Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ
The writer of this epistle describes himself first by his name,
Peter, the same with Cephas, which signifies a rock, or stone; a
name given him by Christ at his first conversion, and which
respected his after firmness, solidity, resolution, and
constancy; for his former name was Simeon, or Simon, as sometimes
called; see ( Matthew 4:18
) ( John 1:42
) and he further describes himself by his office, as
an apostle of Jesus Christ;
being one of the twelve apostles, and the first of that number;
who saw Christ in the flesh, was conversant with him, had his
call and commission immediately from him, and was qualified by
him to preach the Gospel; and was sent out first into Judea, and
then into all the world to publish it, with a power of working
miracles to confirm it; and this his character he makes mention
of, in order to give the greater weight and authority to his
epistle; and it is to be observed, that he does not style
himself, as his pretended successor does, the head of the church,
and Christ's vicar on earth; nor does he call himself the prince
of the apostles, but only an apostle, as he was upon an equal
foot with the rest. The persons he writes to are
the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia:
these Jews here intended are called strangers; not in a
metaphorical sense, either because they were, as the wicked are,
estranged from the womb, and alienated from the life of God, as
all unconverted men are, and as they were before conversion; for
now they were no more strangers in this sense: or because of
their unsettled state and condition in this life; having no
continuing city, and seeking one to come, an heavenly country;
and living as pilgrims and strangers, in which respect they are
indeed so styled, ( 1 Peter 2:11
) but in a civil sense, and not as the Gentiles were, aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of
promise, for these were Jews; but on account of their not being
in their own land, and in a foreign country, and therefore said
to be "scattered", or "the strangers of the dispersion"; either
on account of the persecution at the death of Stephen, when
multitudes of the converted Jews were scattered abroad, not only
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, but as far as
Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch; see ( Acts 8:1 Acts 8:4 ) ( 11:19 ) and so it may be
afterwards throughout the places here mentioned; or else these
were some remains of the ten tribes carried captive by
Shalmaneser, and of the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar; or rather
the dispersion of the Greeks, mentioned in ( John 7:35 ) under the
Macedonians, by Ptolemy Lagus: however, there were Jews of
Pontus, who inhabited that place, and of such we read in (
Acts 2:9 ) who
came to worship at the feast of Pentecost, some of which were
converted to the Christian faith, and being mentioned first, has
occasioned this epistle to be called, both by Tertullian
F1, and Cyprian F2, "the
epistle to the Pontians". Perhaps these Jews converted on the day
of Pentecost, on their return hither, laid the first foundation
of a Gospel church state in this country: it is a tradition of
the ancients, mentioned by Eusebius F3, that Peter himself
preached here, and so, very likely, formed the Christians he
found, and those that were converted by him, into Gospel
churches; and it appears by a letter of Dionysius, bishop of
Corinth F4, that there were churches in Poutus
in the "second" century, particularly at Amastris, the bishop of
which was one Palma, whom he commends, and Focas is said to be
bishop of Syncope, in the same age; and in the "third" century,
Gregory and Athenodorus, disciples of Origen, were bishops in
this country F5; the former was a very famous man,
called Gregory Thaumaturgus, the wonder worker, and was bishop of
Neocaesarea: in the "fourth" century there was a church in the
same place, of which Longinus was bishop, as appears from the
Nicene council, at which he and other bishops in Pontus were
present; and in this age, in the times of Dioclesian, many in
this country endured most shocking sufferings, related by
Eusebius F6; and in the same century Helladius
is said to govern the churches of Pontus; and in the "fifth"
century we read of churches in Pontus, reformed by Chrysostom; in
this age Theodorus was bishop of Heraclea, and Themistius of
Amastris, both in this province, and both these bishops were in
the Chalcedon council; and in the "sixth" century there were
churches in Pontus, whose bishops were in the fifth synod held at
Rome and Constantinople; and so there were in the "seventh" and
"eighth" centuries F7
Galatia,
next mentioned, is that part of the lesser Asia, called Gallo
Graecia, in which were several churches, to whom the Apostle Paul
wrote his epistle, called the epistle to the Galatians; (See
Gill on Acts
16:6) (See Gill on Galatians
1:2).
Cappadocia,
according to Ptolomy F8, was bounded on the west by Galatia,
on the south by Cilicia, on the east by Armenia the great, on the
north by part of the Euxine Pontus; it had many famous cities in
it, as Solinus F9 says; as Archelais, Neocaesarea,
Melita, and Mazaca. The Jews oftentimes talk F11 of
going from Cappadocia to Lud, or Lydda; so that, according to
them, it seems to be near to that place, or, at least, that there
was a place near Lydda so called; of this (See Gill on
Acts
2:9). From this country also there were Jews at Jerusalem
on the day of Pentecost, some of whom were converted; and here
likewise the Apostle Peter is said to preach, as before observed
of Pontus, and who probably founded a church or churches here in
the "first" century; and in the "second" century, according to
Tertullian {l}, there were believers in Christ dwelling in this
country; and in the "third" century, Eusebius F13 makes
mention of Neon, bishop of Larandis, and Celsus, bishop of
Iconium, both in Cappadocia; there was also Phedimus of Amasea,
in the same country, in this age, and at Caesarea, in Cappadocia,
several martyrs suffered under Decius; and in this century,
Stephen, bishop of Rome, threatened to excommunicate some bishops
in Cappadocia, because they had rebaptized some that had been
heretics: in the "fourth" century there were churches in
Cappadocia, of one of which, namely, at Sasimi, the famous
Gregory Nazianzen was first bishop, and afterwards of Nazianzum,
as was also the famous Basil of Caesarea, in the same country;
hither the persecution under Dioclesian reached, and many had
their thighs broken, as Eusebius relates F14; from
hence were sent several bishops, who assisted at the council of
Nice, under Constantine, and at another held at Jerusalem: in the
"fifth" century there were churches in Cappadocia, in several
places, the names of whose bishops are on record; as Firmus,
Thalassius, Theodosins, Daniel, Aristomachus, Patricius, and
others: in the "sixth" century there were many famous churches in
this country, whose bishops were in the fifth synod held at Rome
and Constantinople; and in the "seventh" century there were
several of them in the sixth synod of Constantinople; and in the
"eighth" century mention is made of bishops of several churches
in Cappadocia, in the second Nicene synod; and even in the
"ninth" century there were Christians in these parts F15.
Asia
here intends neither the lesser nor the greater Asia, but Asia,
properly so called; and which, according to Solinus F16, Lycia
and Phrygia bounded on the east, the Aegean shores on the west,
the Egyptian sea on the south, and Paphlagonia on the north; the
chief city in it was Ephesus, and so it is distinguished from
Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, and Bithynia, in ( Acts 16:6 Acts 16:7 ) as here from
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia, and from Pontus and
Cappadocia, in ( Acts 2:9 ) though they
were all in lesser Asia. Here also were Jews converted on the day
of Pentecost; and here likewise Peter is said to preach; and by
him, and by the Apostle John, who also lived and died in this
country, churches were planted; and churches there were here,
even in the "seventh" century, as distinct from the other Asia,
greater or less; for out of it bishops were sent to, and were
present at, the sixth council at Constantinople, whose names are
recorded; yea, in the "eighth" century there were churches and
bishops, one of which persuaded Leo to remove images from places
of worship; and another was in the Nicene synod F17. The
last place mentioned is
Bithynia, of which (See Gill on Acts 16:7). And though the Apostle Paul, and his compassions, were not suffered at a certain time to go into Bithynia, and preach the Gospel there, yet it is certain that it was afterwards carried thither; and as Peter is said to preach in Pontus, Asia, and Capadocia, so likewise in Bithynia; here, according to the Roman martyrology, Luke, the evangelist, died; and, according to tradition, Prochorus, one of the seven deacons in ( Acts 6:5 ) was bishop of Nicomedia, in this country; and Tychicus, of whom the Apostle Paul makes frequent mention, was bishop of Chalcedon, another city in it; and who are both said to be of the seventy disciples; (See Gill on Luke 10:1), and it is certain, from the testimony of Pliny F18, an Heathen writer, in a letter of his to Trajan the emperor, written about the year 104, that there were then great numbers of Christians in Bithynia; not only the cities, but the towns and villages were full of them; and in the "third" century, the persecution under Dioclesian raged, particularly at Nicomedia, where Anthimus, the pastor of the church in that place, had his head cut off as Eusebius F19 relates: in the beginning of the "fourth" century, Nice, in Bithynia, became famous for the council held there under Constantine, against Arius; and in this century, bishops from Bithynia assisted at a synod held at Tyre, in Phoenicia; and in the "fifth" century was held a synod at Chalcedon, a city in this country, against the Nestorinn heresy; and the names of several bishops of Chalcedon, Nicomedia, and Nice, who lived, in this age, are on record; and in the "sixth" century there were bishops from these several places, and others, who were present in the fifth synod at Constantinople; as there were also in the "seventh" century, at the sixth synod held at the same place, whose names are particularly mentioned; and in the "eighth" century bishops from hence were in the Nicene synod; and even in the ninth century there were some that bore the Christian name in Bithynia F20. In these places however, it seems, dwelt many Jews, who were converted to Christ, to whom the apostle inscribes this epistle, and whom he further describes in the following verse.