SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:6
¶ En lo cual vosotros os alegris, estando al presente un poco de tiempo afligidos en diversas tentaciones, si es necesario,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 1:6
Verse 6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice] Some refer wherein, en w, to the salvation mentioned above; others, to the last time, kairw escatw, in ver. 5; others think that it applies to the being kept by the power of God through faith; and others, that it refers to all the preceding advantages and privileges. It was in the present salvation of God that they rejoiced or gloried, though not without having an eye to the great recompense of reward. Though now for a season] oligon arti? A little while yet - during your pilgrimage here below, which is but a point when compared with eternity.
If need be] ei deon esti? If it be necessary - if your situation and circumstances be such that you are exposed to trials and persecutions which you cannot avoid, unless God were to work a miracle for your deliverance, which would not be for your ultimate good, as he purposes to turn all your trials and difficulties to your advantage.
Sometimes there is a kind of necessity that the followers of God should be afflicted; when they have no trials they are apt to get careless, and when they have secular prosperity they are likely to become worldly-minded.
"God," said a good man, "can neither trust me with health nor money; therefore I am both poor and afflicted." But the disciples of Christ may be very happy in their souls, though grievously afflicted in their bodies and in their estates. Those to whom St. Peter wrote rejoiced greatly, danced for joy, agalliasqe, while they were grieved, luphqentev, with various trials. The verb lupew signifies to grieve, to make sorrowful: perhaps heaviness is not the best rendering of the original word, as this can scarcely ever consist with rejoicing; but to be sorrowful on account of something external to ourselves, and yet exulting in God from a sense of his goodness to us, is quite compatible: so that we may say with St. Paul, always sorrowing, yet still rejoicing.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice , etc.] The Vulgate Latin version reads, in which ye shall rejoice: and so the Syriac version, adding, for ever; and refer these words to the last time; or, times spoken of in the preceding verse; when the saints will greatly rejoice, being in full possession of eternal salvation; in distinction from the present time, in which they are in heaviness; but it is better to read the words in the present tense, and as expressive of the saints in this life, who are blessed with that fruit of the Spirit, joy, and have always reason to rejoice, and greatly rejoice. The connection is with the whole that goes before; and the sense is this, that regenerated persons rejoice, in that they are the elect of God, according to his everlasting love towards them, and free grace, and good will; in their regeneration, which is an evidence of their election of God; in the abundant mercy of God displayed in their regeneration; and in that lively hope of eternal life which is the effect of it; and in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, which secures their justification of life, and their resurrection from the dead; and in the inheritance they are born heirs unto; and in their preservation to it by the power of God through faith; and in that complete salvation which is ready for them, and in a short time will be revealed, to which they are kept: though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations . This seems to be a contrast, but is no real contradiction; for the character of the saints in this world is, that they are as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, ( 2 Corinthians 6:10) rejoicing even in their tribulations and temptations; yea, for them, and on account of them, in some respects, which in others make them sorrowful, and heavy, or heavy with sorrow: the cause of this heaviness is not only indwelling corruptions, the hidings of God's face, and the temptations of Satan, but afflictions and persecutions, which are here meant by manifold temptations; for not the temptations or to sin, are here intended, but the temptations with which God tempts and tries his people: so he sometimes does, by calling them to hard service, to do things difficult and disagreeable to flesh and blood, in which way he tempted Abraham; and by laying afflictions, or suffering afflictions to come upon them, by which he tried Job; and by permitting wicked men to reproach and persecute them, and to injure them in their characters, persons, and properties; and which was the case of the primitive Christians, and has been more or less the case of the saints ever since: now such exercises are called, from the quality of them, temptations, or trials; because they try the hearts, principles, and graces of them that believe, and particularly their faith hereafter mentioned; and from the quantity of them, they are said to be various; they are of different sorts; as reproach, imprisonment, loss of goods, and death itself in divers shapes; and are more or less at different times and ages; and are exercised on various persons: and are sometimes very heavy, and grievous to be borne, and cause great heaviness and sorrow of heart; and yet there are things, and circumstances, and which are here hinted at, that greatly mitigate the heaviness occasioned by them; as, that these afflictions, and the heaviness that comes by them, are but little, and light, in comparison of the eternal weight of glory; though they are great tribulations in themselves, through and out of which the people of God come to the kingdom; and so the Syriac version renders it, though at this time lylq , ye are a little made sorrowful; and then it is only now, for the present time, and but for a short time; for a little season, even for a moment, comparatively speaking; and also, if need be, which the Syriac version omits, though by all means to be retained: afflictive dispensations, in whatsoever form, are necessary, by the will of God, who has appointed them, and therefore must be, and ought to be, quietly submitted to, and patiently borne, on that consideration; and are also necessary, on account of Christ the head, to whom there must be a conformity of his members; and likewise on their own account; for the humbling of their souls; for the weaning of them from the things of this world; for the restraining, subduing, and keeping under the corruptions of their nature; and for the trial of grace: and it is only if, and when there is a necessity for them, that they are in heaviness by them; otherwise God does not delight to afflict and grieve the children of men, and much less his own; (see Lamentations 3:33) so the Jews say f27 , that rxwh , there was a necessity of God's tempting Abraham as he did, to humble and purify him.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-9 - This epistle is addressed to believers in general, who are strangers in every city or country where they live, and are scattered through the nations. These are to ascribe their salvation to the electing love of the Father, the redemption of the Son, and the sanctification of the Holy Ghost; and so to give glory to one God in three Persons, int whose name they had been baptized. Hope, in the world's phrase, refer only to an uncertain good, for all worldly hopes are tottering, buil upon sand, and the worldling's hopes of heaven are blind and groundles conjectures. But the hope of the sons of the living God is a livin hope; not only as to its object, but as to its effect also. It enliven and comforts in all distresses, enables to meet and get over all difficulties. Mercy is the spring of all this; yea, great mercy an manifold mercy. And this well-grounded hope of salvation, is an activ and living principle of obedience in the soul of the believer. The matter of a Christian's joy, is the remembrance of the happiness lai up for him. It is incorruptible, it cannot come to nothing, it is a estate that cannot be spent. Also undefiled; this signifies its purit and perfection. And it fadeth not; is not sometimes more or les pleasant, but ever the same, still like itself. All possessions her are stained with defects and failings; still something is wanting: fai houses have sad cares flying about the gilded and ceiled roofs; sof beds and full tables, are often with sick bodies and uneasy stomachs All possessions are stained with sin, either in getting or in using them. How ready we are to turn the things we possess into occasions an instruments of sin, and to think there is no liberty or delight in their use, without abusing them! Worldly possessions are uncertain an soon pass away, like the flowers and plants of the field. That must be of the greatest worth, which is laid up in the highest and best place in heaven. Happy are those whose hearts the Holy Spirit sets on thi inheritance. God not only gives his people grace, but preserves the unto glory. Every believer has always something wherein he may greatl rejoice; it should show itself in the countenance and conduct. The Lor does not willingly afflict, yet his wise love often appoints shar trials, to show his people their hearts, and to do them good at the latter end. Gold does not increase by trial in the fire, it become less; but faith is made firm, and multiplied, by troubles an afflictions. Gold must perish at last, and can only purchase perishin things, while the trial of faith will be found to praise, and honour and glory. Let this reconcile us to present afflictions. Seek then to believe Christ's excellence in himself, and his love to us; this wil kindle such a fire in the heart as will make it rise up in a sacrific of love to him. And the glory of God and our own happiness are s united, that if we sincerely seek the one now, we shall attain the other when the soul shall no more be subject to evil. The certainty of this hope is as if believers had already received it.
Greek Textus Receptus
εν 1722 ω 3739 3739 αγαλλιασθε 21 5736 ολιγον 3641 αρτι 737 ει 1487 δεον 1163 5901 εστιν 2076 5748 λυπηθεντες 3076 5685 εν 1722 ποικιλοις 4164 πειρασμοις 3986
Vincent's NT Word Studies
6. Ye greatly rejoice (agalliasqe). The word is always employed in the New Testament for great or lively joy. See Matt. v. 12; Luke i. 47; x. 21.
For a season (oligon). More literally and correctly, as Rev., for a little while. Compare ch. v. 10. The word is used nowhere else in the New Testament in this sense.
In heaviness (luphqentev). Lit., having been grieved. Rev., ye have been put to grief.
Through (en). But Rev., better, in; the preposition not being instrumental, but indicating the sphere or environment in which the grief operates.
Manifold (poikiloiv). Literally the word means variegated. It is used to describe the skin of a leopard, the different-colored veinings of marble, or an embroidered robe; and thence passes into the meaning of changeful, diversified, applied to the changing months or the variations of a strain of music. Peter employs it again, ch. iv. 10, of the grace of God, and James of temptations, as here (i. 2). Compare polupoikilov, manifold, in Eph. iii. 10, applied to the wisdom of God. The word gives a vivid picture of the diversity of the trials, emphasizing this idea rather than that of their number, which is left to be inferred.
Temptations (peirasmoiv). Better, trials, as in margin of Rev., since the word includes more than direct solicitation to evil. It embraces all that goes to furnish a test of character. Compare Jas. i. 2.
