In his first letter, the apostle Peter describes Christians as "elect exiles of the Dispersion." At first it may seem like he is writing to the Jews or to Jewish Christians, since "the Dispersion" usually referred to the Jews living outside of Palestine. But the actual content of 1 Peter will show that he is writing to the church, Jew and Gentile. In fact, it seems his readers were predominately Gentiles given the way Peter describes their past. Instead, what Peter is doing - and will continue to do in this letter - is applying such language to the church of Jesus Christ as the continuation of God’s covenant people.
As the Jews had been dispersed among the nations, so Christians (whether Jew or Gentile) are dispersed among unbelievers throughout the world. As the Jews had been chosen by God out of his mere mercy, so it is the case with Christians, whether Jew or Gentile. As the Jews had been literally sojourners in foreign countries looking to Jerusalem as their home as a type of the city of God, so Christians - still having their various earthly nationalities and homes - are sojourners waiting for the heavenly city to come in all its glory.
I think “exiles” is a poor translation. The definition of the Greek word does not refer to the sense of being exiled or forced out, but rather to dwelling in another land as a foreigner. As one lexicon explains, the word refers "to staying for a while in a strange or foreign place" (BDAG). Some other translations translate the word as sojourners, strangers, pilgrims, those who reside as aliens, those living as foreigners.
The Greek word translated here as “exiles” (parepidémos) is found in two places in the Greek translation of the Old Testament: Genesis 23:4 and Psalm 39:12. In Genesis 23:4 it is the word translated as “foreigner” in Abraham’s statement, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you…” In Psalm 39:12 it is translated as “guest” in David’s statement: “For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.” In neither case does the word mean “exile.” (A different word is used in the Greek Old Testament to translate the word “exiles.”)
In both Genesis 23 and Psalm 39, the word is paired with a similar word, translated sojourner in both cases. The Greek word used to translate this word for sojourner (paroikos) also appears in 1 Peter. Both words are found together in 1 Peter 2:11 like they are in Genesis 23:4 and Psalms 39:12, where Peter exhorts them as such. A form of paroikos is also found in 1 Peter 1:17, translated by the ESV as "exile" in "the time of your exile." A better translation would be "the time of your sojourn."
It is true that Peter is applying terms that would have been used for the Jewish Dispersion, which originally began with exile, but the dispersed Jews were no longer “exiles” by the time of the New Testament. They were sojourners, resident aliens.
The Jews of the Dispersion were sojourners among the Gentiles. This meant they were distinct from those around them and that they saw another place as their home. The term is applied to Christians in a modified sense. Christians are not an earthly nation and ethnicity like the Jews were, but are a spiritual nation, intersecting all the earthly nations. They are spiritually distinct from unbelieving neighbors. Christians are foreigners to the kingdom of darkness. The home they look to is not Judea, but the kingdom of God; not the earthly Jerusalem but the heavenly Jerusalem. This identity exists along with natural earthly bonds to family and nation. Your identity as sojourners refers to your distinctness from the fallen world as the people of God (1 Peter 2:9-12), and to your hope of your eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-9).
Realizing that parepidémos does not mean “exiles” but something more like “resident alien” is important for our conception of what is being said in 1 Peter. Think of Abraham’s sojourning rather than the Israelites’ exile from Jerusalem. In 1 Peter, we are not going back to the place we came from. We have left the darkness and have come into the light and we await glory. We have been called out of one place and are going to another. The people in the old place want us back, but we must press on and not turn back, looking to the hope set before us. We have left the city of destruction and are headed to the celestial city. It is a pilgrimage through time - a perseverance in the land until we possess the full inheritance.
It is true that Peter is applying terms that would have been used for the Jewish Dispersion, which originally began with exile, but the dispersed Jews were no longer “exiles” by the time of the New Testament. They were sojourners, resident aliens.
The Jews of the Dispersion were sojourners among the Gentiles. This meant they were distinct from those around them and that they saw another place as their home. The term is applied to Christians in a modified sense. Christians are not an earthly nation and ethnicity like the Jews were, but are a spiritual nation, intersecting all the earthly nations. They are spiritually distinct from unbelieving neighbors. Christians are foreigners to the kingdom of darkness. The home they look to is not Judea, but the kingdom of God; not the earthly Jerusalem but the heavenly Jerusalem. This identity exists along with natural earthly bonds to family and nation. Your identity as sojourners refers to your distinctness from the fallen world as the people of God (1 Peter 2:9-12), and to your hope of your eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-9).
Realizing that parepidémos does not mean “exiles” but something more like “resident alien” is important for our conception of what is being said in 1 Peter. Think of Abraham’s sojourning rather than the Israelites’ exile from Jerusalem. In 1 Peter, we are not going back to the place we came from. We have left the darkness and have come into the light and we await glory. We have been called out of one place and are going to another. The people in the old place want us back, but we must press on and not turn back, looking to the hope set before us. We have left the city of destruction and are headed to the celestial city. It is a pilgrimage through time - a perseverance in the land until we possess the full inheritance.
If you belong to the church of Jesus Christ, you are sojourners of the dispersion. Therefore, be distinct from the ungodliness around you and look with hope to the eternal inheritance that awaits you. You do not belong to the fallen world of unbelief and sinful passions around you. Hold fast to Christ with an endurance supported by believing hope.
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