word may not be unprofitable.
And those who had died ran towards me; and they cried out and said, Son of God, have pity on us.
And deal with us according to Your kindness, and bring us out from the bonds of darkness.
And open for us the door by which we may come out to You; for we perceive that our death does not touch You.
May we also be saved with You, because You are our Savior.
Then I heard their voice, and placed their faith in my heart.
And I placed my name upon their head, because they are free and they are mine.

Source: Ode 42, Lines 11-20
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on 1 Peter 4:6
Trypho: We ask you first of all to tell us some of the Scriptures which you allege have been completely cancelled.

Justin: I shall do as you please... And since this passage from the sayings of Jeremiah is still written in some copies [of the Scriptures] in the synagogues of the Jews (for it is only a short time since they were cut out)... And again, from the sayings of the same Jeremiah these have been cut out: 'The Lord God remembered His dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and He descended to preach to them His own salvation.'

Source: Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 72
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 1 Peter 4:6
He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, [Isaiah 53:3] and sat upon the foal of an ass, [Zechariah 9:9] and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, [Isaiah 53:7] and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek; [Exodus 17:11] while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father's fold the children who were scattered abroad, [Isaiah 11:12] and remembered His own dead ones who had formerly fallen asleep, and came down to them that He might deliver them...

Source: Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 33), Section 1
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:6
Those who abandon their faith in this life are judged according to the above judgments, so that they might repent. This is why Peter adds “so that in the spirit they might live as God lives.”

Source: ADUMBRATIONS
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:6
Wherefore the Lord preached the Gospel to those in Hades. Accordingly the Scripture says, "Hades says to Destruction, We have not seen His form, but we have heard His voice." It is not plainly the place, which, the words above say, heard the voice, but those who have been put in Hades, and have abandoned themselves to destruction, as persons who have thrown themselves voluntarily from a ship into the sea. They, then, are those that hear the divine power and voice. For who in his senses can suppose the souls of the righteous and those of sinners in the same condemnation, charging Providence with injustice?

But how? Do not [the Scriptures] show that the Lord preached the Gospel to those that perished in the flood, or rather had been chained, and to those kept "in ward and guard"? [1 Peter 3:19-20] And it has been shown also, in the second book of the Stromata, that the apostles, following the Lord, preached the Gospel to those in Hades. For it was requisite, in my opinion, that as here, so also there, the best of the disciples should be imitators of the Master; so that He should bring to repentance those belonging to the Hebrews, and they the Gentiles; that is, those who had lived in righteousness according to the Law and Philosophy, who had ended life not perfectly, but sinfully...

And, as I think, the Saviour also exerts His might because it is His work to save; which accordingly He also did by drawing to salvation those who became willing, by the preaching [of the Gospel], to believe in Him, wherever they were. If, then, the Lord descended to Hades for no other end but to preach the Gospel, as He did descend; it was either to preach the Gospel to all or to the Hebrews only...

If, then, He preached only to the Jews, who wanted the knowledge and faith of the Saviour, it is plain that, since God is no respecter of persons, the apostles also, as here, so there preached the Gospel to those of the heathen who were ready for conversion. And it is well said by the Shepherd, "They went down with them therefore into the water, and again ascended. But these descended alive, and again ascended alive. But those who had fallen asleep, descended dead, but ascended alive." Further the Gospel [Matthew 27:52] says, "that many bodies of those that slept arose,"— plainly as having been translated to a better state. There took place, then, a universal movement and translation through the economy of the Saviour...

It is evident that those, too, who were outside of the Law, having lived rightly, in consequence of the peculiar nature of the voice, though they are in Hades and in ward, [1 Peter 3:19] on hearing the voice of the Lord, whether that of His own person or that acting through His apostles, with all speed turned and believed...

So I think it is demonstrated that the God being good, and the Lord powerful, they save with a righteousness and equality which extend to all that turn to Him, whether here or elsewhere...

Did not the same dispensation obtain in Hades, so that even there, all the souls, on hearing the proclamation, might either exhibit repentance, or confess that their punishment was just, because they believed not? And it were the exercise of no ordinary arbitrariness, for those who had departed before the advent of the Lord (not having the Gospel preached to them, and having afforded no ground from themselves, in consequence of believing or not) to obtain either salvation or punishment. For it is not right that these should be condemned without trial, and that those alone who lived after the advent should have the advantage of the divine righteousness...

If, then, He preached the Gospel to those in the flesh that they might not be condemned unjustly, how is it conceivable that He did not for the same cause preach the Gospel to those who had departed this life before His advent?

Source: The Stromata (Book VI), Chapter 6, paragraphs 3-4
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on 1 Peter 4:6
He showed all power given by the Father to the Son [Matthew 28:18], who is ordained Lord of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and Judge of all [Philippians 2:10]: of things in heaven, because He was born, the Word of God, before all (ages); and of things on earth, because He became man in the midst of men, to re-create our Adam through Himself; and of things under the earth, because He was also reckoned among the dead, preaching the Gospel to the souls of the saints [1 Peter 3:19], (and) by death overcoming death.

Source: On Christ and Antichrist, Section 26
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on 1 Peter 4:6
He [John the Baptist] also first preached to those in Hades, becoming a forerunner there when he was put to death by Herod, that there too he might intimate that the Saviour would descend to ransom the souls of the saints from the hand of death.

Source: On Christ and Antichrist, Section 45
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:6
If, on the other hand, as it reads in some manuscripts, "even in those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression," this death, namely that which was keeping souls bound in the underworld, is said to exercise dominion, then we shall understand it to mean that even the saints had fallen prey to that death certainly under the law of dying, even if not under the punishment of sin. But it was on this account that Christ descended into the underworld, not only because he would not be held by death [Acts 2:24], but also in order that he might release those who were held there, as we said, not so much through the crime of transgression as much as by the condition of dying. As it is written, "Many bodies of saints who were sleeping were resurrected with him and entered into the holy city." [Matthew 27:52-53] In this as well the prophet's sayings were fulfilled, in which he said of Christ, "In ascending on high he led captivity captive." [Ephesians 4:8-9] Thus by his own resurrection he has already destroyed the dominions of death, which is also why it is written that he set captivity free.

Source: Commentary on Romans, Book 5, Section 37
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Peter 4:6
Also in the same place: "For in this also was it preached to them that are dead, that they might be raised again."

Source: Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on 1 Peter 4:6
But tomorrow assemble for me all your citizens, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and descended into Hades, and burst the bars which from eternity had not been broken, and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and thus ascended to his Father.

Source: Church History (Book I), Chapter 13, Section 19
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:6
This Body it was that was laid in a grave, when the Word had left it, yet was not parted from it, to preach, as Peter says, also to the spirits in prison [1 Peter 3:19].

And this above all shows the foolishness of those who say that the Word was changed into bones and flesh. For if this had been so, there were no need of a tomb. For the Body would have gone by itself to preach to the spirits in Hades. But as it was, He Himself went to preach, while the Body Joseph wrapped in a linen cloth, and laid it away at Golgotha. [Mark 15:46]

Source: Letter 59, Sections 5-6
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 1 Peter 4:6
He departed from Sheol and took up His abode in the Kingdom; that He might seek out a path from Sheol which oppresses all, to the Kingdom which requites all. For our Lord gave His resurrection as a pledge to mortals, that He would remove them from Sheol, which receives the departed without distinction, to the Kingdom which admits the invited with distinction; so that, from [the plan] which makes equal the bodies of all men within it, we may come to [the plan] which distinguishes the works of all men within it. This is He Who descended to Sheol and ascended, that from [the place] which corrupts its sojourners, He might bring us to the place which nourishes with its blessings its dwellers...

Sheol brought Him forth, that through Him its treasures might be emptied out...

For our Lord bare His cross and went forth according to the will of Death: but He cried upon the cross [Matthew 27:50-52] and brought forth the dead from within Sheol against the will of Death. For in that very thing by which Death had slain Him [i.e., the body], in that as armour He bore off the victory over Death. But the Godhead concealed itself in the manhood and fought against Death, Death slew and was slain. Death slew the natural life; and the supernatural life slew Him. And because Death was not able to devour Him without the body, nor Sheol to swallow Him up without the flesh, He came unto the Virgin, that from thence He might obtain that which should bear Him to Sheol; as from beside the ass they brought for Him the colt whereon He entered Jerusalem, and proclaimed concealing her overthrow and the destruction of her children. With the body then that [was] from the Virgin, He entered Sheol and plundered its storehouses and emptied its treasures. He came then to Eve the Mother of all living. This is the vine whose fence Death laid open by her own hands, and caused her to taste of his fruits. So Eve the Mother of all living became the well-spring of death to all living. But Mary budded forth, a new shoot from Eve the ancient vine; and new life dwelt in her, that when Death should come confidently after his custom to feed upon mortal fruits, the life that is slayer of death might be stored up [therein] against him; that when Death should have swallowed [the fruits] without fear, he might vomit them forth and with them many. For [He Who is] the Medicine of life flew down from heaven, and was mingled in the body, the mortal fruit. And when Death came to feed after his custom, the Life in His turn swallowed up Death. This is the food that hungered to eat its eater. So then, by one fruit which Death swallowed hungrily, he vomited up many lives which he had swallowed greedily. The hunger then which hurried him against one, emptied out his greed which had hurried him against many. Thus Death was diligent to swallow one, but was in haste to set many free. For while One was dying on the cross, many that were buried from within Sheol were coming forth at His cry. [Matthew 27:50-53] This is the fruit that cleft asunder Death who had swallowed it, and brought out from within it the Life in quest of which it was sent. For Sheol hid away all that she had devoured. But through One that was not devoured, all that she had devoured were restored from within her. He, whose stomach is disordered, vomits forth both that which is sweet to him and that which is not sweet. So the stomach of Death was disordered, and as he was vomiting forth the medicine of life which had sickened it, he vomited forth along with it also those lives that had been swallowed by him with pleasure.

This is the Son of the carpenter, Who skilfully made His cross a bridge over Sheol that swallows up all, and brought over mankind into the dwelling of life. And because it was through the tree that mankind had fallen into Sheol, so upon the tree they passed over into the dwelling of life. Through the tree then wherein bitterness was tasted, through it also sweetness was tasted; that we might learn of Him that among the creatures nothing resists Him. Glory be to You, Who laid Your cross as a bridge over death, that souls might pass over upon it from the dwelling of the dead to the dwelling of life!

Source: Homily on Our Lord
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 1 Peter 4:6
He was truly laid as Man in a tomb of rock; but rocks were rent asunder by terror because of Him. He went down into the regions beneath the earth, that thence also He might redeem the righteous. For, tell me, could thou wish the living only to enjoy His grace, and that, though most of them are unholy; and not wish those who from Adam had for a long while been imprisoned to have now gained their liberty? Esaias the Prophet proclaimed with loud voice so many things concerning Him; would you not wish that the King should go down and redeem His herald? David was there, and Samuel, and all the Prophets, John himself also, who by his messengers said, Are you He that should come, or look we for another [Matthew 11:3]? Would you not wish that He should descend and redeem such as these?

But He who descended into the regions beneath the earth came up again; and Jesus, who was buried, truly rose again the third day. And if the Jews ever worry you, meet them at once by asking thus: Did Jonah come forth from the whale on the third day, and has not Christ then risen from the earth on the third day?

Source: Catechetical Lecture 4, Sections 11-12
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 1 Peter 4:6
He cried to the Father, saying, Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit [Luke 23:46]; I commend it, that I may take it again. And having said these things, He gave up the ghost [Matthew 27:50]; but not for any long time, for He quickly rose again from the dead.

The Sun was darkened, because of the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2]. Rocks were rent, because of the spiritual Rock. Tombs were opened, and the dead arose, because of Him who was free among the dead; He sent forth His prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water [Zechariah 9:11].

Source: Catechetical Lecture 13, Sections 33-34
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Peter 4:6
The Enemy, therefore, beholding in Him such power, saw also in Him an opportunity for an advance, in the exchange, upon the value of what he held. For this reason he chooses Him as a ransom for those who were shut up in the prison of death. But it was out of his power to look on the unclouded aspect of God; he must see in Him some portion of that fleshly nature which through sin he had so long held in bondage. Therefore it was that the Deity was invested with the flesh, in order, that is, to secure that he, by looking upon something congenial and kindred to himself, might have no fears in approaching that supereminent power; and might yet by perceiving that power, showing as it did, yet only gradually, more and more splendour in the miracles, deem what was seen an object of desire rather than of fear... His choosing to save man is a testimony of his goodness; His making the redemption of the captive a matter of exchange exhibits His justice, while the invention whereby He enabled the Enemy to apprehend that of which he was before incapable, is a manifestation of supreme wisdom...

For since, as has been said before, it was not in the nature of the opposing power to come in contact with the undiluted presence of God, and to undergo His unclouded manifestation, therefore, in order to secure that the ransom in our behalf might be easily accepted by him who required it, the Deity was hidden under the veil of our nature, that so, as with ravenous fish, the hook of the Deity might be gulped down along with the bait of flesh, and thus, life being introduced into the house of death, and light shining in darkness, that which is diametrically opposed to light and life might vanish; for it is not in the nature of darkness to remain when light is present, or of death to exist when life is active.

Source: The Great Catechism, Chapter XXIII-XXIV
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Peter 4:6
What shall we learn of the three days' time? [...] This one hath loosed the oath of death, this one hath comforted the firstborn of the dead, in this one the iron gates of death are broken down, in this one the brass of the rod of hell are broken. Now the prison of death is opened, now the prisoners are declared to be released... As the ruler of darkness could not approach the presence of the Light unimpeded, had he not seen in Him something of flesh, then, as soon as he saw the God-bearing flesh and saw the miracle performed through it by the Deity, he hoped that if he came to take hold of the flesh through death, then he would take hold of all the power contained in it. Therefore, having swallowed the bait of the flesh, he was pierced by the hook of the Deity and thus the dragon was transfixed by the hook.

Source: Of the three days between the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus (De tridui inter mortem et resurrectionem domini nostri Jesu), Section 3
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Peter 4:6
Light's glittering morn bedecks the sky,
heaven thunders forth its victor cry,
the glad earth shouts its triumph high,
and groaning hell makes wild reply:

While he, the King of glorious might,
treads down death's strength in death's despite,
and trampling hell by victor's right,
brings forth his sleeping Saints to light.

Fast barred beneath the stone of late
in watch and ward where soldiers wait,
now shining in triumphant state,
He rises Victor from death's gate.

Hell's pains are loosed, and tears are fled;
captivity is captive led;
the Angel, crowned with light, hath said,
'The Lord is risen from the dead.'

Source: Aurora Lucis Rutilat
[AD 403] Epiphanius of Salamis on 1 Peter 4:6
Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “and with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying : “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth , all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

Source: Homily on Holy Saturday, PG 43.461
[AD 411] Tyrannius Rufinus on 1 Peter 4:6
That He descended into hell is also evidently foretold in the Psalms, where it is said, "You have brought Me also into the dust of the death." And again, "What profit is there in my blood, when I shall have descended into corruption?" And again, "I descended into the deep mire, where there is no bottom." Moreover, John says, "Are You He that shall come (into hell, without doubt), or do we look for another?" Whence also Peter says that "Christ being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit which dwells in Him, descended to the spirits who were shut up in prison, who in the days of Noah believed not, to preach unto them;" where also what He did in hell is declared. Moreover, the Lord says by the Prophet, as though speaking of the future, "You will not leave my soul in hell, neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption." Which again, in prophetic language he speaks of as actually fulfilled, "O Lord, You have brought my soul out of hell: You have saved me from them that go down into the pit"... He returned, therefore, a victor from the dead, leading with Him the spoils of hell. For He led forth those who were held in captivity by death, as He Himself had foretold, when He said, "When I shall be lifted up from the earth I shall draw all unto Me." To this the Gospel bears witness, when it says, "The graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept arose, and appeared unto many, and entered into the holy City"...

Source: Commentary on the Apostles' Creed
[AD 420] Jerome on 1 Peter 4:6
But the lower parts of the earth, hell, are understood to be where our Lord and Savior descended, so that He might lead with Him to the heavens the souls of the saints who were being held captive there. Hence, after His resurrection, many bodies of the righteous were seen in the holy city (Matthew 27:52-53). And that hell is in the lower part of the earth is attested by the Psalmist who says: "The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the congregation of Abiron" (Psalm 106:17). This is also explained more fully in the Book of Numbers (chapter 16). In another place we read: "Let death come upon them and let them go down alive into hell" (Psalm 55:15).

Source: Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Ephesios, Book 2, on Ephesians 4:9
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Peter 4:6
After having said that "Christ was put to death in the flesh, and quickened in the spirit," the apostle immediately went on to say: "in which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were unbelieving, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water;" thereafter he added the words: "which baptism also now by a like figure has saved you." [1 Peter 3:18-21] This, therefore, is felt by me to be difficult. If the Lord when He died preached in hell to spirits in prison, why were those who continued unbelieving while the ark was a preparing the only ones counted worthy of this favour, namely, the Lord's descending into hell? For in the ages between the time of Noah and the passion of Christ, there died many thousands of so many nations whom He might have found in hell. I do not, of course, speak here of those who in that period of time had believed in God, as, e.g. the prophets and patriarchs of Abraham's line, or, going farther back, Noah himself and his house, who had been saved by water (excepting perhaps the one son, who afterwards was rejected), and, in addition to these, all others outside of the posterity of Jacob who were believers in God, such as Job, the citizens of Nineveh, and any others, whether mentioned in Scripture or existing unknown to us in the vast human family at any time. I speak only of those many thousands of men who, ignorant of God and devoted to the worship of devils or of idols, had passed out of this life from the time of Noah to the passion of Christ. How was it that Christ, finding these in hell, did not preach to them, but preached only to those who were unbelieving in the days of Noah when the ark was a preparing? Or if he preached to all, why has Peter mentioned only these, and passed over the innumerable multitude of others?

It is established beyond question that the Lord, after He had been put to death in the flesh, "descended into hell;" for it is impossible to gainsay either that utterance of prophecy, "You will not leave my soul in hell," — an utterance which Peter himself expounds in the Acts of the Apostles, lest any one should venture to put upon it another interpretation — or the words of the same apostle, in which he affirms that the Lord "loosed the pains of hell, in which it was not possible for Him to be holden." Who, therefore, except an infidel, will deny that Christ was in hell? As to the difficulty which is found in reconciling the statement that the pains of hell were loosed by Him, with the fact that He had never begun to be in these pains as in bonds, and did not so loose them as if He had broken off chains by which He had been bound, this is easily removed when we understand that they were loosed in the same way as the snares of huntsmen may be loosed to prevent their holding, not because they have taken hold. It may also be understood as teaching us to believe Him to have loosed those pains which could not possibly hold Him, but which were holding those to whom He had resolved to grant deliverance...

As to the first man, the father of mankind, it is agreed by almost the entire Church that the Lord loosed him from that prison; a tenet which must be believed to have been accepted not without reason, — from whatever source it was handed down to the Church — although the authority of the canonical Scriptures cannot be brought forward as speaking expressly in its support, though this seems to be the opinion which is more than any other borne out by these words in the book of Wisdom. [Wisdom 10:1-2] Some add to this [tradition] that the same favour was bestowed on the holy men of antiquity — on Abel, Seth, Noah and his house, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the other patriarchs and prophets, they also being loosed from those pains at the time when the Lord descended into hell...

But seeing that plain scriptural testimonies make mention of hell and its pains, no reason can be alleged for believing that He who is the Saviour went there, except that He might save from its pains; but whether He did save all whom He found held in them, or some whom He judged worthy of that favour, I still ask: that He was, however, in hell, and that He conferred this benefit on persons subjected to these pains, I do not doubt...

You perceive, therefore, how intricate is the question why Peter chose to mention, as persons to whom, when shut up in prison, the gospel was preached, those only who were unbelieving in the days of Noah when the ark was a preparing — and also the difficulties which prevent me from pronouncing any definite opinion on the subject.

Source: Letter 164 (A.D. 414), Sections 2, 3, 6, 8, 10
[AD 449] Hilary of Arles on 1 Peter 4:6
The gospel is preached to the Gentiles who are dead in sin, but this may also refer to the fact that when the Lord was buried in the tomb he went to preach to those who live in hell.

Source: INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on 1 Peter 4:6
Moreover, after your departure I learned from information given me by my most beloved sons the deacons that your Love had said that our Almighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when He descended into hell, saved all who there acknowledged Him as God, and delivered them from the pains due to them. With regard to this subject I desire that your Charity should think very differently. For, when He descended into hell, He delivered through His grace those only who both believed that He should come and observed His precepts in their lives... Considering, therefore, all these things, hold nothing but what the true faith teaches through the Catholic Church: namely, that the Lord in descending into hell rescued from infernal durance those only whom while living in the flesh He preserved through His grace in faith and good conduct.

Source: Book VII, Letter 15
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on 1 Peter 4:6
Here Peter uses “dead” to refer to the Gentiles, who are dead because of their insurmountable sins and whom he wants to see turn to Christ. Such sinners, after they accept his commandments, judge themselves in the flesh according to their human understanding, by mortifying it in fasting, prostrations, tears and other forms of suffering. They do this in order that they may live in the spirit as God wants them to, being inspired by the word of the apostle Paul, who said: “If our outer man is being destroyed, our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

Source: CATENA
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:6
Because of this, the gospel was preached even to the dead, etc. So great is God's care, so great his love, so great is his desire that we be mortified in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, that he commanded the word of faith to be preached even to those who are involved in greater crimes and justly named among the dead, namely, in indulgences, desires, drunkenness, revelries, drinkings, and illicit idol worship, so that these too, being judged, that is, having spurned and rejected carnal desires, may live spiritually, and together with those whom the grace of the Gospel found living innocently, may expect eternal life.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 749] John Damascene on 1 Peter 4:6
The soul when it was deified descended into Hades, in order that, just as the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2] rose for those upon the earth, so likewise He might bring light to those who sit under the earth in darkness and shadow of death [Isaiah 9:2]: in order that just as He brought the message of peace to those upon the earth, and of release to the prisoners, and of sight to the blind , and became to those who believed the Author of everlasting salvation and to those who did not believe a reproach of their unbelief [1 Peter 3:19], so He might become the same to those in Hades: That every knee should bow to Him, of things in heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth. [Philippians 2:10] And thus after He had freed those who had been bound for ages, straightway He rose again from the dead, showing us the way of resurrection.

Source: An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (Book III), Chapter 29
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 1 Peter 4:6
Christ was preached to many who rose again at his resurrection, something which is attested in Matthew [27:52-53]. In this life sinners bear sufferings in the body by means of repentance, in order to gain a constant and blessed life in that spiritual citizenship. It seems that by the “dead” Peter means sinners and that by life in the Spirit he means repentance.

Source: COMMENTARIES
[AD 990] Oecumenius on 1 Peter 4:6
This means that those who are now attacking believers will have to give account of themselves to him who judges everyone, both living and dead, for the dead are also judged, as is clear from Christ’s descent into hell. For when he went there after his death on the cross he preached in the same way as he had preached to those who were alive on earth. Moreover, he did this not in word but in deed. And just as when he came into the world in order to justify those who were ready to acknowledge him and to condemn those who refused to do so, so he did exactly the same in hell. For he went to judge those who had lived according to the flesh, but those who had lived according to the Spirit, that is, who had lived an honest and spiritual life, he raised to glory and salvation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on 1 Peter 4:6
It was the habit of the Fathers to take this verse completely out of context. They therefore said that the word dead has two different meanings in Scripture, referring either to those who are dead in their sins and who never lived at all or to those who have been made conformable to the death of Christ, as Paul said: “The life that I now live in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God.” But if they had paid the slightest attention to the context, they would have seen that here the “dead” are those who have been shut up in hell, to whom Christ went to preach after his death on the cross.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 1274] Thomas Aquinas on 1 Peter 4:6
Since it was fitting for Christ to die in order to deliver us from death, so it was fitting for Him to descend into hell in order to deliver us also from going down into hell. Hence it is written (Hosea 13:14): "O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite." Secondly, because it was fitting when the devil was overthrown by the Passion that Christ should deliver the captives detained in hell, according to Zechariah 9:11: "Thou also by the blood of Thy Testament hast sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit."

Source: Question 52. Christ's descent into hell, Article 1
[AD 1274] Thomas Aquinas on 1 Peter 4:6
I answer that, As Christ, in order to take our penalties upon Himself, willed His body to be laid in the tomb, so likewise He willed His soul to descend into hell. But the body lay in the tomb for a day and two nights, so as to demonstrate the truth of His death. Consequently, it is to be believed that His soul was in hell, in order that it might be brought back out of hell simultaneously with His body from the tomb.

Reply to Objection 1. When Christ descended into hell He delivered the saints who were there, not by leading them out at once from the confines of hell, but by enlightening them with the light of glory in hell itself. Nevertheless it was fitting that His soul should abide in hell as long as His body remained in the tomb.

Reply to Objection 2. By the expression "bars of hell" are understood the obstacles which kept the holy Fathers from quitting hell, through the guilt of our first parent's sin; and these bars Christ burst asunder by the power of His Passion on descending into hell: nevertheless He chose to remain in hell for some time, for the reason stated above.

Reply to Objection 3. Our Lord's expression is not to be understood of the earthly corporeal paradise, but of a spiritual one, in which all are said to be who enjoy the Divine glory. Accordingly, the thief descended locally into hell with Christ, because it was said to him: "This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise"; still as to reward he was in paradise, because he enjoyed Christ's Godhead just as the other saints did.

Source: Question 52. Christ's descent into hell, Article 4
[AD 1274] Thomas Aquinas on 1 Peter 4:6
When Christ descended into hell, all who were in any part of hell were visited in some respect: some to their consolation and deliverance, others, namely, the lost, to their shame and confusion.

Source: Question 52. Christ's descent into hell, Article 6
[AD 108] Ignatius of Antioch on 1 Peter 4:7
And let us imitate the Lord, "who, when He was reviled, reviled not again ; " when He was crucified, He answered not; "when He suffered, He threatened not ; " but prayed for His enemies, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do." If any one, the more he is injured, displays the more patience, blessed is he. If any one is defrauded, if any one is despised, for the name of the Lord, he truly is the servant of Christ. Take heed that no plant of the devil be found among you, for such a plant is bitter and salt. "Watch ye, and be ye sober," in Christ Jesus.

Source: Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
[AD 155] Polycarp of Smyrna on 1 Peter 4:7
The beginning; "watching unto prayer"
[AD 449] Hilary of Arles on 1 Peter 4:7
Peter is saying that once the gospel has been preached to the Gentiles the end will have come.

Source: INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near. Let no one soothe themselves with the delay of the future judgment, in which he said that the living and the dead were to be judged; he prudently warns, for although the coming of the final judgment is uncertain, it is certain to all that in this mortal life they cannot long endure.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:7
Be therefore prudent, etc. And the Lord in the Gospel has commanded us to always pray and watch, in view of the uncertain end. For he says, speaking of the day of judgment: Watch therefore, praying continually, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke XXI). But we are rightly ordered to watch in prayers, so that when we stand for prayer, all carnal and secular thought may depart, nor should the mind then think of anything except what it is praying for. For often the enemy sneaks in and subtly deceiving, distracts our prayers so that we both have one thing in our heart and utter another with our voice, whereas with sincere intention, it is not the sound of the voice but the sense of the soul that ought to pray to God.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 990] Oecumenius on 1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things means their completion and consummation. Perhaps this means that the end of all the prophecies is near, for that refers to Christ who is in himself the consummation of all things. This is very different from Epicurus, who said that pleasure is the end of all things, or other Greeks, who said that the end is wisdom or contemplation or virtue.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 99] Clement of Rome on 1 Peter 4:8
Love unites us to God. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love bears all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing arrogant in love. Love admits of no schisms: love gives rise to no seditions: love does all things in harmony. By love have all the elect of God been made perfect; without love nothing is well-pleasing to God.

Source: Letter to the Corinthians (Clement)
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:8
Also of "love. ""Love "He says, "covers a multitude of sins.".
But when "charity covers the multitude of sins".
This blessedness came on those who had been chosen by Cod through Jesus Christ our Lord. For "love hides the multitude of sins.".
` Love covers a multitude of sins.
But is diffused on the brother. About him she is fluttered, about him she is soberly insane. "Love covers a multitude of sins."

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book II
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Peter 4:8
" For, strictly speaking, there cannot any longer be reckoned ought against the martyrs, by whom in the baptism (of blood) life itself is laid down. Thus, "love covers the multitude of sins; " and loving God, to wit, with all its strength (by which in the endurance of martyrdom it maintains the fight), with all its life (which it lays down for God), it makes of man a martyr.

Source: Scorpiace
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Peter 4:8
The one who sins does not love, for love covers a multitude of sins. Love cuts out the desire to sin, and since it also casts out fear, it is obviously full of perfect faith.

Source: LETTERS TO PRIESTS 48
[AD 461] Leo the Great on 1 Peter 4:8
Nothing is stronger against the wiles of the devil, dearly beloved, than the kindness, mercy and generosity of love, through which every sin is either avoided or conquered.

Source: SERMONS 74.5
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:8
Above all, have fervent charity among yourselves. He rightly added "fervent," because we can always love, but we cannot always be vigilant in prayers due to the frailty of the flesh; we might not always be able to engage in the virtues he subsequently mentions, that is, hospitality, teaching, the administration of graces, whether common or special to our neighbors, and other such things. For indeed, these must necessarily be done both through bodily effort and at appropriate times. However, the charity itself, under whose influence these external actions are performed, can always be present within the inner person, even though it cannot always be publicly displayed.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:8
Because charity covers a multitude of sins. Especially when it is truthfully said to God: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matth. VI). And indeed, it is certain that all the good works we do atone for and cover the faults we have committed, but this is particularly said of charity, through which we forgive our neighbors what they owe us, because it is most just with God that according to the measure of mercy we have used, it will be measured to us. As, on the contrary, the wise man severely rebukes the merciless, saying: "A man preserves anger against man, and seeks healing from God?" (Eccli. XXVIII). And there is no doubt that in the case of one who, through charity, does everything he can for the correction of his neighbor, admonishing, rebuking, chastising, charity itself covers a multitude of sins, as James attests, saying: "He who converts a sinner from the error of his way shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins" (James V).

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Peter 4:9
If you receive your neighbor as though he were Christ, you will not complain or feel embarrassed but rather rejoice in your service. But if you do not receive him as if he were Christ, you will not receive Christ either, because he said: “Whoever receives you, receives me.” If you do not show hospitality in this way, you will have no reward. Abraham received passers-by and travelers just as they were. He did not leave them to his servants. On the contrary, he ordered his wife to bring flour, even though he had domestic help. But he and his wife wanted to earn the blessing, not only of hospitality but of service also. This is how we ought to show hospitality, by doing all the work ourselves, so that we may be sanctified.

Source: CATENA
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on 1 Peter 4:9
Note that when Peter mentions love he immediately goes on to talk about offering hospitality without grumbling. That is a sure sign of what love is.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Peter 4:10
God has granted to each of us the special graces needed for the upbuilding of his church, so that we will do what he has indicated should be done, not only without complaint but with joy.

Source: ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE 1.15
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on 1 Peter 4:10
It is not merely that the rich man is obliged to meet the needs of those who are less well off than he is but also that each one of us must use the gifts which we have received either by nature or by the Holy Spirit, so that no one may say that we are keeping these things to ourselves and refusing to share them with our neighbors.

Source: CATENA
[AD 651] Braulio of Zaragoza on 1 Peter 4:10
Our creator and dispenser so orders all things that love is increased when the divine gifts which one does not see in himself are bestowed to be possessed by another. Thus the manifold grace of God is well dispensed when the gift received is believed to belong also to the one who does not have it and when it is believed to have been given for the sake of him with whom it is shared.

Source: LETTERS 5
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:11
Those who offer hospitality to others make themselves happy and content, not so much because they are giving of their own as because they are being helped by others. And this in two ways; first, because they enjoy the company of their guests, and second, because they earn a reward for their hospitality. But if you receive a brother, do not be distracted by too much serving, and do not attempt what is beyond your strength. Unnecessary effort is always tedious, and such exertions will only embarrass your guests. Do not let your guest become a cause for impoverishing yourself, but even in hard times be as generous as you can.

Source: CATENA
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:11
If anyone speaks, let him speak as the words of God. Fearing, indeed, lest he should say or command anything beyond the will of God or beyond what is clearly prescribed in the holy Scriptures, and be found as a false witness of God, or sacrilegious, or introducing something foreign to the doctrine of the Lord, or certainly omitting and passing over something of those things that are pleasing to God, since He Himself very manifestly instructs the preachers of truth concerning those whom they teach into life, saying: "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew XXVIII). For He commands us to teach not just parts but all those things to be observed by their hearers.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:11
If anyone ministers, etc. Let everyone more humbly render every good thing he can to his neighbor, as certainly as he knows that he cannot have what he bestows from himself.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:11
That in all things God may be honored through Jesus Christ, etc. According to the command of Jesus Christ Himself, who said: "Let your good works be seen, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew V). Thus, God is honored in our actions when whatever good things we do according to His will, we attribute not to our own merits but to His grace; yet, on the contrary, we attribute the evil things we do only to our own wickedness or ignorance.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 100] Didache on 1 Peter 4:12
Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself.

Source: The Didache, Chapter 16
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:12
If ye be reproached in the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth on you."

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book IV
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Peter 4:12
That afflictions and persecutions arise for the sake of our being proved. In Deuteronomy, "The Lord your God proveth you, that He may know if ye love the Lord. your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." And again, Solomon: "The furnace proveth the potter's vessel, and righteous men the trial of tribulation." Paul also testifies similar things, and speaks, saying: "We glory in the hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us." And Peter, in his epistle, lays it down, and says: "Beloved, be not surprised at the fiery heat which falleth upon you, which happens for your trial; and fail not, as if some new thing were happening unto you. But as often as ye communicate with the sufferings of Christ, rejoice in all things, that also in the revelation made of His glory you may rejoice with gladness. If ye be reproached in the name of Christ, happy are ye; because the name of the majesty and power of the Lord resteth upon you; which indeed according to them is blasphemed, but according to us is honoured."

Source: Treatise XI Exhortation to Martyrdom Addressed to Fortunatus
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Peter 4:12
That we receive more as the reward of our suffering than what we endure here in the suffering itself, The blessed Apostle Paul proves; who by the divine condescension, being caught up into the third heaven and into paradise, testifies that he heard unspeakable words, who boasts that he saw Jesus Christ by the faith of sight, who professes that which he both learnt and saw with the greater truth of consciousness, and says: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory which shall be revealed in us." Who, then, does not with all his powers labour to attain to such a glory that he may become the friend of God, that he may at once rejoice with Christ, that after earthly tortures and punishments he may receive divine rewards? If to soldiers of this world it is glorious to return in triumph to their country when the foe is vanquished, how much more excellent and greater is the glory, when the devil is overcome, to return in triumph to paradise, and to bring back victorious trophies to that place whence Adam was ejected as a sinner, after casting down him who formerly had cast him down; to offer to God the most acceptable gift-an uncorrupted faith, and an unyielding virtue of mind, an illustrious praise of devotion; to accompany Him when He shall come to receive vengeance from His enemies, to stand at His side when He shall sit to judge, to become co-heir of Christ, to be made equal to the angels; with the patriarchs, with the apostles. with the prophets, to rejoice in the possession of the heavenly kingdom! Such thoughts as these, what persecution can conquer, what tortures can overcome? The brave and stedfast mind, founded in religious meditations, endures; and the spirit abides unmoved against all the terrors of the devil and the threats of the world, when it is strengthened by the sure and solid faith of things to come. In persecutions, earth is shut up, but heaven is opened; Antichrist is threatening, but Christ is protecting; death is brought in, but immortality follows; the world is taken away from him that is slain, but paradise is set forth to him restored; the life of time is extinguished, but the life of eternity is realized. What a dignity it is, and what a security, to go gladly from hence, to depart gloriously in the midst of afflictions and tribulations; in a moment to close the eyes with which men and the world are looked upon, and at once to open them to look upon God and Christ! Of such a blessed departure how great is the swiftness! You shall be suddenly taken away from earth, to be placed in the heavenly kingdoms. It behoves us to embrace these things in our mind and consideration, to meditate on these things day and night. If persecution should fall upon such a soldier of God, his virtue, prompt for battle, will not be able tO be overcome. Or if his call should come to him before, his faith shall not be without reward, seeing it was prepared for martyrdom; without loss of time, the reward is rendered by the judgment of God. In persecution, the warfare,-in peace, the purity of conscience, is crowned.

Source: Treatise XI Exhortation to Martyrdom Addressed to Fortunatus
[AD 449] Hilary of Arles on 1 Peter 4:12
The trials and temptations which come to Christians are nothing new. The prophets of the Old Testament suffered exactly the same things. All such trials find their meaning and culmination in the cross of Christ. The servant is not greater than his master. If Christ suffered, how can we expect to get off any more lightly?

Source: INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 500] Desert Fathers on 1 Peter 4:12-13
[Syncletica] also said, ‘When the devil does not use the goad of poverty to tempt us, he uses wealth for the same purpose. When he cannot win by scorn and mockery, he tries praise and flattery. If he cannot win by giving health, he tries illness. If he cannot win by comfort, he tries to ruin the soul by vexations that lead us to act against our monastic vows. He inflicts severe sicknesses on people whom he wants to tempt and so makes them weak, and thereby shakes the love they feel towards God. But although the body is shattered and running a high temperature and thirsting unbearably, yet you, who endure all this, are a sinner; you should therefore remember the punishments of the next world, the everlasting fire, the torments of judgement. Then you will not fail in the sufferings of this present time, indeed you should rejoice because God has visited you. Keep saying the famous text: “The Lord hath chastened and corrected me: but he hath not given me over unto death” (Ps. 118:18). Iron is cleaned of rust by fire. If you are righteous and suffer, you grow to a higher sanctity. Gold is tested by fire. When a messenger from Satan is given to you to be a thorn in your flesh, lift up your heart, for you have received a gift like that of St Paul. If you suffer from fever and cold, remember the text of Scripture, “We went through fire and water,” and “thou broughtest us out into a place of rest” (Ps. 66:12). If you have overcome suffering, you may expect rest, provided you are following what is good. Cry aloud the prophet’s words, “I am poor and destitute and in misery” (Ps. 66:29). Threefold suffering like this shall make you perfect. He said also, “Thou hast set me at liberty when I was in trouble” (Ps. 4:1). So let this kind of self-discipline test our souls, for our enemy is always in sight.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on 1 Peter 4:12
Peter comforts believers here by telling them not to be upset when they face suffering, since Christ bore much more for our sakes than we could ever bear for his. We should therefore remain steadfast in such trials so that one day we may rejoice in his presence.

Source: SUMMARY OF 1 PETER
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal, etc. Some manuscripts read: Do not be strangers to the fiery ordeal. The meaning of both expressions is apparent, because a faithful person should neither be surprised at why he suffers tribulations in this life, as it is for the reason that he is now tried with tribulations so that, when proven, he may be deemed worthy to receive the crown of future life; nor should anyone consider himself to be a stranger and alien from the members of Christ because he is struck by the adversities of the present age, since the death exit of the Lord (Psalm LXVII), and never in His Church, from the first martyr Abel to the last elect who will be born at the end of the age, has the persecution by unbelievers ceased. Therefore, well did he say, Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal, he added:

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:12
As though something new were happening to you. For it is very ancient and common for the chosen of God to endure adversities in this present life for eternal salvation.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on 1 Peter 4:12
Many Christians found afflictions hard to bear because they had read in the law that a prosperous and secure life was promised to those who serve God. Peter therefore approaches the subject by telling them that they are greatly beloved. He then goes on to warn them not to be surprised at their sufferings, which come to them as tests from God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:13-14
"Rejoice," it is said, "that you are partakers in the sufferings of Christ:" that is, if you are righteous, you suffer for righteousness' sake, as Christ suffered for righteousness. "Happy are you, for the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of His glory and virtue, rests on you." This possessive "His" signifies also an an angelic spirit: inasmuch as the glory of God those are, through whom, according to faith and righteousness, He is glorified, to honourable glory, according to the advancement of the saints who are brought in. "The Spirit of God on us," may be thus understood; that is, who through faith comes on the soul, like a gracefulness of mind and beauty of soul.

Source: Fragment from the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:13
This means that if you are righteous you are suffering for righteousness’s sake, just as Christ did.

Source: ADUMBRATIONS
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 1 Peter 4:14
Inasmuch as she does indeed, in a new fashion, suffer persecution from those who do not receive the word of God, while the self-same spirit rests upon her
[AD 990] Oecumenius on 1 Peter 4:14
How can it be that when the Spirit of God appears to be blasphemed among the ungodly he is glorified in you? This happens because when people accuse you falsely the shame of it rests on them, but you receive glory thereby.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Peter 4:15
Another returns to that country whence he was banished, to perish when arrested, not now as being a Christian, but as being a criminal!
[AD 449] Hilary of Arles on 1 Peter 4:15
Our suffering must not be like that of the thief on the cross, who suffered because he was a murderer, even though he himself confessed that Christ had done no wrong. Nor should we be like Ananias and Sapphira, who tried to steal what belonged to God. Even less should we imitate Simon Magus, who denounced the apostles to Nero and who tried to buy their gifts with gold and silver.

Source: INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:15
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, etc. For he suffers as a blasphemer who, at the time of his suffering, is carried away into the injury of his persecutor.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on 1 Peter 4:15
A meddler is someone who loves to mind other people’s business in order to find reasons for attacking them. This is the mentality of a wicked and treacherous person who is prepared to engage in any kind of evil.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 155] Polycarp of Smyrna on 1 Peter 4:16
Let us then be imitators of His patience; and if we suffer

Source: Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
[AD 449] Hilary of Arles on 1 Peter 4:16
If you suffer as a Christian, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Think of James the son of Zebedee or Stephen. However awful the trials you suffer may be, learn to glory in them, not to be upset by them. Christ’s glory is revealed in the church when it suffers.

Source: INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:17
"Since," it is said, "it is time for judgment beginning at the house of God." For judgment will overtake these in the appointed persecutions.

Source: Fragment from the Latin Translation of Cassiodorus
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Peter 4:17
This is the judgment which will occur in times of persecution.

Source: ADUMBRATIONS
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on 1 Peter 4:17
When the time comes for God’s judgment to begin, it will start with the best and work its way downwards, that is to say, it will commence with those who believe and belong to the church of God. Just think—if the examination of our lives begins with those who belong to God’s household, what will it be like by the time it gets to those who have rejected the gospel? God sends great suffering and fear on believers so that they may learn that he is the judge to whom they must answer, and on unbelievers he sends the same fear, saying that they will not escape the great punishments which are their lot.

Source: CATENA
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:17
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. There are two judgments of God indicated by Scripture: one hidden, the other manifest. The hidden judgment is the punishment by which each human being is now either exercised for purification or admonished for conversion, or, if he has scorned the call and discipline of God, blinded for condemnation. The manifest judgment is when the Lord is to come to judge the living and the dead. Now it is said to be the time in which judgment begins from the house of the Lord, that is, from the Church, which is being prepared for future joys through the exercise of present afflictions. For the reprobate now lead a transient life so much more securely and without any scourge of retribution, as there remains nothing else for them in the future but retribution, according to that saying of the blessed Job: They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they go down to the grave.

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:17
If it begins with us first, what will be the end of those, etc.? From this it is inferred how sternly the Judge will strike those whom he rejects, if he thus torments here those whom he loves. For if the children are scourged, what can the wicked servants expect?

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on 1 Peter 4:18
When I see Moses asking for forgiveness and not obtaining it, when I see him considered unworthy of pardon because of his few words, spoken against the rock in anger, in spite of his many good deeds, I truly realize what the severity of God is like and am persuaded that these words of the apostle are true.

Source: ON THE JUDGMENT OF GOD
[AD 420] Jerome on 1 Peter 4:18
It is the righteous man who is scarcely saved on the day of judgment. If he had no fault, he would easily be saved. As it is, he is righteous because he flourishes with many virtues, but he is scarcely saved because he stands in need of the mercy of God in some things.

Source: Against the Pelagians 2.5
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Peter 4:18
And if the righteous man is scarcely saved, etc. The Pelagians do not want to believe that in one man the entire mass of the human race is corrupted and utterly damned. From this vice and condemnation of one man alone, the grace of Christ heals and liberates. For why should the righteous man be scarcely saved? Is it a labor for God to free the righteous man? By no means. But in order to show that it was deservedly condemned by nature, the Almighty Himself does not wish to easily liberate from such a great evil. Because of this, both sins are easily fallen into and justice is laborious, except for those who love. But the charity that makes those who love comes from God. It is to be noted, however, that Blessed Peter took this sentence from the Proverbs of Solomon according to the ancient Editio, for which in our version that descends from the Hebrew truth, it is written: If the righteous man receives on earth, how much more the impious and the sinner (Proverbs XI)? Which is to say openly: If the fragility of mortal life is so great that not even the righteous who are to be crowned in Heaven pass through it without tribulation because of the innumerable errors of corrupted nature, how much more those who are deprived of heavenly grace expect the certain outcome of their perpetual damnation?

Source: Commentary on the Catholic Epistles
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Peter 4:18
Scarcely: That is, not without much labour and difficulty; and because of the dangers which constantly surround, the temptations of the world, of the devil, and of our own corrupt nature.
[AD 990] Oecumenius on 1 Peter 4:19
Peter said “according to God’s will” either because our afflictions are part of God’s providence and are sent to us as a form of testing, or because although we are afflicted by God’s will, we depend on him for the outcome. For he is faithful and sure and does not lie when he promises us that we shall never be tempted beyond what we are able to bear.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER