1st Peter Chapter 2 verse 2 Holy Bible
as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation;
read chapter 2 in ASV
Be full of desire for the true milk of the word, as babies at their mothers' breasts, so that you may go on to salvation;
read chapter 2 in BBE
as newborn babes desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up to salvation,
read chapter 2 in DARBY
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
read chapter 2 in KJV
read chapter 2 in WBT
as newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,
read chapter 2 in WEB
as new-born babes the word's pure milk desire ye, that in it ye may grow,
read chapter 2 in YLT
1st Peter 2 : 2 Bible Verse Songs
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - As newborn babes. The words look back to 1 Peter 1:3, 23. God begat them again; they were new-born babes in Christ, they must remember their regeneration. The rabbis used the same metaphor of their proselytes; but the apostle was doubtless thinking of the Savior's words (Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:14, 15). Desire the sincere milk of the Word. Desire, long for it eagerly (ἐπιποθήσατε), as babes long for milk, their proper food, the only food necessary for them. It seems that in the adjective λογικόν (paraphrased in the Authorized Version "of the Word," rendered "spiritual" or "reasonable" in the Revised Version) there must be a reference to the Word of God (λόγος Θεοῦ), mentioned in 1 Peter 1:23 as the instrument of regeneration, and called by our Lord (Matthew 4:4, from Deuteronomy 8:3) the food of man (but the Greek in Matthew is ῤῆμα, as in 1 Peter 1:25). The paraphrase of the Authorized Version gives the general meaning; but the adjective means literally, "reasonable" or "rational." The apostle is not thinking of natural milk, but of that nourishment which the Christian reason can regard as milk for the soul - spiritual food, pure and simple and nourishing, capable of supporting and strengthening those newborn babes who not long ago had been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the Word of God. The adjective occurs only in one other place of Holy Scripture (possibly St. Peter may have read it there) - Romans 12:1, τὴν λογικὴν λατερείαν ὑμῶν, where it means the service of the sanctified reason as opposed to the mechanical observance of formal rites. It is explained by Chrysostom as ebony ἔχουσαν σωματικὸν οὐδὲν ταχὺ οὐδὲν αἰσθηνπ´ν Thus it seems nearly to correspond with the use of the word πνευματικός, spiritual, by St. Peter in ver. 5 of this chapter, and by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:3, 4. St. Paul also speaks of milk as the proper food of babes in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:2; comp: also Hebrews 5:12), though the thought is somewhat different; for St. Peter's words do not convey any reproof for want of progress. This spiritual milk is ἄδολον, pure, unadulterated (comp. 2 Corinthians 2:17; 2 Corinthians 4:2). That ye may grow thereby; literally, therein, in the use of it. All the most ancient manuscripts add the words, "unto salvation." The soul which feeds upon the pure milk of the Word groweth continually unto salvation.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) As newborn babes.--The word "newborn" is, of course, newly, lately born, not born anew, although the birth meant is the new birth of 1Peter 1:23. They are said to be still but newborn because they are still so far from maturity in Christ, as these sins testified. The metaphor is said to be not uncommon in Rabbinical writers to denote proselytes. St. Peter would, therefore, be describing Jews who had newly received the word of God, as proselytes of the new Israel. "As" means "in keeping with your character of." (Comp. 1Peter 1:14.)Desire the sincere milk.--The word for "desire" here is a strong word--get an appetite for it. Bengel is perhaps right when he says on "newborn babes," "It is their only occupation, so strong is their desire for it." St. Peter here again seems to lend a thought to the writer to the Hebrews (Hebrews 5:12-14). In both places Jewish Christians are beginning to rebel against the Gospel instructions, and in both places they are warned that they have not yet outgrown the need of the very simplest elements of the Gospel. The epithet "sincere" should have been rendered guileless, as it contains a contrast with "guile" in the verse before; perhaps the intention of the epithet may be to rebuke the attempt to deal deceitfully with the Old Testament Scriptures after the example of the Septuagint passage quoted above.Of the word.--This translation of the original adjective cannot possibly be right. The only other place in the New Testament where it is used, Romans 12:1, will show clearly enough its meaning here. There it is rendered "your reasonable service"--i.e., not "the service which may be reasonably expected of you," but "the ritual worship which is performed by the reason, not by the body." So here, "the reasonable guileless milk" will mean "the guileless milk which is sucked in, not by the lips, but by the reason." The metaphor of milk (though used by St. Paul, 1Corinthians 3:2) was not so hackneyed as now; and the Apostle wished to soften it a little, and explain it by calling it mental milk," just as (so Huther points out) he explained the metaphor in 1Peter 1:13, by adding "of your mind." It is needless to add that the "mental milk" would, as a matter of fact, be "the milk of the word," and that the Apostle is pressing his readers to cling with ardent attachment to the evangelical religion taught them by the Pauline party. . . .
