The Jewish Annotated New Testament (296 page)

13
–16
: An extended paraphrase of Prov 27.1.

14
:
What tomorrow will bring
, building on this image, the sages counsel against imagining the future (
b. Ber
. 9b). See also Eccl 10.14.
What is your life
, see
b. Yoma
87b for the expression, “What is our life?” The next sentence gives the implied answer.
A mist … vanishes
, see Ps 103.15 (Heb v. 16); Job 7.9; Eccl 12.7.

15
–16
:
If the Lord wishes … boasting is evil, b. Sanh
. 98a—while “God willing” is rare in talmudic literature (
b. B. Bat
. 55a has “with the help of heaven”), it becomes frequent in the spoken word of Jews (“im Yertz[eh] ha-Shem,” “If God [lit., ‘the Name’] wills it”). The paraphrase of Prov 27.1 now ends.

17
:
Anyone … commits sin
, the rabbis had harsher expressions (following Eccl 6.3): better such a one had been stillborn! (
Midr. Tanh. kitttavo
4 to Deut 11.13
–
17).

5.1
–6:
The emptiness of riches.

1
:
Rich
, see
Sifre Deut
. 318 to Deut 32.15, wealth always leads to corruption.
Miseries … coming to you
, riches are of no use at the end, whether one sees this as one’s individual death or as the day of judgment (cf. Mt 19.23).

2
–3
:
Riches … rotted … gold and silver … rusted
, see Mt 6.19–21.
Treasure for the last days
, cf.
y. Pe’ah
1.1: treasure of deeds is for the next world, that of wealth for this world.

4
:
The wages … cry out
, see Deut 24.14–15. The oppressed and exploited cry for justice (Gen 4.10).

5
:
You have fattened … slaughter
, see Deut 32.15 for indulgence leading to rebellion. “Fat” is occasionally a metaphor for intransigent wickedness, e.g., Ps 119.70.

6
:
Murdered the righteous one
, the poor, righteous person is condemned by the protected rich; see Wis 2.10–20.

5.7
–12: Patience and care in speaking. 7–8
:
The coming of the Lord
, the time must be ripe and the ground prepared for Jesus’ return.
The early and the late rains
(Deut 11.14; Jer 5.24; Joel 2.23) are in October and April.

9
:
Do not … judged
, see
m. Sot
. 1.7 and
b. Shabb
. 27b for the same idea phrased positively: God is the judge (Gen 18.25) whose verdict is final.
The Judge is standing at the doors
, here probably Jesus, since the coming of the Lord was just mentioned.

10
–11
:
The prophets … Job
, prophets (e.g., Jer 38) were persecuted for delivering unwelcome messages. Job has faith in his own righteousness. James refers to Job as he is shown in the first two and final chapters of that book.
M. Ta’an
. 2.4 gives a list of prophets and holy people who endured suffering and were saved.
Compassionate and merciful
, e.g., Ex 34.6; Ps 103.8.

12
: James returns to the topic of careful speech. “
Yes” be yes
…, see Mt 5.34–37 and
b. B. Metz
. 49a; also see Eccl 5.4.

5.13
–20:
Prayer, praise, and following the truth.

13
:
Suffering … pray … cheerful … praise
, speech should be appropriate to the circumstance.

14
:
Elders
(Gk “presbyteroi”), see Acts 15; 1 Tim 5.17,19; Titus 1.5; 1 Pet 5.1,5; 2 Jn 1; 3 Jn 1.
Anointing
, in the Hebrew Bible anointing was a sign of consecration or of installation of a priest or king; in the NT it is occasionally used in healing, as here and Mk 6.13.
Name of the Lord
, invoking the name of Jesus to heal (see Mk 16.17–18).
Y. Ma’as. S
. 2.1 refers to healing the sick by intoning (perhaps Ex 15.26) and anointing with oil.

15
:
The prayer of faith will save the sick … raise them up … be forgiven
, catalogues of blessings were common (e.g., 4Q521 [“Messianic Apocalypse”] 2 lines 8–13) and the synagogue “Amidah” prayer states: “Lord … you uphold the falling … heal the sick … free those in bondage.”

16
:
Confess your sins to one another
, Jewish sources only know of confession to God (Ps 38.15–18).
And pray for one another
, when you ask for another, your needs are given (
b. B. Kamma
92a based on Job 42.10).
The prayer of the righteous
,
b. Ta’an
. 8a recommends having a pious person pray for you.

17
–18
:
Elijah … harvest
, see 1 Kings 17–18, although the account does not quote Elijah praying that there should be no rain.

19
–20
:
Brings back a sinner
, the message concludes by stressing the benefits of repentance, a major Jewish theme; for “covering” sin, see Ps 32.1.

1.1
–2:
Greeting.

1
:
Exiles of the Dispersion
, lit., “the elect sojourning in the Diaspora.” The Diaspora began with the deportations of 597 and 586 BCE, when many Judeans were exiled to Babylon. Even after the return of some exiles from Babylon, Israel as a people was not fully restored, suffering further expulsions after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and after the Bar Kochba Revolt in 132–135 CE. The word “diaspora” evokes the image of Israel, the chosen people, scattered among but not absorbed into the nations. “Sojourning” (“parepidēmos”) is the word the Septuagint applies to Abraham (Gen 23.4). For the author of 1 Peter, diaspora is not geographical, but social and theological. Believers are “in” the earthly realm, but not truly “of” it.

2
:
Chosen and destined by God the Father
, lit., “known beforehand by God.” Rabbinic midrash (
Gen. Rab
. 1.4) shows the election of Israel as known by God before the creation of the world.
Sprinkled with his blood
, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest purifies the sanctuary and atones for the people by sprinkling the blood of a bull and goat before the tent of meeting (Lev 16.11–16). In this work (1.19; see Heb 9.13–14) Jesus’ death purifies and redeems.

1.3
–12: Blessing.
Christians experience trials and testing but expect reward. As early as the second century BCE, Jewish texts like
Testament of Judah
and
1 Enoch
(
Book of the Watchers
) speak of final judgment and reward for the righteous. Referring to the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes, 2 Macc 7 identifies the reward of the righteous as the reward for martyrs.

3
:
New birth
, Paul uses the image of the baptized believer as a “new creation” that erases distinctions between Jew and Gentile (Gal 6.15; 2 Cor 5.17; cf. Gal 3.28).

10
:
Prophets who prophesied of the grace
, early Christian proclamation understood Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as predicted in the Hebrew Bible (1 Cor 15.3).

1.13
–2.3:
Encouragement to holiness.

13
:
When he is revealed
, a reference to the return of the Messiah in glory (Mk 14.62; 1 Thess 4.15–16).

14
:
Desires that you formerly had
, suggests a pagan audience. Some early Christian sources (e.g.,
Ep. Barn
. 4.7–8; 14.4) accused Jews of blindness and willfulness but not ignorance of God.

15
:
As he who called you is holy
, invokes the holiness God commends to Israel (Lev 19.2), a virtue that carries the idea of separation.

17
:
Your exile
, like Israel, believers are aliens in the surrounding society.

18
:
The futile ways inherited from your ancestors
, another typical way of referring to non–Jews.

19
:
A lamb without defect or blemish
, Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God in Jn 1.29–36. This reference also recalls the suffering servant of Isa 53.6–7 who is like a lamb, as well as the lamb sacrificed at Passover (Ex 12.5). The emphasis of perfection and lack of blemish indicates the context of Temple sacrifice (Lev 3.1).

23
:
You have been born anew
, in Jn 3.3–5, Jesus tells the Pharisee Nicodemus one must be “born from above,” which may also be translated “born anew.”

24
: The author cites Ps 34.8 to distinguish the perishable from the imperishable.

2.4
–10: God’s own people.
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals
, a catena (chain or linkage) of texts (Ex 19.6; Isa 28.16; 43.20–21; Hos 2.23; Ps 118.22) is woven together to prove the community has acquired privileges formerly granted to Israel.

2.11
–4.11:
Believers as aliens.

11
:
Aliens and exiles
, as “resident aliens” (“paroikos,” lit., “one who lives beside”; the Septuagint uses this word to translate the Heb “ger” or “ger toshav” in Gen 12.10; 15.13; Ex 12.45; Lev 25.35; Deut 23.7). Christians were not at home in society. Ancient lists of city residents show resident aliens possess a social standing below citizens but above strangers, freed slaves, and slaves. First Peter sees its addressees as alienated from, but living among, residents of the Roman Empire. They suffer from negative views, ranging from suspicion to violence. Their behavior must be blameless, as it reflects on the community as a whole.

2.18
–3.7
:
Slaves, accept the authority of your masters
, begins a “household code” (“Haustafeln”), a set of rules for the Roman household (see also Eph 5.22–6.9; Col 3.18–4.1).