1st Peter Chapter 5 verse 3 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - Neither as being lords over God's heritage; rather, as in the Revised Version, neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you. The κατά ιν τηε verb κατακυριέω is not only intensive, it implies something of scorn and tyranny or even of hostility, as also in καταδυναστεύω (James 2:6); comp. Matthew 20:25. The literal rendering of the clause is, "lording it over the lots." The Authorized Version, following Beza, supplies τοῦ Θεοῦ, "God's heritage." But if this were the apostle's meaning, he would surely have used the singular, κλῆρος, "the lot or portion of God;" and it is very unlikely that he would have left the most important word to be supplied. Some commentators take κλῆροι in its modern sense, of the clergy, as if St. Peter was commanding the bishops not to tyrannize over the inferior clergy. But this view involves an anachronism; the word had not acquired this meaning in St. Peter's time. It is clearly best to understand it of the lots or portions assigned to individual presbyters. The word κλῆρος originally meant a "lot" (Matthew 27:35; Acts 1:26), then portions assigned by casting lots, as the possessions of the tribes of Israel (Joshua 18 and 19), then any portion or inheritance however obtained; thus in Deuteronomy 10:9 the Lord is said to be the Inheritance κλῆρος of the Levites. In later times the word was applied to the clergy, who were regarded as, in a special sense, the Lord's portion or inheritance, perhaps because God was pleased to take the tribe of Levi instead of the firstborn, saying, the Levites shall be mine (Numbers 3:12). But being ensamples to the flock; literally, becoming examples. They must imitate the great Example, the Lord Jesus, and, by gradual imitation of his blessed character, become examples themselves. Thus they will acquire a more salutary influence and a truer authority. "The life should command, and the tongue persuade" (Athanasius, quoted by Fronmuller).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(3) Neither as being lords.--Rather, nor yet as lording it. The English version is somewhat too strict for the Greek and for the sense. There is a sense in which the heads of the Church are, and ought to be, lords and princes over the rest; but this is very different from "lording it," acting tyrannically, forgetting the constitutional rights of their subjects.Over God's heritage.--Quite literally, Over the lots. The word first of all means (as in Matthew 27:35 or Acts 1:26) the actual scrap of paper or wood that was tossed. Then it comes to mean (like the word "lot" in the language of auctions) the piece of property that falls by lot to any one's share. Then all notion of chance disappears, and it comes to mean the portion assigned to any one. So St. Peter says that Simon Magus has "no share nor lot in this thing" (Acts 8:21). In Acts 26:18, Colossians 1:12, the same word is rendered "inheritance." In Acts 17:4, our version endeavours, not very successfully, through the Latin word "consorted," to keep up the underlying notion of the Greek, which literally is "were allotted to Paul and Silas." Here, therefore, we must understand "the lots," over which the clergy are not to lord it, to be the different congregations, districts, parishes, dioceses, which had been allotted to them. At the same time it does not at all imply that any process like drawing of lots had been resorted to in their appointment, as is seen from Acts 17:4, just cited. It will be seen that our version is misleading in substituting singular for plural, and in inserting the word "God's." The whole flock is God's (1Peter 5:2), purchased with His own blood; but the "allotments" are the portions assigned by Him to the different clergy. It is some consolation to see, when we groan under the lives and characters of some church officers now, that even in the Apostles' days cowardice, greed, and self-assertion were not unknown. . . .