Review in: JETS 42/2
Review door: Barth L.
Campbell
(Griekse woorden
zijn niet goed overgekomen uit de conversie naar Word)
1 Peter.
By Paul J. Achtemeier. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996,
xxxvi + 423 pp., $50.00.
This Paul J. Achtemeier’s long-awaited magnum opus does not disappoint. It may soon prove to
be the definitive work on that letter. The author fulfills the purpose of the
Hermeneia series (to provide a grammatical-historical commentary for the
serious student of the Bible) as well as his own purpose: To furnish the
materials for informed exegetical decisions that respect the work of other
interpreters as well as to provide “an encounter” with the letter (p.
xv). Achtemeier’s commentary is a model of fair and balanced treatment of the
primary and secondary literature. The audience of the commentary is scholars,
graduate students and pastors (who have kept up on their Greek!). Little is to
be found in the way of devotional or homiletical suggestions, but the exegesis
builds a solid foundation for their development by the user. The format
consists of an introduction to 1 Peter, a commentary that follows the outline
of the ancient letter-form and bibliography (22 pp., doublecolumned), along
with indexes.
According
to Achtemeier, 1 Peter is a pseudonymous letter, written between 80 and 100 CE from
Rome. The missive embodies traditions historically associated with Peter. Its
recipients are mixed Jewish-Gentile congregations in Asia Minor whose members
represent a broad spectrum of social and economic characteristics. Suffering is
a prominent theme in the letter, and the purpose of the communication is to strengthen
its recipients during their present suffering. The glorious future that awaits
them has already begun to transform their oppressed state into one of victory (cf.
1 Pet 4:13). The nature of suffering in 1 Peter is not of an official and
universal imperial persecution. Slanderous harassment that is local and unofficial
is the kind of suffering that the readers undergo (although they may encounter
occasional legal intervention). The readiness to present a defense (ajpologCa) in 1 Pet 3:15 is likely a
preparation to give account to informal demands of inquirers during daily
social intercourse.
The major
strengths of the commentary are its interaction with all points of scholarly discussion
of 1 Peter and the author’s own exegetical conclusions. I find particularly informative
Achtemeier’s discussion of the social background of the audience for 1 Peter.
His insights on slavery and the place of women in the ancient world make 1 Pet
2:18–25 and 3:1–6 more understandable respectively. Since John H. Elliott’s monumental
A Home for the Homeless (1981),
the meanings of pavroikoI (“resident
alien,” 2:11) and parepCdhmoI (“visiting
stranger,” 1:1, 2:11) have been debated. Contra Elliott, Achtemeier believes
that these terms refer not to socio-political dispossession and estrangement of
believers before and after conversion. Rather, the terms express the believers’
relationship with their own cultural environment which is hostile to their
Christian stance. Neither should one understand “alien” and “stranger” to
indicate a metaphorical exile of Christians from their heavenly home.
Among
Achtemeier’s helpful exegetical insights is his suggestion of the meaning of ajllotriepCskopoI (“meddler,”
NIV) in 1 Pet 4:15. To this word Achtemeier devotes an excursus as well as
commentary proper. He translates the term “one who defrauds others,” that is,
one who embezzles. His decision is based on careful analysis of comparable terms
elsewhere (Aristides, Pliny the Younger, Tertullian, the NT itself ). The
comment and translation of 5:5–7 are also enlightening. The verb tapein∫qhte in v. 6 means “accept your humble
status,” and is accompanied by the phrase “casting all your cares upon him,”
whose participle (ejpirCyanteI), may
well have instrumental force: “casting one’s cares on God is the means by which
one accepts one’s humble status” (p. 339). The casting is like that of casting
cloaks upon a donkey (Luke 19:35), so that the cares may be borne away. Because
God’s care is sure, the hope in vindication after present suffering is also
sure.
Weaknesses
of this commentary are few and practically negligible in light of its solid
discussion on all critical matters, but the shortcomings may be mentioned brie˘y.
Although Achtemeier is commendably correct to advise caution in identifying Petrine
participles as imperatival, he seems to err in another matter of Greek verbs. In
my opinion, he ascribes too much temporal significance to aorist and present
imperatives (see his commentary on 1 Pet 1:13–16). Recent discussion of verbal
aspect suggests that tense of imperatives indicates either undefined (aorist)
or continuous (present) action, without regard to its temporal significance
(cf. Stanley E. Porter, Idioms
of the Greek New Testament, 1994).
The
introduction of the commentary identifies rhetorical elements in 1 Peter, but Achtemeier
bypasses further rhetorical investigation in the commentary itself for the most
part. That omission frustrates the reader since he is led to believe that 1
Peter is amenable to such analysis. Lauri Thuren’s The Rhetorical Strategy of 1 Peter (1990) appears
in the bibliography, but I did not find a citation of it by Achtemeier
(Thuren’s name does not appear in the index).
On the
whole, however, Achtemeier’s 1
Peter is presently the
necessary
commentary on that letter for the serious student. It is a bargain even for its
price.
Barth L. Campbell
Simpson College,
Redding, CA
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