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1 Peter 3:19 — King James Version← Study notes

By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;


1 Peter 3:19Greek Interlinear

Greek · 1 Peter 3:199 words
GreekMeaning
ἐνen
inprepositionG1722
whichrelative pronounG3739
καὶkai
alsoadverbG2532
τοῖςtois
to thearticleG3588
ἐνen
inprepositionG1722
φυλακῇphylakē
prisonnounG5438
πνεύμασινpneumasin
spiritsnounG4151
πορευθεὶςporeutheis
having goneverbG4198
ἐκήρυξενekēryxen
He preachedverbG2784
Greek text from the SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT). Transliteration follows SBL Academic conventions.

Church Fathers on 1 Peter 3:19

After having said that Christ was put to death in the flesh, and quickened in the spirit, the apostle immediately went on to say: in which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were unbelieving, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water; thereafter he added the words: which baptism also now by a like figure has saved you. 1 Peter 3:18-21…

Augustine · 4th century · Letter 164 (to Evodius), 2

But how? Do not [the Scriptures] show that the Lord preached the Gospel to those that perished in the flood, or rather had been chained, and to those kept in ward and guard? 1 Peter 3:19-20 And it has been shown also, in the second book of the Stromata, that the apostles, following the Lord, preached the Gospel to those in Hades. For it was requisite, in my opinion, that as here, so also there, the best of the disciples should be imitators of the Master; so that He should…

Clement of Alexandria · 3rd century · Stromata VI.6
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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Omar HassanNote3mo ago
What Happened in the Darkness
I've read this verse a hundred times and still have no idea what Peter means. 'He went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago during the days of Noah.' Was Jesus descending to he...
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Yuki TanakaNote3mo ago
Redemption and restoration - 1 Peter 3
The imagery here is agricultural - the original audience would have immediately understood the metaphor of sowing, waiting, and harvesting. God is faithful in every circumstance. My grandmother used t...
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