SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:19
en el cual tambin fue y predic a los espíritus encarcelados,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 3:19
Verse 19. By which] Spirit, his own Divine energy and authority. He went and preached] By the ministry of Noah, one hundred and twenty years.
Unto the spirits in prison] The inhabitants of the antediluvian world, who, having been disobedient, and convicted of the most flagrant transgressions against God, were sentenced by his just law to destruction. But their punishment was delayed to see if they would repent; and the long-suffering of God waited one hundred and twenty years, which were granted to them for this purpose; during which time, as criminals tried and convicted, they are represented as being in prison - detained under the arrest of Divine justice, which waited either for their repentance or the expiration of the respite, that the punishment pronounced might be inflicted. This I have long believed to be the sense of this difficult passage, and no other that I have seen is so consistent with the whole scope of the place. That the Spirit of God did strive with, convict, and reprove the antediluvians, is evident from Gen. vi. 3: My Spirit shall not always strive with man, forasmuch as he is flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. And it was by this Spirit that Noah became a preacher of righteousness, and condemned that ungodly world, Heb. xi. 7, who would not believe till wrath-Divine punishment, came upon them to the uttermost. The word pneumasi, spirits, is supposed to render this view of the subject improbable, because this must mean disembodied spirits; but this certainly does not follow, for the spirits of just men made perfect, Heb. xii. 23, certainly means righteous men, and men still in the Church militant; and the Father of spirits, Heb. xii. 9, means men still in the body; and the God of the spirits of all flesh, Num. xvi. 22; xxvii. 16, means men not in a disembodied state.
But even on this word there are several various readings; some of the Greek MSS. read pneumati, in spirit, and one pneumati agiw, in the Holy Spirit. I have before me one of the first, if not the very first edition of the Latin Bible; and in it the verse stands thus: In quo et hiis, qui in carcere erant, SPIRITUALITER veniens praedicavit; "by which he came spiritually, and preached to them that were in prison." In two very ancient MSS. of the Vulgate before me, the clause is thus: In quo et his qui in carcere erant SPIRITU venient praedicavit; "in which, coming by the Spirit, he preached to those who were in prison." This is the reading also in the Complutensian Polyglot.
Another ancient MS. in my possession has the words nearly as in the printed copy: In quo et hiis qui in carcere CONCLUSI erant SPIRITUALITER veniens praedicavit; "in which, coming spiritually, he preached to those who were SHUT UP in prison." Another MS., written about A. D. 1370, is the same as the printed copy.
The common printed Vulgate is different from all these, and from all the MSS. of the Vulgate which I have seen in reading spiritibus, "to the spirits." In my old MS. Bible, which contains the first translation into English ever made, the clause is the following: In whiche thing and to hem that weren closid togyder in prison, hi commynge in Spirit, prechide. The copy from which this translation was taken evidently read conclusi erdnt, with one of the MSS. quoted above, as closid togyder proves.
I have quoted all these authorities from the most authentic and correct copies of the Vulgate, to show that from them there is no ground to believe that the text speaks of Christ's going to hell to preach the Gospel to the damned, or of his going to some feigned place where the souls of the patriarchs were detained, to whom he preached, and whom he delivered from that place and took with him to paradise, which the Romish Church holds as an article of faith.
Though the judicious Calmet holds with his Church this opinion, yet he cannot consider the text of St. Peter as a proof of it. I will set down his own words: Leviticus sentiment qui veut que Jesus Christ soit descendu aux enfers, pour annoncer sa venue aux anciens patriarches, et pour les tirer de cette espece de prison, ou ils Pattendoient si long tems, est indubitable; et nous le regardons comme un article de notre foi: mais on peut douter que ce soit le sens de Saint Pierre en cet endroit. "The opinion which states that Jesus Christ descended into hell, to announce his coming to the ancient patriarchs, and to deliver them from that species of prison, where they had so long waited for him, is incontrovertible; and we (the Catholics) consider it as an article of our faith: but we may doubt whether this be the meaning of St. Pet. in this place." Some think the whole passage applies to the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles; but the interpretation given above appears to me, after the fullest consideration, to be the most consistent and rational, as I have already remarked.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison .] Various are the senses given of this passage: some say, that Christ, upon his death, went in his human soul to hell; either, as some, to preach to the devils and damned spirits, that they might be saved, if they would; and, as others, to let them know that he was come, and to fill them with dread and terror; but though hell may be meant by the prison, yet the text does not say that he went unto it, or preached in it; only that the spirits were in it, to whom he sometimes went, and preached; nor is his human soul, but his divine nature meant, by the Spirit, by which he went and preached to them: and as for the ends proposed, the former is impracticable and impossible; for after death follows judgment, which is an eternal one; nor is there any salvation, or hope of salvation afterwards; and the latter is absurd, vain, and needless. Others, as the Papists, imagine the sense to be, that Christ, at his death, went in his human soul, into a place they call Limbus Patrum, which they suppose is meant by the prison here, and delivered the souls of the Old Testament saints and patriarchs from thence, and carried them with him to heaven; but this sense is also false, because, as before observed, not the human soul of Christ, but his divine nature, is designed by the Spirit; nor is there any such place as here feigned, in which the souls of Old Testament saints were, before the death of Christ; for they were in peace and rest, in the kingdom of heaven, in Abraham's bosom, inheriting the promises, and not in a prison; besides, the text says not one word of the delivering of these spirits out of prison, only of Christ's preaching to them: add to all this, and which Beza, with others, observes, the apostle speaks of such as had been disobedient, and unbelievers; a character which will not agree with righteous men, and prophets, and patriarchs, under the former dispensation: others think the words are to be understood of Christ's going to preach, by his apostles, to the Gentiles, as in ( Ephesians 2:17) who were in a most miserable condition, strangers to the covenants of promise, and destitute of the hope of salvation, and sat in darkness, and the shadow of death, and, as it were, at the gates of hell; were in the bonds of iniquity, and dead in sin, and had been for long time past foolish and disobedient, serving divers lusts and pleasures, to which they were in bondage. This is, indeed, a more tolerable sense than the former; but it will be difficult to show, that men, in the present state of life, are called spirits, which seems to be a word that relates to the souls of men, in a separate state from their bodies; and especially that carnal and unconverted men are ever so called; and besides, the apostle is speaking of such who were disobedient in the times of Noah; and therefore not of the Gentiles, in the times of the apostles: add to which, that the transition from the times of the apostles, according to this sense, to the days of Noah, is very unaccountable; this sense does not agree with the connection of the words: others are of opinion, that this is meant of the souls of the Old Testament saints, who were en fulakh , in a watch, as they think the phrase may be rendered, instead of in prison: and said to be in such a situation, because they were intent upon the hope of promised salvation, and were looking out for the Messiah, and anxiously desiring his coming, and which he, by some gracious manifestation, made known unto them: but though the word may sometimes signify a watch, yet more commonly a prison, and which sense best suits here; nor is that anxiety and uneasiness, which represents them as in a prison, so applicable to souls in a state of happiness; nor such a gracious manifestation so properly called preaching; and besides, not believers, but unbelievers, disobedient ones, are here spoken of; and though it is only said they were sometimes so, yet to what purpose should this former character be once mentioned of souls now in glory? but it would be tedious to reckon up the several different senses of this place; some referring it to such in Noah's time, to whom the Gospel was preached, and who repented; and though they suffered in their bodies, in the general deluge, yet their souls were saved; whereas the apostle calls them all, the world of the ungodly, ( 2 Peter 2:5) and others, to the eight souls that were shut up in the ark, as in a prison, and were saved; though these are manifestly distinguished in the text from the disobedient spirits. The plain and easy sense of the words is, that Christ, by his Spirit, by which he was quickened, went in the ministry of Noah, the preacher of righteousness, and preached both by words and deeds, by the personal ministry of Noah, and by the building of the ark, to that generation who was then in being; and who being disobedient, and continuing so, a flood was brought upon them which destroyed them all; and whose spirits, or separate souls, were then in the prison of hell, so the Syriac version renders it, lwyb , in hell, (see Revelation 20:7) when the Apostle Peter wrote this epistle; so that Christ neither went into this prison, nor preached in it, nor to spirits that were then in it when he preached, but to persons alive in the days of Noah, and who being disobedient, when they died, their separate souls were put into prison, and there they were when the apostle wrote: from whence we learn, that Christ was, that he existed in his divine nature before he was incarnate, he was before Abraham, he was in the days of Noah; and that Christ also, under the Old Testament, acted the part of a Mediator, in his divine nature, and by his Spirit discharged that branch of it, his prophetic office, before he appeared in human nature; and that the Gospel was preached in those early times, as unto Abraham, so before him.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 14-22 - We sanctify God before others, when our conduct invites and encourage them to glorify and honour him. What was the ground and reason of their hope? We should be able to defend our religion with meekness, in the fear of God. There is no room for any other fears where this great fea is; it disturbs not. The conscience is good, when it does its offic well. That person is in a sad condition on whom sin and suffering meet sin makes suffering extreme, comfortless, and destructive. Surely it is better to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing, whatever ou natural impatience at times may suggest. The example of Christ is a argument for patience under sufferings. In the case of our Lord' suffering, he that knew no sin, suffered instead of those who knew n righteousness. The blessed end and design of our Lord's suffering were, to reconcile us to God, and to bring us to eternal glory. He wa put to death in respect of his human nature, but was quickened an raised by the power of the Holy Spirit. If Christ could not be free from sufferings, why should Christians think to be so? God takes exac notice of the means and advantages people in all ages have had. As to the old world, Christ sent his Spirit; gave warning by Noah. But thoug the patience of God waits long, it will cease at last. And the spirit of disobedient sinners, as soon as they are out of their bodies, ar committed to the prison of hell, where those that despised Noah' warning now are, and from whence there is no redemption. Noah' salvation in the ark upon the water, which carried him above the floods, set forth the salvation of all true believers. That tempora salvation by the ark was a type of the eternal salvation of believer by baptism of the Holy Spirit. To prevent mistakes, the apostl declares what he means by saving baptism; not the outward ceremony of washing with water, which, in itself, does no more than put away the filth of the flesh, but that baptism, of which the baptismal wate formed the sign. Not the outward ordinance, but when a man, by the regeneration of the Spirit, was enabled to repent and profess faith and purpose a new life, uprightly, and as in the presence of God. Le us beware that we rest not upon outward forms. Let us learn to look of the ordinances of God spiritually, and to inquire after the spiritual effect and working of them on our consciences. We would willingly have all religion reduced to outward things. But many who were baptized, an constantly attended the ordinances, have remained without Christ, die in their sins, and are now past recovery. Rest not then till thou ar cleansed by the Spirit of Christ and the blood of Christ. Hi resurrection from the dead is that whereby we are assured of purifyin and peace __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
εν 1722 ω 3739 και 2532 τοις 3588 εν 1722 φυλακη 5438 πνευμασιν 4151 πορευθεις 4198 5679 εκηρυξεν 2784 5656
Vincent's NT Word Studies
19. By which (en w). Wrong. Rev., correctly, in which: in the spiritual form of life; in the disembodied spirit.
Went and preached (poreuqeiv ekhruxen). The word went, employed as usual of a personal act; and preached, in its ordinary New-Testament sense of proclaiming the Gospel.
To the spirits (pneumasin). As in Heb. xii. 23, of disembodied spirits, though the word yucai, souls, is used elsewhere (Apoc. vi. 9; xx. 4).
In prison (en fulakh). Authorities differ, some explaining by 2 Peter ii. 4; Jude 6; Apoc. xx. 7, as the final abode of the lost. Excepting in the last passage, the word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament in a metaphorical sense. It is often translated watch (Matt. xiv. 25; Luke ii. 8); hold and cage (Apoc. xviii. 2). Other explain as Hades, the kingdom of the dead generally.
