1 Peter 2:24

his own self--there being none other but Himself who could have done it. His voluntary undertaking of the work of redemption is implied. The Greek puts in antithetical juxtaposition, OUR, and His OWN SELF, to mark the idea of His substitution for us. His "well-doing" in His sufferings is set forth here as an example to servants and to us all (Pe1 2:20).

bare--to sacrifice: carried and offered up: a sacrificial term. Isa 53:11-12, "He bare the sin of many": where the idea of bearing on Himself is the prominent one; here the offering in sacrifice is combined with that idea. So the same Greek means in Pe1 2:5.

our sins--In offering or presenting in sacrifice (as the Greek for "bare" implies) His body, Christ offered in it the guilt of our sins upon the cross, as upon the altar of God, that it might be expiated in Him, and so taken away from us. Compare Isa 53:10, "Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin." Peter thus means by "bare" what the Syriac takes two words to express, to bear and to offer: (1) He hath borne our sins laid upon Him [namely, their guilt, curse, and punishment]; (2) He hath so borne them that He offered them along with Himself on the altar. He refers to the animals upon which sins were first laid, and which were then offered thus laden [VITRINGA]. Sin or guilt among the Semitic nations is considered as a burden lying heavily upon the sinner [GESENIUS].

on the tree--the cross, the proper place for One on whom the curse was laid: this curse stuck to Him until it was legally (through His death as the guilt-bearer) destroyed in His body: thus the handwriting of the bond against us is cancelled by His death.

that we being dead to sins--the effect of His death to "sin" in the aggregate, and to all particular "sins," namely, that we should be as entirely delivered from them, as a slave that is dead is delivered from service to his master. This is our spiritful standing through faith by virtue of Christ's death: our actual mortification of particular sins is in proportion to the degree of our effectually being made conformable to His death. "That we should die to the sins whose collected guilt Christ carried away in His death, and so LIVE TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS (compare Isa 53:11. 'My righteous servant shall justify many'), the gracious relation to God which He has brought in" [STEIGER].

by whose stripes--Greek, "stripe."

ye were healed--a paradox, yet true. "Ye servants (compare 'buffeted,' 'the tree,' Pe1 2:20, Pe1 2:24) often bear the strife; but it is not more than your Lord Himself bore; learn from Him patience in wrongful sufferings.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Pe 2:24-25. Who his own self — In his own person, and by the sacrifice of himself, and not of another, (Heb 9:28,) bare our sins — That is, the punishment due to them; in his afflicted, torn, dying body on the tree — The cross, whereon chiefly slaves or servants were wont to suffer. The apostle alludes to Isa 53:12; He bare the sins of many. “The phrase, bearing sin, is often used in the Old Testament. It signifies sometimes the making atonement for sin, Lev 10:17; sometimes the suffering punishment for sin, Lev 22:9; Eze 18:20; and sometimes the carrying away sin from the sight of God; as the scape-goat is said to do, Lev 16:22. The apostle uses here the first person, our sins, to show that Christ bare the sins of believers, in every age and country; and to make us sensible how extensive the operation of his death is in procuring pardon for sinners.” That we, being dead to sins — Or, as ταις αμαρτιαις απογενομενοι is more literally rendered, freed from sins —

That is, from the guilt and power; from which, without an atonement, it was impossible we should be delivered. By whose stripes ye were healed — Of your spiritual disorders: evils infinitely greater than any which the cruelty of the severest masters can bring upon you. See on Isa 53:5. “By changing his discourse from the first to the second person, the apostle addressed those slaves who might be beaten unmercifully by cruel masters; because, of all the considerations by which they could be animated to patience, the most powerful was, to put them in mind of the painful stripes with which Christ was beaten, when he was scourged by Pilate’s order, (Mat 27:26,) and to tell them, that with these stripes the wounds in their souls, occasioned by sin, were healed; wounds far more painful and deadly than those inflicted on them by their froward masters.” For ye were as sheep going astray — From their pastures, their shepherd, and his flock, and exposed to want and the danger of being lost in the wilderness, or destroyed by wild beasts; ye were wandering out of the way of truth and duty, of safety, holiness, and happiness, into the by-paths of error and sin, of guilt and misery — paths leading to certain destruction. But are now returned — Through the influence of divine grace; unto the Shepherd — The great Shepherd of the sheep, brought again from the dead, through the blood of the everlasting covenant; and Bishop — the kind Observer, Inspector, and Overseer; of your souls — Who has graciously received you under his pastoral care, and will maintain that inspection over you which shall be your best security against returning to those fatal wanderings. “Though in this passage the apostle addressed his discourse immediately to servants or slaves, yet, by giving titles to Christ which marked his relation to men of all ranks and conditions, he hath intimated that his exhortation to suffer unmerited evils patiently, is intended for all who profess the gospel.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:24 He personally carried our sins: This phrase alludes to Isa 53:4, 11-12. • By his wounds you are healed: The physical suffering of Christ has freed us from slavery to sin (cp. Isa 53:5). Matthew applies similar language from Isa 53:4 to the physical healings performed by Jesus (Matt 8:17).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Pe 2:24. Ὃς, who) Peter infers, that we are able, and ought to follow the footsteps of Christ.—αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν, Himself bare) αὐτουργία, personal exertion, becomes a servant, so that he himself should do what is to be done. [Er muss selber daran.—Not. Crit.] Jesus Christ Himself undertook the part of others: He did not substitute others for Himself, as they do at the present day, who assign [locant, let out] Canonical Hours to others. Peter agrees with Isa 53:11, Septuagint, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν αὐτὸς ἁνοίσει, And He Himself shall bear their sins. Comp. Heb 9:28, note.—ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ, in His own body) which was most afflicted.—ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον, upon the tree) Slaves were accustomed to be punished with the tree the cross, the fork.[22]—ἵνα, that) This word, that, declares that the expiation of sins, properly so called, was made on the cross of Christ: inasmuch as the fruit of it, and of it alone, was our deliverance from the slavery of sin.—ἀπογενόμενοι, being dead) This expression appositely describes our deliverance from the slavery of sin: for a slave is said to become the property of any one, γενέσθαι τινὸς. Ἀπὸ signifies separation; as Job 15:4, Septuagint, ἀπεποιήσω φόβον, thou castest off fear: German, ohne werden. The opposite term is πρσγενέσθαι in the Septuagint. The Body of Christ ἀπεγένετο, was presently taken away from that tree to which He had borne our sins: so ought we to be removed from sin.—τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ, to righteousness) Righteousness is altogether one; sin is manifold, to sins. Respecting righteousness, comp. Isa 53:11.—ζήσωμεν, we may live) in a free service.

[22] The furca consisted of two pieces of wood in the shape of the letter V, which pressed upon the neck and back, while the hands were bound to the two ends. A slave thus punished was called furcifer.—T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Pe_2:24. A further expansion of the ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, 1Pe_2:21.

ὃς τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν κ.τ.λ.] Who Himself bore our sins on His body to the tree.

ὅς, the third relative clause; though a climax too, cannot fail to be recognised here: He suffered innocently,patiently (not requiting evil for evil),vicariously, for us, still it must not be asserted that this third clause predicates anything of Christ in which He can be an example for us (Hofmann); the thought here expressed itself contradicts this assertion.

The phraseology of this verse arose from a reference to the passage in Isaiah 53, and the actual fulfilment of the prophecy herein contained. The words of that chapter which were chiefly present to the mind of the apostle, are those of 1Pe_2:12, LXX. καί αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκε (נָשָׂא); cf. also 1Pe_2:11 : καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν αὐτὸς ἀνοίσει, (יִסְבֹּל) and 1Pe_2:4 : οὗτος τ. ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει (נָשָׂא). The Hebrew נָשָׂא with the accus. of the idea of sin, therefore: to bear sin, is equivalent to, to suffer the punishment for sin, either ones own or that of another. Now, as ἀνήνεγκε is in the above-quoted passage a translation of נָשָׂא, its meaning is: He suffered the punishment for the sins of many.[156]

This suffering of punishment is, in the case of the Servant of God, of such a nature that by it those whose the sin is, and for whom He endures the punishment, become free from that punishment; it is therefore a vicarious suffering.[157] Since, then, Peter plainly had this passage in his mind, the thought here expressed can be no other than this: that Christ in our stead has suffered the punishment we have merited through our sins, and so has borne our sins. But with this the subsequent ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον, which means not on the tree, but on to the tree does not seem to harmonize. Consequently it has been proposed to take ἀναφέρειν in the sense which it has in the phrase: ἈΝΑΦΈΡΕΙΝ ΤΙ ἘΠῚ ΤῸ ΘΥΣΙΑΣΤΉΡΙΟΝ (cf. Jam_2:21; Lev_14:20; 2Ch_35:16; Bar_1:10; 1Ma_4:53); cf. 1Pe_2:5; where ΤῸ ΞΎΛΟΝ would be conceived as the altar (Gerhard: Crux Christi fuit sublime illud altare, in quod Christus se ipsum in sacrificium oblaturus ascendit, sicut V. Testamenti sacrificia altari imponebantur). But against this interpretation, besides the fact that ἈΝΑΦΈΡ. is thus here taken in a sense different from that which it has in Isaiah 53, there are the following objections: (1) That in no other passage of the N. T. is the cross of Christ represented as the altar on which He is offered;[158] (2) That neither in the O. T. nor in the N. T. is sin anywhere spoken of as the offering which is brought up to the altar.[159] ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον might be explained by assuming a pregnant construction, as in the Versio Syr., which runs: bajulavit omnia peccata nostra eaque sustulit in corpore suo ad crucem,[160] that is: bearing our sins He ascended the cross But the assumption of such a construction is not necessary, since ἀναφέρειν can quite well be taken to mean carrying up, without depriving the word of the signification which it has in the passage in Isaiah, since carrying up implies carrying. In no other way did Christ bear our sins up on to the cross than by suffering the punishment for our sins in the crucifixion, and thereby delivering us from the punishment. The apostle lays special stress on the idea of substitution here contained, by the addition of αὐτός, which, as in Isa_53:11, stands by way of emphasis next to ἩΜῶΝ; but by ἘΝ Τῷ ΣΏΜΑΤΙ ΑὐΤΟῦnot in,[161] but on His bodywe are reminded that His body it was on which the punishment was accomplished, inasmuch as it was nailed to the cross and died thereon. It is quite possible that this adjunct, as Wiesinger assumes, is meant at the same time to serve the purpose of expressing the greatness of that love which moved Christ to give His body to the death for our sins; but that there is in it any special reference to the sacramental words of the Lord (Weiss, p. 273), is a conjecture which has nothing to support it. The addition of ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον is explained by the fact itself, since it is precisely Christs death on the cross that has redeemed us from the guilt and power of our sins. Peter also uses the expression τὸ ξύλον to denote the cross, in his sermons, Act_5:30; Act_10:39. It had its origin in the Old Testament phraseology, עֵץ, rendered ξύλον by LXX., denoting the pole on which the bodies of executed criminals were sometimes suspended; cf. Deu_21:22-23; Jos_10:26. Certainly in this way attention is drawn to the shame of the punishment which Christ suffered; but it is at least doubtful, since there is no reference to it in any way, whether Peter, like Paul, in Gal_3:13, used the expression with regard to the curse pronounced in Deu_21:22 (as Weiss, p. 267, emphatically denies, and Schott as emphatically asserts). Bengel is entirely mistaken in thinking, that by the adjunct ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον the apostle alludes to the punishment of slaves (ligno, cruce, furca plecti soliti erant servi).

[156] It admits of no doubt that נָשָׂא in connection with חֵטְא or עֲוֹן has the meaning above given; cf. Lev_19:17; Lev_20:19; Lev_24:15; Num_5:31; Num_14:34; Eze_4:5; Eze_14:10; Eze_16:58; Eze_23:35, etc. (Lam_5:7 : סָבַל); generally, indeed, the LXX. translate this נָשָׂא by λαμβάνειν, but also by κομίζειν and ἀποφέρειν; in the passage quoted, Isa_53:4, by φέρειν; in Num_14:33, as in Isa_53:12, by ἀναφέρειν. This proves how unwarranted Hofmann (Schriftbeweis, II. 1, p. 465, 2d ed.) is in saying that in view of the Greek translation of Isa_53:11-12, it is arbitrary to assume that ἀναφέρειν means simply to carry. Of course every one knows that in and of itself ἀναφέρειν does not mean to carry; but from this it does not follow that the LXX. did not use it in this sense in the phrase above alluded to, the more so that they attribute to the word no meaning opposed to its classical usage; cf. Thuc. 1Pe_3:18 : κινδύνου; ἀναφέρ.; Pol. 1:30: φθόνους καὶ διαβολὰς ἀναφέρ., see Pape, s.v. ἀναφέρω, and Delitzsch, Komment. z. Br. an die Hebr. p. 442.Doubtless נָשָׂא אֶת־עֲוֹן, Lev_10:17, is said of the priests bearing away sin (making atonement), but there the LXX. translate נָשָׂא by ἀφαιρεῖν. Plainly there can here be no allusion to the meaning to forgive sin.

[157] Weiss is inaccurate when he asserts (p. 265) that the passages, Lev_19:17, Num_14:33, Lam_5:7, Eze_18:19-20, allude to a vicarious suffering; these passages, indeed, speak of a bearing of the punishment which the sins of others have caused, but this is suffering with, not instead of others, without those who have done the sin being freed from its punishment.

[158] Schott, whilst admitting the above, asserts that it will hardly be contradicted that in all the passages which speak of Christs death on the cross as a sacrifice, the cross must be presupposed to be that which served as altar. This is decidedly to be contradicted, the more so that the animal sacrificed suffered death not upon, but before the altar.

[159] If ἀναφέρειν be here taken as equivalent to to offer sacrifice, as in Heb_7:27, not only would the thoughtwhich Delitzsch (p. 440) terms a corrupt onearise: per semet ipsum immolavit peccata nostra, but ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον would then have to be interpreted: on the cross. Luther: who Himself offered in sacrifice our sins on His body on the tree.Here, too, Schott admits what is said above, but seeks to destroy its force as a proof, by claiming for ἀναφέρειν the sense: to present or bring up in offering, at the same time supplyingas it seemsas the object of offering, the body of Christ, which the expression of the apostle in no way justifies.

[160] Schott brings the baseless accusation against the circumlocution of the Syr. translation, that in it peccata is to be taken differently in the first clause from the second; in the former, as equivalent to the punishment of our sin; in the latter, as the sin itself, for peccata has the same meaning in both members, although the bearing of the sins consists in the suffering of the punishment for them. Comp. Num_14:33, where in the expression ἀνοίσουσι τὴν πορνείαν ὑμῶν, the word πορνεία has by no means the meaning punishment for fornication, although ἀναθέρειν τὴν πορνείαν means as much as to suffer the punishment for fornication.

[161] So, too, Schott, who interprets ἐν τῷ σώματι as equal to in His earthly bodily life(!).

REMARK 1. The interpretation of many of the commentators is wanting in the necessary precision, inasmuch as the two senses, which ἀναφέρειν has in the different phrases: ἀναφέρειν τὰς ἁμαρτίας and ἀναφέρειν τι ἐπὶ τ. θυσιαστήριον, are mixed Up with each other. Vitringa (Vix uno verbo ἔμφασις; vocis ἀναδέρειν exprimi potest. Nota ferre et offere. Primo dicere voluit Petrus, Christum portasse peccata nostra, in quantum illa ipsi erant imposita. Secundo ita tulisse peccata nostra, ut ea secum obtulerit in altari), while drawing, indeed, a distinction between the two meanings, thinks that Peter had both of them in his mind, which of course is impossible.

Hofmann explains ἀναφέρειν … ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον on the analogy of the phrase: ἀναφέρειν τι ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, without, however, understanding the cross as the altar; the meaning then would be: He lifted up His body on to the cross, thereby bearing up thither our sins, that is to say, atoning for our sins. Although Hofmann admits that Peter had in his mind the passage in Isaiah, he nevertheless denies that ἀνήνεγκε has here the same meaning as there. In his Schriftbeweis, 1st ed., he gives a similar interpretation, only that there he says: He took up our sins with Him, and so took them away from us. He, however, justly adds that ἀναφέρειν has the same meaning here as in Heb_9:28. Wiesinger has adopted this interpretation, as also, in substance, Delitzsch, Hebraerbrief, p. 442 f. In the 2d edition of the Schriftbeweis, Hofmann has withdrawn this explanation; but, on the other hand, he erroneously asserts that ἀναφέρειν here is the ἀναφέρειν of Heb_7:27.

Schott justly combats Hofmanns view, that the sufferings of Christ for our sins consisted essentially only in what befell Him as the result of our sins, and maintains, in opposition to it, the substitution of Christ. His own interpretation, however, of our passage is equally inadmissible, since he attributes to ἀναφέρειν the meaning: to bring up or present in offering; yet adding to the idea of offering an object other than ἁμαρτίας which stands with ἀνήνεγκεν, thus giving to the one word two quite different references. Schott makes σῶμα Χριστοῦ the object of offering, taking it out of the supplementary clause: ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ; but this he is the less justified in doing, that he explains these words by in His earthly corporeal life.

This is not the place to enter fully into Schotts conception of the propitiation wrought by Christs death on the cross. Though it contains many points worthy of notice, it is of much too artificial a nature, ever to be considered a just representation of the views of the apostle.

Luthardt interprets: He bore His body away from the earth up to God. No doubt it was not an altar to which Christ brought His body up; but the peculiarity lies precisely in this, that His body should at the same time hang on the accursed tree. Away from the earth to God is evidently an addition; and had Peter wished to emphasize the cross as the accursed tree, he would have added τῆς καταρᾶς.[162]

[162] Pfleiderer (p. 422) is entirely unwarranted in maintaining the sense to be: that Christ, by His death on the cross, took away, removed our sins, so that they no longer surround our life, and that by this removal is meant, that we free our moral life and conduct from sin(!).

REMARK 2.

This interpretation agrees substantially with that given by de Wette-Brückner and Weiss; yet de Wettes reference to Col_2:14 is inappropriate, inasmuch as that passage has a character entirely different, both in thought and expression, from the one here under consideration. Weiss is wanting in accuracy when he says that Christ ascended the cross, and there bore the punishment of our sins, since already in the sufferings which preceded the crucifixion, the bearing of our sins took place.

Nor can it be conceded to these commentators that the idea of sacrifice was absent from the conception of the apostle. Its existence is erroneously disputed also in Isaiah 53, in spite of the אָשָׁמ, 1Pe_2:10. No doubt prominence is given, in the first instance, to the idea of substitution; but Weiss ought not to have denied that this thought is connected in the mind of the prophet, as in that of the apostle, with the idea of sacrifice, especially as he himself says that the idea of substitution is that upon which the sin-offering is based, Lev_17:11. And was there any other substitutionary bearing of sin than in the sacrifice? It must not, however, be concluded that each word in the expression, and especially ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον, must have a particular reference to the idea of sacrifice.

ἵνα ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι] Oecumenius: ἀπογενόμενοι· ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἀποθαυόντες; cf. Rom_6:2; Rom_6:11 (Gal_2:19). Bengels rendering: γίνεσθαι τινός fieri alicujus dicitur servus, ἀπὸ dicit sejunctionem; Germ. to become without, which Weiss (p. 284) supports, is inappropriate here, since ἀπογίγνεσθαι in this sense is construed with the genitive. For the dative, see Winer, p. 398 [E. T. 532]. ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις corresponds to the foregoing τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν. The use of the aor. part, shows that the being dead unto sin is the condition into which we are introduced by the fact that Christ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνήνεγκεν κ.τ.λ. The actions of the Christians should correspond with this condition; this the apostle expresses by ἵνα … τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ ζήσωμεν; cf. Romans 6.

δικαιοσύνη means here not: justification or righteousness, as a condition of him whose sins are forgiven, but it is the opposite of ἁμαρτία: righteousness which consists in obedience towards God and in the fulfilling of His will. The clause, introduced here by the final particle ἵνα (as in 1Pe_1:18), does not give the primary aim of Christs substitutionary death: that, namely, of reconciliation, but further the design: that of making free from the power of sin. Weiss (p. 285) is wrong in thinking that Peter did not here conceive the redemption as already completed in principle by the blood of Christ, but accomplished in a purely physiological way, by the impression produced by the preaching of His death and the incitement to imitation which[163] it gave. Thus Pfleiderer also. The refutation of this is to be found in what follows.

οὗ τῷ μώλωπι [αὐτοῦ] ἰάθητε] Isa_53:5, LXX.; return to the direct form of address: μώλωψ is, properly speaking, marks left by scourging (Sir_28:17, πληγὴ μάστιγος ποιεῖ μώλωπας); therefore, taken strictly, the expression has reference to the flagellation of Christ only; but here it stands as a pars pro toto (Steiger) to denote the whole of Christs sufferings, of which His death was the culminating point.

By ἰάθητε the apostle declares that, through the suffering of Christ (of course by the instrumentality of faith), the Christians are translated from the sickness of a sinful nature into the health of a life of righteousness.

[163] In his Lehrbuch der bibl. Theol. (p. 172), Weiss only says: It follows from 1Pe_2:2 that the being released from sin is certainly a consequence, but only the indirect consequence of the death of Christ. Because it has released us from the guilt of our former sins, the further consequence will be, that henceforward we will renounce those sins which He vicariously expiated.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Pe 2:24 . Christ was not only well-doer but benefactor . τὰς ἁμ .… ἀνήνεγκεν comes from Isa 53:12 , LXX, καὶ αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκεν ( נשא usually translated λαμβάνειν ), used also Heb 9:28 . Christ is the perfect sin-offering: “Himself the victim and Himself the priest. The form of expression offered up our sins is due to the double use of חטאה for sin and sin-offering. ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ , a Pauline phrase derived from the saying, This is my body which is for you (1Co 9:24 ), explaining αὐτός of Isa. l.c. ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον , replaces the normal complement of ἀναφέρειν , ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον , in view of the moral which is to be drawn from the sacrificial language adopted. So Jas 2:21 , ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον is substituted for ἐπάνω τῶν ξύλων of the original description of the offering of Isaac, Gen 22:9 . Christ died because He took our sins upon Himself ( cf. Num 4:33 , οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν … ἀνοίσουσιν τὴν πορνείαν ὑμῶν ). Therefore our sins perished and we have died to them, Col 2:14 . ἵνα … ζήσωμεν . Compare Targum of Isa 53:10 , “and from before Jehovah it was the will to refine and purify the remnant of His people that He might cleanse from sins their souls: they shall see the kingdom of His Christ an … prolong their days”. ἀπογενόμενοι = (i.) die (Herodotus, Thucydides) as opposite of γενόμενοι come into being OR (ii.) be free from , as in Thuc. i. 39, τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπογενόμενοι . The Dative requires (i.), cf. Rom 6:2 , οἵτινες ἀπεθάνομεν τῇ ἁμαρτία . The idea is naturally deduced from Isa 53 , Christ bore our sins and delivered His soul to death, therefore He shall see His seed living because sinless. οὗ … ἰάθητε from Isa 53:5 ; μώλωπι properly the weal or scar produced by scourgeing ( Sir 28:17 , πληγὴ μάστιγος ποιεῖ μώλωπας ) thus the prophecy was fulfilled according to Mat 27:26 , φραγελλώσας . The original has ἰάθημεν . The paradox is especially pointed in an address to slaves who were frequently scourged.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He calleth the servants back from the consideration of the injuries which they are constrained to bear, to think upon the greatness, and the end of the benefit received of Christ.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 24. Who his own self] Not another in his place, as some anciently supposed, because they thought it impossible that the Christ should suffer.

Bare our sins in his own body] Bore the punishment due to our sins. In no other sense could Christ bear them. To say that they were so imputed to him as if they had been his own, and that the Father beheld him as blackened with imputed sin, is monstrous, if not blasphemous.

That we, being dead to sins] Ἱνα ταις ἁμαρτιαις απογενομενοι· That we, being freed from sin-delivered out of its power, and from under its tyranny.

Should live unto righteousness] That righteousness should be our master now, as sin was before. He is speaking still lo servants who were under an oppressive yoke, and were cruelly used by their masters, scourged, buffeted, and variously maltreated.

By whose stripes ye were healed.] The apostle refers here to Isa 53:4-6; and he still keeps the case of these persecuted servants in view, and encourages them to suffer patiently by the example of Christ, who was buffeted and scourged, and who bore all this that the deep and inveterate wounds, inflicted on their souls by sin, might be healed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Had he commended nothing in Christ’s death except as an example, it would have been very frigid: he therefore refers to a fruit much more excellent. There are then three things to be noticed in this passage. The first is, that Christ by his death has given us an example of patience; the second, that by his death he restored us to life; it hence follows, that we are so bound to him, that we ought cheerfully to follow his example. In the third place, he refers to the general design of his death, that we, being dead to sins, ought to live to righteousness. And all these things confirm his previous exhortation.

24 Who his own self bare our sins This form of speaking is fitted to set forth the efficacy of Christ’s death. For as under the Law, the sinner, that he might be released from guilt, substituted a victim in his own place; so Christ took on himself the curse due to our sins, that he might atone for them before God. And he expressly adds, on the tree, because he could not offer such an expiation except on the cross. Peter, therefore, well expresses the truth, that Christ’s death was a sacrifice for the expiation of our sins; for being fixed to the cross and offering himself a victim for us, he took on himself our sin and our punishment. Isaiah, from whom Peter has taken the substance of his doctrine, employs various forms of expression, — that he was smitten by God’s hand for our sins, that he was wounded for our iniquities, that he was afflicted and broken for our sake, that the chastisement of our peace was laid on him. But Peter intended to set forth the same thing by the words of this verse, even that we are reconciled to God on this condition, because Christ made himself before his tribunal a surety and as one guilty for us, that he might suffer the punishment due to us.

This great benefit the Sophists in their schools obscure as much as they can; for they prattle that by the sacrifice of the death of Christ we are only freed after baptism from guilt, but that punishment is redeemed by satisfactions. But Peter, when he says that he bore our sins, means that not only guilt was imputed to him, but that he also suffered its punishment, that he might thus be an expiatory victim, according to that saying of the Prophet, “The chastisement of our peace was upon him.” If they object and say, that this only avails before baptism, the context here disproves them, for the words are addressed to the faithful.

But this clause and that which follows, by whose stripes ye were healed, may be also applied to the subject in hand, that is, that it behoves us to bear on our shoulders the sins of others, not indeed to expiate for them, but only to bear them as a burden laid on us.

Being dead to sins He had before pointed out another end, even an example of patience; but here, as it has been stated, it is made more manifest, that we are to live a holy and righteous life. The Scripture sometimes mentions both, that is, that the Lord tries us with troubles and adversities, that we might be conformed to the death of Christ, and also that the old man has been crucified in the death of Christ, that we might walk in newness of life. (Philippians 3:10; Romans 6:4.) At the same time, this end of which he speaks, differs from the former, not only as that which is general from what is particular; for in patience there is simply an example; but when he says that Christ suffered, that we being dead to sins should live to righteousness, he intimates that there is power in Christ’s death to mortify our flesh, as Paul explains more fully in the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. For he has not only brought this great benefit to us, that God justifies us freely, by not imputing to us our sins; but he also makes us to die to the world and to the flesh, that we may rise again to a new life: not that one day makes complete this death; but wherever it is, the death of Christ is efficacious for the expiation of sins, and also for the mortification of the flesh.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(24) Who his own self.—This verse, like the “for you” in 1Pe_2:21, is intended to make the readers feel the claims of gratitude, not to set before them another point in which Christ was to be imitated. But at the same time it serves to enforce still more strongly the two points already mentioned—i.e., sinlessness and suffering. So far was Christ from “doing sins,” that He actually His own self bore ours, and in so doing endured the extremity of anguish “in His own body,” so that He could sympathise with the corporal chastisements of these poor servants; and “on the tree,” too, the wicked slave’s death.

Bare our sins . . . on the tree.—This brings us face to face with a great mystery; and to add to the difficulty of the interpretation, almost each word is capable of being taken in several different ways. Most modern scholars are agreed to reject “on the tree,” in favour of the marginal “to,” the proper meaning of the Greek preposition, when connected (as here) with the accusative, being what is expressed in colloquial English by the useful compound “on-to the tree.” It is, however, not obligatory to see motion consciously intended in this preposition and accusative everywhere. It is used, for instance, Mar_4:38, of sleeping on the pillow; in 2Co_3:15, of the veil resting upon their hearts; in Rev_4:4, of the elders sitting upon their thrones. This word, then, will give us but little help to discover the meaning of the word translated “bare.” (1) That verb means literally “to carry or take up,” and is used thus in Mat_17:1, Mar_9:2, of taking the disciples up the Mount of Transfiguration; and in Luk_24:51, of Jesus being carried up into heaven: therefore Hammond, Grimm, and others would here understand it to be, “He carried our sins up with Him on-to the tree,” there to expiate them by His death. (2) A much commoner meaning of the word is that which it bears in 1Pe_2:5, “to offer up” (so also in Heb_7:27; Heb_13:15; Jas_2:21). The substantive formed from it (Anaphora) is still the liturgical term for the sacrificial section of the Eucharistic service. This interpretation is somewhat tempting, because the very preposition here used, with the very same case, appears in Jas_2:21, and frequently in the Old Testament, together with our present verb, for “to offer up upon the altar.” In this way it would be, “He offered up our sins in His own body on the altar of the cross.” So Luther and others take it. This would be perfect, were it not for the strangeness of regarding the sins themselves as a sacrifice to be offered on the altar. The only way to make sense of it in that case would be to join very closely “our sins in His own body”—i.e., as contained and gathered up in His own sinless body, which might come to nearly the same thing as saying that He “offered up His own body laden with our sins” upon that altar. (3) Both these renderings, however, pass over the fact that St. Peter is referring to Isaiah 53. In the English version of that chapter, “hath borne,” “shall bear,” “bare,” appears in 1Pe_2:4; 1Pe_2:11-12, indifferently; but the Hebrew is not the same in each case, for in 1Pe_2:11 the word for “shall bear” is identical with that rightly rendered “carry” in 1Pe_2:4, and has not the same signification as that which appears as “to bear” in 1Pe_2:4; 1Pe_2:12. The difference between these two Hebrew roots seems to be that the verb sabal in 1Pe_2:11 means “to carry,” as a porter carries a load, or as our Lord carried His cross; while the verb nasa,’ used in 1Pe_2:4 and 1Pe_2:12, means rather “to lift or raise,” which might, of course, be the action preparatory to that other of “carrying.” Now, the Greek word which we have here undoubtedly better represents nasa’ than sabal, but the question is complicated by the fact that the LXX. uses it to express both alike in 1Pe_2:11-12, observing at the same time the distinction between “iniquities” and “sin,” while in 1Pe_2:4 (where again it reads “our sins” instead of “our griefs”) it adopts a simpler verb; and St. Peter’s language here seems to be affected by all three passages. The expression “our sins” (which comes in so strangely with the use of “you” all round) seems a reminiscence of 1Pe_2:4 (LXX.). The order in which the words occur is precisely the order of 1Pe_2:11, and the tense points to 1Pe_2:12, as well as the parallel use in Heb_9:28, where the presence of the words “of many” proves that the writer was thinking of 1Pe_2:12. We cannot say for certain, then, whether St. Peter meant to represent nasa’ or sabal. We have some clue, however, to the way in which the Greek word was used, by finding it in Num_14:33, where the “whoredoms” of the fathers are said to be “borne” by their children (the Hebrew there being nasa’). Many instances in classical Greek lead to the conclusion that in such cases it implies something being laid or inflicted from without upon the person who “bears.” Thus, in Num_14:33, it will be, “your children will have to bear your whoredoms,” or, “will have laid upon them your whoredoms.” In Heb_9:28 it will be, “Christ was once for all presented (at the altar), to have the sins of many laid upon Him.” Here it will be, “Who His own self had our sins laid upon His body on the tree.” Then comes a further question. The persons who hold the substitute theory of the Atonement assert that “our sins” here stands for “the punishment of our sins.” This is, however, to use violence with words; we might with as good reason translate 1Pe_2:22, “Who did, or performed, no punishment for sin.” St. Peter asserts that Christ, in His boundless sympathy with fallen man, in His union with all mankind through the Incarnation whereby He became the second Adam, actually took, as His own, our sins, as well as everything else belonging to us. He was so identified with us, that in the great Psalm of the Messianic sacrifice, He calls them “My sins” (Psa_40:12), sinless as He was. (See St. Matthew’s interpretation of the same thought, Mat_8:17.)

That we being dead.—Just as the former part of this verse is an expansion of “Christ suffered for us,” so the latter part is an expansion of “that ye should follow His steps.” The “we,” however, is too emphatically placed in the English. To St. Peter, the thought of our union with Christ is so natural, that he slips easily over it, and passes on to the particular point of union which he has in view. “He bore our sins on the tree, in order that, having thus become ‘lost’ to those sins, we might live to righteousness.” The words present, perhaps, a closer parallel to Col_1:22 than to any other passage; but comp. also Rom_6:2; Rom_6:8; Rom_6:11, and 2Co_5:14, and Notes. St. Peter’s word for “dying” in this place is not elsewhere found in the New Testament, and is originally an euphemism for death; literally, to be missing—i.e., when sin comes to seek its old servants it finds them gone.

With whose stripes ye were healed.—Observe how soon St. Peter reverts to the second person, even though he has to change the text he is quoting. Another mark of his style may well be noticed here, viz., his fondness for a number of co-ordinate relative sentences. (See 1Pe_1:8; 1Pe_1:12; 2Pe_2:1-3; and his speeches, Act_3:13; Act_3:15; Act_4:10; Act_10:38-39.) He is especially fond of finishing off a long sentence with a short relative clause, as here. Comp., for instance, 1Pe_2:8, 2Pe_2:17, also Act_4:12, where it would be more correct to translate, “Neither is the salvation in any other, for, indeed, there is no second name under heaven which is the appointed name among men; in whom we must be saved”—i.e., if we are saved at all. The purpose of the little clause seems to be once more to make the good and ill-used servants feel, when the weals were smarting on their backs, that the Righteous Servant of Jehovah had borne the same, and that it had served a beneficial purpose, as they knew to their everlasting gratitude. Of course the “stripes” (in the original singular number, and literally weal) do not refer merely to the scourging. The words form a paradox.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree] Here again we have an unmistakeable reference to the language of Isa_53:12. The Apostle, though he has begun with pointing to the sufferings of Christ as an example, cannot rest satisfied with speaking of them only under that aspect. He remembers that his Lord had spoken of Himself as giving His life a ransom for many (Mat_20:28), of His blood as that of a new covenant (Mat_26:28). He must speak accordingly, even to the slaves whom he calls upon to follow in the footsteps of their Master, of the atoning, mediatorial, sacrificial aspects of His death. Each word is full of a profound significance. The Greek verb for “bare” (anapherein) is always used with a liturgical sacrificial meaning, sometimes, in a directly transitive sense, of him who offers a sacrifice, as Jas_2:21 (“Abraham … when he had offered Isaac”), Heb_7:27; Heb_13:15, and in this very chapter (1Pe_2:5); sometimes of the victim offered, as bearing the sins of those who have transgressed, and for whom a sacrifice is required, as in Heb_9:28 and the LXX. of Isa_53:12. Here, Christ being at once the Priest and the Victim, one meaning seems to melt into the other. He offers Himself: He bears the sins of many. But if there was a priest and a sacrifice, where was the altar? The Apostle finds that altar in the cross, just as many of the best commentators, including even Roman theologians like Estius and Aquinas, recognise a reference to the cross in the “we have an altar” of Heb_13:10. In the word for “tree,” used instead of that for “cross,” we have the same term as that in Gal_3:13, where St Paul’s choice of it was obviously determined by its use in the LXX. of Deu_21:23. The word was somewhat more generic than “cross,” and included a whole class of punishments to which slaves were subject, impaling, the stocks (Act_16:24), and the like. It is possible that St Peter, in writing to slaves, may have chosen it as bringing home to their thoughts the parallelism between Christ’s sufferings and their own (comp. the “non pasces in cruce corvos” of Horace Epp. 1:16, 50:48); but its occurrence in St Luke’s reports of his speeches in Act_5:30; Act_10:39 makes it more probable that it was simply a familiar term with him.

that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness] The Greek word for “being dead” is a somewhat unusual one, and is not found elsewhere in the New Testament. As a word it has to a certain extent an euphemistic character, like “departing,” “being away,” and is so far analogous to the exodos or “decease” of 2Pe_1:15. The context leaves no doubt that the English rendering of the word fairly expresses its true meaning. “Having died” would perhaps give more accurately the force of the aorist participle. The thought presents another instance of parallelism between St Peter and St Paul (Rom_6:2; Rom_6:11; Gal_2:19) so close that it at least suggests the idea of derivation. In both cases the tense used implies a single act at a definite point of time, and as interpreted by St Paul’s teaching, and, we may add, by that of St Peter himself (chap. 1Pe_3:21), that point of time can hardly be referred to any other occasion than that of the Baptism of those to whom he writes. In that rite they were mystically sharers in the death and entombment of Christ, and they were made so in order that they might live to Him in the righteousness of a new life.

by whose stripes ye were healed] The word for “stripes” means strictly the livid mark or wheal left on the flesh by the scourge. Comp. Sir_28:17. We may well believe that the specific term was chosen rather than any more general word like “sufferings” or “passion,” as bringing before the minds of the slave readers of the Epistle the feature of greatest ignominy in their Lord’s sufferings (Mat_27:26; Mar_15:15), that in which they might find the closest parallelism with their own. When the scourge so freely used in Roman households left the quivering flesh red and raw, they were to remember that Christ also had so suffered, and that the stripes inflicted on Him were part of the process by which He was enabled to be the Healer of mankind. The words are cited from the LXX. of Isa_53:5.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For ye were as sheep going astray,.... This is a proof of their being healed, namely, their conversion; in which an application of the blood of Christ, and pardon, and so healing by it, was made to their souls. The apostle has still in view the prophecy of Isa 53:6. God's elect are sheep before conversion; not that they have the agreeable properties of sheep, as to be meek, harmless, innocent, clean, and profitable, for they are the reverse of all this; nor can some things be said of them before conversion, as may be after, as that they hear Christ's voice, and follow him; nor are they so called, because unprejudiced against, and predisposed unto the Gospel, for the contrary is true of them; but they are so in electing grace, and were so considered in the Father's gift of them to Christ, and when made his care and charge, and hence they are called the sheep of his hand; and when Christ laid down his life, and rose again, which he did for the sheep, and as the great Shepherd of them; and when called by grace, for their being sheep, and Christ's own sheep by the Father's gift, and his own purpose, is the reason why he looks them up, calls them by name, and returns them: but then they are not yet of his fold; they are lost sheep, lost in Adam, and by his fall, and by their own actual transgressions; they are as sheep going astray from the shepherd, and from the flock, going out of the right way, and in their own ways; and are, like sheep, stupid and insensible of their danger; and as they never return of themselves, until they are sought for, and brought back: hence it follows,

but are now returned; not returned themselves, but were returned by powerful and efficacious grace: saints are passive, and not active in first conversion; they are turned, not by the power of their own free will, but by the power of God's free grace; they are returned under the illuminations and quickenings of the blessed Spirit, and through the efficacious drawings of the Father's love, unto Christ:

unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls; by whom Christ is meant, who bears the office of a Shepherd, and fully performs it by feeding his sheep, providing a good fold and pasture for them; by gathering the lambs in his arms, and gently leading those that are with young; by healing their diseases, and preserving them from beasts of prey; hence he is called the good, the great, and chief Shepherd: and he is the "Bishop" or "Overseer" of the souls of his people, though not to the exclusion of their bodies: he has took the oversight of them willingly, and looks well to his flock, inspects into their cases, and often visits them, and never forsakes them; nor will he leave them till they receive the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls; which he has undertook and effected by his obedience, sufferings and death. Philo the Jew (l) observes, that "to be a shepherd is so good a work, that it is not only a title given to kings and wise men, and souls perfectly purified, but to God the governor of all---who, as a Shepherd and King, leads according to justice and law, setting over them his right Logos, "the first begotten Son", who has taken the care of this holy flock, as does the deputy of a great king.

(l) De Agricultura, p. 194, 195.

Next: 1 Peter Chapter 3

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Yet. 24. Who his own self] Without any to help or uphold him, Isa 63:5; he had not so much as the benefit of the sunlight, when in that three hours’ darkness he was set upon by all the powers of darkness.

Bare our sins] Gr. ανηνεγκεν, bare them aloft, viz. when he climbed up his cross, and nailed them thereunto. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows," Isa 53:4. He "taketh away the sins of the world," Joh 1:29.

That we being dead to sins] απογενομενοι, or, separated from sin, or uumade to it, cut off from it, the old frame being utterly dissolved.

By whose stripes] Or, welts. This he mentioneth to comfort poor servants, whipped and abused by their froward masters. Sanguis medici factus est medicina phrenetici . The physician’s blood became the sick man’s salve. We can hardly believe the power of sword salve. But here is a mystery that only Christian religion cau assure us of, that the wounding of one should be the cure of another.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who his own self - See the notes at Heb 1:3, on the phrase “when he had by himself purged our sins.” The meaning is, that he did it in his own proper person; he did not make expiation by offering a bloody victim, but was himself the sacrifice.

Bare our sins - There is an allusion here undoubtedly to Isa 53:4, Isa 53:12. See the meaning of the phrase “to bear sins” fully considered in the notes at those places. As this cannot mean that Christ so took upon himself the sins of people as to become himself a sinner, it must mean that he put himself in the place of sinners, and bore that which those sins deserved; that is, that he endured in his own person that which, if it had been inflicted on the sinner himself, would have been a proper expression of the divine displeasure against sin, or would have been a proper punishment for sin. See the notes at 2Co 5:21. He was treated as if he had been a sinner, in order that we might be treated as if we had not sinned; that is, as if we were righteous. There is no other way in which we can conceive that one bears the sins of another. They cannot be literally transferred to another; and all that can be meant is, that he should take the consequences on himself, and suffer as if he had committed the transgressions himself.

(See also the supplementary notes at 2Co 5:21; Rom. 4; 5; and Gal 3:13, in which the subject of imputation is discussed at large)

In his own body - This alludes undoubtedly to his sufferings. The sufferings which he endured on the cross were such as if he had been guilty; that is, he was treated as he would have been if he had been a sinner. He was treated as a criminal; crucified as those most guilty were; endured the same kind of physical pain that the guilty do who are punished for their own sins; and passed through mental sorrows strongly resembling - as much so as the case admitted of - what the guilty themselves experience when they are left to distressing anguish of mind, and are abandoned by God. The sufferings of the Saviour were in all respects made as nearly like the sufferings of the most guilty, as the sufferings of a perfectly innocent being could be.

On the tree - Margin, “to the tree” Greek, ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον epi to xulon. The meaning is rather, as in the text, that while himself on the cross, he bore the sorrows which our sins deserved. It does not mean that he conveyed our sorrows there, but that while there he suffered under the intolerable burden, and was by that burden crushed in death. The phrase “on the tree,” literally “on the wood,” means the cross. The same Greek word is used in Act 5:30; Act 10:39; Act 13:29; Gal 3:13, as applicable to the cross, in all of which places it is rendered “tree.”

That we, being dead to sins - In virtue of his having thus been suspended on a cross; that is, his being put to death as an atoning sacrifice was the means by which we become dead to sin, and live to God. The phrase “being dead to sins” is, in the original, ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι tais hamartiais apogenomenoi - literally, “to be absent from sins.” The Greek word was probably used (by an euphemism) to denote to die, that is, to be absent from the world. This is a milder and less repulsive word than to say to die. It is not elsewhere used in the New Testament. The meaning is, that we being effectually separated from sin - that is, being so that it no longer influences us - should live unto God. We are to be, in regard to sin, as if we were dead; and it is to have no more influence over us than if we were in our graves. See the notes at Rom 6:2-7. The means by which this is brought about is the death of Christ (See the notes at Rom 6:8) for as he died literally on the cross on account of our sins, the effect has been to lead us to see the evil of transgression, and to lead new, and holy lives.

Should live unto righteousness - Though dead in respect to sin, yet we have real life in another respect. We are made alive unto God to righteousness, to true holiness. See the Rom 6:11 note; Gal 2:20 note.

By whose stripes - This is taken from Isa 53:5. See it explained in the notes on that verse. The word rendered “stripes” (μώλωπι mōlōpi) means, properly, the livid and swollen mark of a blow; the mark designated by us when we use the expression “black and blue.” It is not properly a bloody wound, but that made by pinching, beating, scourging. The idea seems to be that the Saviour was scourged or whipped; and that the effect on us is the same in producing spiritual healing, or in recovering us from our faults, as if we had been scourged ourselves. By faith we see the bruises inflicted on him, the black and blue spots made by beating; we remember that they were on account of our sins, and not for his; and the effect in reclaiming us is the same as if they had been inflicted on us.

Ye were healed - Sin is often spoken of as a disease, and redemption from it as a restoration from a deadly malady. See this explained in the notes at Isa 53:5.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Who his own self; not by offering any other sacrifice, (as the Levitical priests did), but by that of himself.

Bare our sins; or, took up, or lifted up, in allusion to the sacrifices of the Old Testament, the same word being used of them, Heb 7:27; Jam 2:21. As the sins of the offerer were typically laid upon the sacrifice, which, being substituted in his place, was likewise slain in his stead; so Christ standing in our room, took upon him the guilt of our sins, and bare their punishment, Isa 53:4, &c. The Lord laid on him our iniquities, and he willingly took them up; and by bearing their curse, took away our guilt. Or, it may have respect to the cross, on which Christ being lifted up, {Joh 3:14,15; Joh 12:32} took up our sins with him, and expiated their guilt by undergoing that death which was due to us for them.

In his own body; this doth not exclude his soul but is rather to be understood, by a synecdoche, of his whole human nature, and we have the sufferings of his soul mentioned, Isa 53:10,12; Joh 12:27; but mention is made of his body, because the sufferings of that were most visible.

On the tree; on the cross.

That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; another end of Christ’s death, the mortification of sin, and our being freed from the dominion of it, Rom 6:2,6, and being reformed to a life of holiness.

By whose stripes ye were healed; viz. of the wound made in your souls by sin: this seems to relate to the blows that servants might receive of cruel masters, against which the apostle comforts them, and to the patient bearing of which he exhorts them, because Christ by bearing stripes, (a servile punishment), under which may be comprehended all the sufferings of his death, had healed them of much worse wounds, and spiritual diseases, the guilt of their consciences, and the defilement of their souls.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. Who… bare our sins—The for us, of 1Pe_2:21, is now taken up, and it is further shown that our Lord’s sufferings were endured for us who have deserved to suffer, thus exalting both his character of well-doing and the example he has left us.

Our sins—As acts of the sinner, they cannot be taken away except by preventing them before they exist; nor can they be assumed by, or transferred to, another; nor yet again will any moral effect flowing to us from Christ’s death, blot them from existence. Considered in relation to God’s law, they are transgressions, blameworthy, and drawing punishment after them. In taking upon himself the act of another, one assumes, not the act itself, nor the character of its performer, but the responsibilities and penalties which flow from it. So Christ took upon himself our sins.

Bare—Rather, bore up, that is, on the cross. He took on himself the burden of our sins, a crushing load, truly, and as our substitute bore their punishment in his own body, thus expiating our guilt. See Isa_53:4; Isa_53:12.

On the tree—One can hardly doubt that the apostle added these words from a recollection of Deu_21:23, and perhaps of St. Paul’s use of it in Gal_3:13 : “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” God’s curse was upon sin, and Christ, our voluntary substitute, taking our sins on the tree, placed himself where the curse, with its heaviest strokes, fell upon him. The purpose of this great suffering was, that they for whom it was endured might be enabled to lead a holy life.

Being dead—Rather, having died; being through the atonement delivered from their power.

Righteousness—The new master, whom through the Holy Spirit it becomes possible to serve.

By whose stripes—See Isa_53:5. The word here means the wale caused by the stripe. Thus these maltreated Christian servants see in their Saviour and Lord all that was endured by any of their class; the buffetings, the cross, as a mode of punishment for slaves, and the stripes, so frequently bestowed, but with the wide difference that his stripes were for the healing of their own wounds.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who his own self, bare our sins in his own body on the tree. St. Peter has thus far spoken of our Lord as our Example of patient endurance; but he seems to feel that, although this is the aspect of the Savior"s sufferings most suitable to his present purpose, yet it is scarcely seemly to dwell upon that most momentous of all events, the death of Christ our Lord upon the cross, without mentioning its more solemn and awful import. A martyr may be an example of patient suffering; he cannot bear our sins. The apostle proceeds to unfold the contents of the uJper uJmwn in ver. 21. The Lord died for us: but what is the meaning of the preposition? Was it that his example might stimulate us to imitate his patience and his holy courage? This is a true view, but, taken alone, it would be utterly inadequate. The death of the Son of God had a far deeper significance. The uJper used here and elsewhere is explained by the more precise ajnti of Mat_20:28; Mar_10:45; negken). 1Ti_2:6, in which last passage both propositions are combined. The Lord died, not only in our behalf, but in our stead. He gave "his life a ransom for many;" "he is the Propitiation for our sins." St. Peter exhibits here, with all possible emphasis, this vicarious aspect of the Savior"s death. "He bore our sins himself." The pronoun is strongly emphatic; he bore them, though they were not his own. They were our sins, but he bore them he alone; none other could bear that awful burden. He bare (ajnh) The apostle is evidently quotingnegke; Isa_53:12, where the Hebrew verb is and the Septuagint Version is Kai aujtoav pollwn ajnh comp. vers. 4 and 11 (in ver. 11 there is another Hebrew verb) of the same chapter. In the Old Testament "to bear sins" or "iniquity" means to suffer the punishment of sin, whether one"s own sin or the sin of others. (see Lev_5:1, Lev_5:17, and many similar passages) In the description of the ceremonial of the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. it is said (Ver. 22) that the scapegoat "shall bear upon him the Greek is lhyetai oJ cimarov ejf eJautw all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited," where the scapegoat is represented as bearing the sins of the people and taking them away. Compare also the great saying of the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God. which taketh away the sin of the world!" where the Greek (oJ ai]rwn) may be rendered with equal exactness, "who beareth," or "who taketh away." The Lord took our sins away by taking them upon himself. (comp. Mat_8:17) As Aaron put the sins of the people upon the head of the scapegoat, (Lev_16:21) and the goat was to bear them upon him unto a land not inhabited, so the Lord laid on the blessed Savior the iniquity of us all, and he bare our sins in his own body on to the tree, and, there dying in our stead, took them away. He bare them on himself, as the scapegoat bare upon him the iniquities of Israel. It was this burden of sin which made his sacred body sweat great drops of blood in his awful agony. He bare them on to the tree (ejpi tolon); he carried them thither, and there he expiated them Heb_9:28, "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many," where the same Greek word is used ajnenegkein). Another interpretation takes ajnaferein in its sacrificial sense, as in Heb_7:27, and regards the cross as the altar: "He bore our sins on to the altar of the cross." The Lord is both Priest and Victim, and the verb is used in the sacred writings both of the priest who offers the sacrifice and of the sacrifice which bears or takes away sin. But the sacrifice which the Lord offered up was himself, not our sins; therefore it seems best to understand ajnaferein here rather of victim than of priest, as in Heb_9:28 and the Greek Version of Isa_53:12. The thought of sacrifice was doubtless present to the apostle"s mind, as it certainly was to the prophet"s (see ver. 10 of Isa 53). The word xulon is used for the cross twice in St. Peter"s speeches in the Acts of the Apostles. (Act_5:30 Act_10:39) It is also so used by St. Paul. (Gal_3:13) That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. The Greek word ajpogenomenoi occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Bengel understands it differently. He says that as genesqai tinov means "to become the slave of some one," so ajpogenesqai may mean to cease to be a slave. But this would require the genitive, not the dative, taiv aJmartiaiv; and the ordinary translation is more suitable to the following context. The word is several times used in Herodotus in the sense of "having died;" more literally, "having ceased to be." The tense (aorist) seems to point to a definite time, as the time of baptism. (comp. Rom_6:2, 11 Gal_2:19, Gal_2:20) Righteousness here is simply the opposite of sin obedience, submission to the will of God. Bengel says, "Justitia tota una est; peccatum multiplex." By whose stripes ye were healed. The apostle is quoting the Septuagint rendering of Isa_53:5. The Greek mwlwy means the mark or weal left on the flesh by a scourge (comp. Ecc 28:17, Plhghstigov poiei mwlwpav). The slaves, whom the apostle is addressing, might perhaps not infrequently be subjected to the scourge; he bids them remember the more dreadful flagellation which the Lord endured. They were to learn patience of him, and to remember to their comfort that those stripes which he, the holy Son of God, condescended to suffer are to them that believe healing and salvation. Faith in the crucified Savior lifts the Christian out of the sickness of sin into the health of righteousness.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who himself bore our sins - That is, the punishment due to them. In his afflicted, torn, dying body on the tree - The cross, whereon chiefly slaves or servants were wont to suffer. That we being dead to sin - Wholly delivered both from the guilt and power of it: indeed, without an atonement first made for the guilt, we could never have been delivered from the power. Might live to righteousness - Which is one only. The sins we had committed, and he bore, were manifold.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

sins Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").

righteousness (See Scofield "Rom 10:10").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ARGUMENT 12

LIFE AND HEALTH IN THE ATONEMENT

24. “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree in order that we being dead to sins may live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed.” This verse, in beautiful, lucid and cogent simplicity sets forth the vicarious atonement, in which the Son of God actually redeemed the whole world when He died on the cross, sweeping from the field very conceivable defalcation as to the gracious possibility of universal salvation, hence the vile sinner need only, in the utter and eternal abnegation and abandonment of all his sins, in the profound contrition of a broken heart, look to Calvary and by simple faith in the Word of God, receive and appropriate the full and free pardon of all his transgressions, rising with the shout of victory over sin, Satan and hell. Not only is life from the dead for every lost soul purchased by the vicarious atonement of Christ on the cross, but perfect soul health gloriously delivered from the remotest lingering contamination of the diabolical virus engendered by the fall, is abundantly provided for in this triumphant expiation of the human malady, unfurling the banner of entire sanctification to wave triumphantly over the blackest hell-dens of slumdom.

25. The omnipotent, crucified, risen and triumphant Christ is the tenderhearted, loving Shepherd, now calling every human soul this side the infernal portal to come unto Him. Meanwhile to all the spiritually dead He offers life and to all the sick perfect health.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. Who … bare our sins. Died for our sins, not his own. He took our burdens. On the tree. The wood of the cross. That we being dead to sins. “Crucified with him,” penitent, the repentant sinner is baptized into his death, and rising to a new life, lives unto righteousness. By whose stripes. See Isa. 53:5,6.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Peter continues talking about Jesus Christ. He is still speaking to people who are servants.

He himself

This refers to Jesus, with emphasis. (See: Reflexive Pronouns)

carried our sins in his body to the tree

Here "carried our sins" means he suffered the punishment for our sins. AT: "suffered the punishment for our sins in his body on the tree" (See: Metonymy)

the tree

This is a reference to the cross on which Jesus died, which was made of wood. (See: Metonymy)

By his bruises you have been healed

This can be stated in active form. AT: "God has healed you because people bruised him" (See: Active or Passive)

you had been wandering away like lost sheep

Peter speaks about his readers before they believed in Christ as if they had been similar to lost sheep wandering around aimlessly. (See: Simile)

the shepherd and guardian of your souls

Peter speaks of Jesus as if he were a shepherd. Just as a shepherd protects his sheep, Jesus protects those who trust in him. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

sin

body

life

righteous

cure

ewe

shepherd

soul

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

24. ἀνήνεγκεν is the word used in Isa 53:12, “He bare the sins of many,” and the numerous reminiscences of that chapter in this section make it almost certain that St Peter is borrowing the word from it, coupling with it the word ξύλον probably from Deu 21:23. The same phrase from Isaiah is also borrowed in Heb 9:28, ὁ Χριστὸς ἅπαξ προσενεχθεὶς εἰς τὸ πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας. In that passage ἀναφέρειν seems certainly to retain something of its ordinary sacrificial meaning of “offer up” (cf. 1Pe 2:5; Jas 2:21 ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, Heb 7:27; Heb 13:15). (In the Gospels ἀναφέρειν merely means to “take up” (Mat 17:1; Mar 9:2; Luk 24:51).) So Chrysostom explains the words in Heb 9:28 as meaning that, just as when we offer up an offering we present our sins for pardon that God may take them away, so Christ offered up our sins to the Father not for judgment but for removal. Westcott considers that the sacrificial idea is present in the phrase, but explains that Christ carried to the cross the burden of sins (not, primarily or separately from the sins, the punishment of sins) and there did away with sin and sins. So here St Peter may regard our sins laid upon Christ as being included in the sacrificial victim, the Body of Christ “offered up” upon the Altar of the Cross.

Deissmann (Bible Studies, p. 88), while admitting that the word ἀναφέρειν was perhaps suggested to St Peter by the reminiscences of Isaiah 53 which pervade this section, argues that we have no right to assume that St Peter must have used it in the same sense as the LXX. translators of Isa 53:12, who may have meant “suffered the punishment of” as representing the Hebrew נשׂא. In that case, says Deissmann, St Peter would have added ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ, whereas ἐπί with the accusative would mean “carry up to.”

(In answer to this it may be argued that in Isa 53:11 ἀνοίσει τὰς ἁμαρτίας is the LXX. translation of an entirely different verb סבל (used also in the second clause of Isa 53:4, where it is translated ὀδυνᾶται), and this word does mean to “load oneself with a burden,” and that burden might be described as “carried up to the Cross.”)

Deissmann disputes the sacrificial meaning of ἀναφέρειν in this passage on the ground that the sins could hardly be described as offered up. He would explain the words as meaning that, when Christ “bears up to” the cross the sins of men, then men have them no more; the “bearing up” is a “taking away,” without any special idea of substitution or sacrifice. He also quotes a contract, Pap. Flind. Petr. 1. xvi. 12, περὶ δὲ ὧν ἀντιλέγω ἀναφερομεν […] ὀφειλημάτων κριθήσομαι ἐπʼ Ἀσκληπιάδου. The editor supplies the missing portion … ων εἰς ἐμὲ and the sense may be that certain debts of another person have been imposed upon the writer (cf. Aesch. 3. 215; Isoc. 5. 32). If such a forensic meaning was intended by St Peter, the meaning would be that the sins of men are laid upon the Cross, as in a court of law a debt in money is removed from one and laid upon another. We might compare the forensic metaphor in Col 2:14 where the χειρόγραθον drawn up against mankind is taken away by being nailed to the Cross.

ἐν τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ. The body of Christ is the organism through which His life is fulfilled. His earthly body was the instrument of His perfect obedience and self-sacrifice, “A body hast thou prepared Me,” Heb 10:5. “By the offering of that body (alike in the perfect service of His life and the voluntary endurance of death) we have been sanctified,” Heb 10:10. St Paul in Rom 7:4 says, “Ye were made dead to the law through the body of Christ.” So here it is the sin-bearing victim. But elsewhere in St Paul the body of Christ means the organism by which His life and work are still carried on, viz. the Church in which Jews and Gentiles are made one. Of that body He is still the Head and the source of its life and growth. Into it Christians are incorporated by Baptism, and are sustained by partaking of His life. Each has to contribute in building it up. On its behalf St Paul rejoices in sharing the sufferings of Christ.

In view of St Peter’s apparent use of Romans and Ephesians in so many passages, it is certainly surprising that he shews no trace of this striking Pauline conception of the body of Christ.

ξύλον is used for a gallows tree in Deu 21:23, “Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree,” quoted in Gal 3:13. But the only other passages where it is used for the Cross are in St Peter’s speeches, Act 5:30; Act 10:39, and by St Paul, Act 13:29. In Rev 22:2 etc. it is used for “the tree of life” and in Luk 23:31 of “the green tree.” In Act 16:24 it means “the stocks,” and in the plural Mat 26:47, “staves.”

ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἀπογενόμενοι, breaking off all connexion with sins, being dead to them. The verb occurs nowhere else in the LXX. or N.T. For the dative after compounds of ἀπό, cf. ἀποθνήσκειν τῷ νόμῳ, Gal 2:19, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, Rom 6:2.

The purpose of Christ’s sacrifice, as stated here and generally in the N.T., is not to save man from the punishment of sin so much as from its power, to put an end to the regime of sin. The same idea is suggested in 1Pe 4:1, ὁ παθὼν σαρκὶ πέπαυται ἁμαρτίαις, Christians are to welcome sufferings as the process by which the ideal “death unto sin,” symbolized by their baptism into Christ’s death, is made real in the persons of His members. The same thought of being dead to sin as living members of the crucified and risen Lord is expressed more fully in Rom 6:1-11; cf. Gal 5:24; Col 2:12; Col 3:2.

μώλωψ is the scar or wheal caused by a blow. The phrase is quoted from Isa 53:5. The slaves to whom St Peter was writing might find help to be brave and patient, when their bodies were perhaps bruised and bleeding from some cruel blow, by the thought that they were sharing in suffering like that by which their Saviour had won life and healing for them.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24.] who Himself (now the ἀγαθοποιῶν reaches its height. He was not only negatively innocent, ver. 22, but suffered in the pursuance of the noblest purpose of love, and that love towards us: by which fact His example is further brought home and endeared to us) bore our sins (but in the pregnant sense of “bore to sacrifice,” “carried and offered up:” see notes on Jas 2:21, Ἀβραὰμ.… ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ … ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον: see Lev 14:20; Heb 7:27. It is a word belonging to sacrifice, and not to be dissociated from it. In Isa 53:12, αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνένεγκεν, (Heb 9:28,) we have the sense of bearing on Himself more prominent: and by that passage our rendering here must be regulated: always remembering that the other sense lies behind) in His (own) (this is almost required by the repetition of αὐτοῦ after αὐτός, when it might have been well omitted, if no emphasis had been intended) body on the tree (constr. prægn., “took them to the tree and offered them up on it;” as the above sense of ἀνήνεγκεν necessitates. Cf. Vitringa in Huther: “Vix uno verbo ἔμφασις vocis ἀναφέρειν exprimi potest. Nota ferre et offerre. Primo dicere voluit Petrus, Christum portasse peccata nostra, in quantum illa ipsi erant imposita. Secundo, ita tulisse peccata nostra, ut ea secum obtulerit in altari. Respicit ad animantes, quibus peccata primo imponebantur, quique deinceps peccatis onusti offerebantur. Sed in quam aram ξύλον ait Petrus, lignum, h. e., crucem”); tha (purpose of that great and crowning suffering of the Lord) having died (not, as some Commentators, “having past away,” being removed to a distance (“longefacti a peccatis,” Grot.), but literally, “having died:” so Herod. ii. 85, 136, μηδʼ ἄλλον μηδένα τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἀπογενόμενον θάψαι: v. 4, vi. 58, and other examples in Raphel and Wetstein) to our sins (reff.), we should live to righteousness (the same contrast is found, but with another image, of being freed from, and become servants to, in Rom 6:18. In ib. ver. 11, where the same figure of death and life is used, it is νεκροὺς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ζῶντας δὲ τῷ θεῷ), by whose stripe ye were healed (μώλωψ, the weal left by a stripe. From Isa 53:5, τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. “Paradoxon apostolicum: vibice sanati estis. Est autem μώλωψ, vibex, frequens in corpore servili, Sir. 23:10.” Bengel).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bare [ανηνεγκεν] . See on ver. 5. Bare up to the cross, as to an altar, and offered himself thereon.

The tree [ξυλον] . Lit., wood. Peter uses the same peculiar term for the cross, Act 5:30; Act 10:39.

Being dead [απογενομενοι] . Rev., more strictly, having died. Used here only in the New Testament. The rendering of the verb can be given only in a clumsy way, having become off unto sins; not becoming separate from sins, but having ceased to exist as regards them. Compare Rom 6:18. Stripes [μωλωπι] . Lit., bruise. So Rev., in margin. Only here in New Testament; meaning a bloody wale which arises under a blow. "Such a sight we feel sure, as we read this descriptive passage, St. Peter's eyes beheld on the body of his Master, and the flesh so dreadfully mangled made the disfigured form appear in his eyes like one single bruise" (Lumby).

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.