A Reserved Privilege for Ordained Ministers or the Responsibility Extended to Lay Members of the Church?
Royal
Priesthood in 1 Peter 2: 5, 9: A Reserved Privilege for
Ordained
Ministers or the Responsibility Extended to
Lay
Members of the Church?
by: Pabitra M. Bhandari
Introduction
Though
the title of priesthood is mainly reserved for the selected group of people in
the Old Testament, under the new covenant, its boundary and privilege has been
broadened up. Now the priests of the new covenant are not limited to a certain
physical clan/dynasty, but people from all over the world can enjoy the
privilege and fulfill their responsibility of being priest.[1] In recent time, we can say
that Christianity has almost reached to all corners of the world, and the
priesthood is represented by people from many languages, cultures and background.
Even recently, the privilege is granted to previously denied groups, such as
women and homosexuals. Though the boundary of priesthood seems to disappear
from the ecclesiological radar, the unsettled matters still exists between the
lay people and ordain ministers? Though pastors and priests speak of Royal
priest hood of all believers, they tend to limit the lay people from getting
involved in many ministerial affairs. Is there any legitimate hegemony
preserved for the ordained ministers? Who are included under the title royal priesthood
and what are responsibilities of the privilege? This paper attempts to study the
scripture (1 Peter 2: 5, 9) where the title of royal priesthood was liberated
and delivered to the church.
This
study proceeds from the general observation of the selected text in various
English translations, and as well as its original language Greek. And it dives
into deeper exegesis of the 1 Peter 2: 5, and 9. The text will not be isolated
from its context rather the literary analysis will be conducted in order to see
its place and relation to the whole Epistle.
A word study of ἱεράτευμα
(Priesthood) will be conducted to determine the most appropriate use of the
word in the Text as well as in the New Testament text as a whole. Dictionaries,
lexicons, and commentaries will be consulted in the process. The goal of this
study is to bring the literary, historical and theological meaning of “Royal
Priesthood” to make an appropriate implication for the church today.
Text:
Greek (SBL GNT)
1 Peter 2:5
5 καὶ αὐτοὶ ὡς λίθοι ζῶντες οἰκοδομεῖσθε οἶκος πνευματικὸς
[d]εἰς ἱεράτευμα ἅγιον, ἀνενέγκαι πνευματικὰς θυσίας [e]εὐπροσδέκτους
θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ·
1 Peter 2:9
9 Ὑμεῖς δὲ γένος ἐκλεκτόν, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος
ἅγιον, λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν, ὅπως τὰς ἀρετὰς ἐξαγγείλητε τοῦ ἐκ σκότους ὑμᾶς
καλέσαντος εἰς τὸ θαυμαστὸν αὐτοῦ φῶς·
New International
Version (NIV)
1 Peter 2:5
'you also, like
living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,
offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. '
1 Peter 2:9
'But you are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,
that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light. '
New American
Standard Version (NASV)
1 Peter 2:5
'you also, as
living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. '
1 Peter 2:9
'But you are A
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
possession , so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light; '
Exposition
Literary
Analysis
As
the title suggest, the first Epistle of Peter is most probably written by
Apostle Peter himself in the 60s during the persecution under Nero’s reign.[2] The epistle is addressed to
“God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1:1). Since the letter was destined to be in
several places, it can be taken as a circular letter, not confined to Christians
in specific places. The letter is useful for believers everywhere.[3]
The
selected verses 1 Peter 2:5 and 9 comes from the section 2:4-10, which presents
Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of Rock, and the church
is described to be the people of God as presented in the Old Testament text.
The preceding texts deal with the certainty of salvation in Jesus Christ
(1:3-12), and an urge to live a holy life (1:13-2:3). The following passages
(2:11-23) include various aspects of living a godly exile life. It urges the
readers to be good citizens by submitting to human authority, to be good slaves
even to the harsh masters, to be good wives even with the unbeliever husbands,
to be good husbands respecting wives as weaker partners. Old Testament texts
and examples are provided to strengthen the points. The later sections (3:8-4:11)
deals again with the living for God, following the example of Christ’s
suffering on the cross. Lastly chapter 5:1-9 deals with the relationship
between so called laity and ordained ministers. However, Peter refuses to hand
out the title of the Priesthood only to those who are shepherding the flocks. By
this analysis of the whole epistle we can conclude that when Peter used the
term “Royal Priesthood” and “Holy Priesthood” he had all the believers
(shepherds and the flocks together) in his mind.
The
chosen section stands out in a sense that Peter is trying to give the church
new names and titles such as ‘a chosen people”, ‘a royal priesthood’, ‘a holy
nation’, ‘God’s special possession’, and to strengthen his new identity given
to the Christians, he uses the Old Testament Texts, Isaiah 8:14, 28:16, and
psalm 118:22.
Exegesis:
Verse 5:
'you also, like
living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,
offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.' (1 Peter
2:5 NIV)
It
is evident from the text that Peter has a high regard for the church that it is
founded and being built in the living Stone, “Christ,” to be a spiritual house,
to be a holy priesthood
(ἱεράτευμα,
hieráteuma) with its twofold functions of offering worship to God
and witness before people (2: 5,9).
After
declaring Jesus as the foundation of the Church in v. 4, verse 5 begins with
the phrase “also you” (καὶ αὐτοὶ ). Although
αὐτός is third person when used as a personal pronoun, αὐτός can be used
intensively with all persons (as well as all genders and numbers).[4] In this
particular verse, αὐτοὶ is modifying second person plural verb οἰκοδομεῖσθε,
and this pair can be translated together as “you are being built.”[5] This way we
can conclude that “you” includes all people (male and female) particularly
Christians from all places, because it was a circular letter. Peter means that
Christians are “being build” on Christ οἶκος πνευματικὸς. Though οἶκος
πνευματικὸς are double nominative words (subject), they follow a passive verb οἰκοδομεῖσθε
to be translated as double accusative of the verb. The proper translation of
the first part is “You (all the readers) are being built (into) a spiritual
house.”
The second section of the verse begins with “to be a holy
priesthood” (εἰς ἱεράτευμα ἅγιον) where εἰς clearly introduces the purpose for
preceding verb “being built”.[6] In other
word “Holy Priesthood” is God’s purpose of building us a spiritual house in the
living stone Jesus Christ. The last section of the verse, “offering
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,” states the
function (purpose) of the “Holy Priesthood.”
Verse 9:
'But
you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light. ' (1 Peter 2:9, NIV)
Several quotations from the Old Testament (Isaiah 28:16,
Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 8:14) provide a break between the selected verses 5 and 9.
Verses 6 to 8 talk about unbelievers’ rejection of the living stone Christ. Verse
9, itself, combines the identity of God’s people given in Isaiah 43:20 -21 (My
Chosen people) and Exodus 19:6 (Kingdom of Priests and a holy nation). Here,
Peter brings the identity of God’s people in the Old Testament to the light of
the Gospel. As a result it transfers
God’s purpose of building away from the Israelites to the new community, the
Church.[7]
Verse 9 begins with Ὑμεῖς δὲ which introduces the shift in
focus from the unbelievers to the believers saying ‘you are’, and the verse
provides the list compiled from the Old Testament, a chosen people (γένος
ἐκλεκτόν), a royal priesthood (βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα), a holy nation (ἔθνος
ἅγιον), and God’s special possession (λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν). Later section of
the verse includes the responsibilities for the chosen people, the royal
priesthood, the holy nation and God’s special possession which is to declare
the praises of God.
The text and its analysis points to the conclusion that
priesthood is not reserved for certain ministers rather it is the collective
identity of all who are called by God to be built into the foundation of the
living stone, Jesus Christ. If “priesthood” includes all believers, the world
study of priesthood should shed light to the other facts as well.
Word Study of ἱεράτευμα
ἱεράτευμα (priesthood) is derived from the word ἱερευs (hiereus), a
priest, which itself is connected to the word holy as God’s character. hiereus
refers mainly to the Levitical priests; who performed their duty in the temple.
The New Testament, the book of Hebrews in particular, portrays Jesus as the
fulfillment of the priesthood. [8] However, the particular word ἱεράτευμα occurs only in LXX and dependent writing in exposition of the
revelation at Sinai (EX. 19:6) which means “Kingdom of Priests” implying that
all members of the people have a priestly function. . In 1 Pet. 2:5, 9
salvation and dignity are transferred to the community, which, based on Christ
as the living stone, is built up into a spiritual temple for a consecrated
priestly ministry. “The community is a priesthood because it offers spiritual
sacrifices. As a priestly company it is immediate to God, but there is no priestly
caste, for the whole people is a priestly fellowship. It is royal inasmuch as
it belongs to the King, serves him, and shares his glory in a ministry of
witness (v. 9).”[9] However,
some studies shows that ἱεράτευμα is also a collective term, meaning “body of
priests,” as a church’s corporate identity rather than to the status of
individual Christians as priests.[10] Others point to the fact
that the term ‘priesthood’ appears along with the term ‘people’, which hold
different status in the Old Testament. The priest works as a mediator between
God and the people. But in Christ the believers can be both the people of God and
priest, hence can mediate to God for themselves. The word, from which priesthood is
derived, is never used in the NT to describe the Christian ministry, but rather
the task of all Christian believers (Rev. 1:6).[11] Seeing the similarity to the
term of Philo of same time as Peter, some scholars describe the task of the
priesthood as praise to God rather than missionary preaching to people.[12]
Conclusion
The
study of the text and its meaning in its original language and immediate
context shows that there has been a traditional wrongdoing from the side of the
church throughout the history by assigning certain individual as a successor of
St. Peter, upon which rock, Jesus himself established his church. Though
reformation tried to break the hegemony of the centralized priestly power, the
reformed denominations have developed their own mini-Vaticans in their churches
centralizing the power of the church and ministerial affairs to the hands of a
few. 1 Peter 2:5, 9 is the only text in the New Testament that identifies the
followers of Christ as the holy and royal ‘Priesthood.’ The text itself speaks
to all believers delivering them their new identity and the responsibility as ‘a
chosen people of God’ and ‘the royal and holy priesthood’. If it was Peter who
was chosen by Jesus to build his church upon, he himself is not saving any
title, or authority for himself, rather spending his time to let all the
churches and believers know that they are the royal holy priest hood of God. We
are not successors of the Old Testament priests; rather we are the one who
herald the priest of all who have come to the faith in the living Rock Jesus
Christ.
Works
Cited
D.A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo, and Leon
Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan, 1992), 424.
David H. Wheaton, “1 Peter” in New
Bible Commentary: 21 Century Edition, ed. DA Carson (Downers Groove:
Intervarsity, 1998), 1 Peter.
Dubis, Mark. 1 Peter: A Handbook
on the Greek Text. Waco, Texas:
Baylor University Press, 2010 .
New International Dictionary of New
Testament Theology(NIDNTT), Ed. Colin Brown.,
Vol. 3.
France, Richard T. “First Century Bible
Study: Old Testament Motifs in 1 Peter 2:4-10.” Journal of the European
Pentecostal Theological Association Vol. 18 no 1 (1998): 35,
http://doi.org.ssl.access.yonsei.ac.kr:8080/10.1179/jep.1998.18.1.003.
Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) .
Seland,
Torrey. Strangers in the Light : Philonic Perspectives on Christian
Identity in 1 Peter. Brill, 2005.
[1]Richard T. France, “First Century
Bible Study: Old Testament Motifs in 1 Peter 2:4-10” Journal of the European
Pentecostal Theological Association Vol. 18 no 1 (1998): 35,
http://doi.org.ssl.access.yonsei.ac.kr:8080/10.1179/jep.1998.18.1.003.
“The temple, its priesthood, and the status of being specially chosen by God,
all concepts basic to Israel's self understanding as the people of God, are all
now fulfilled m a multinational people of God.”
He coins the term “a multinational people of God”.
[2]David H. Wheaton, “1 Peter” in New
Bible Commentary: 21 Century Edition, ed. DA Carson (Downers Groove:
Intervarsity, 1998), 1 Peter. Though scholars point to the style and vocabulary
and the content of the writing to discredit Peter being the author of the text,
“the majority of the evidence, both external and internal, would appear to
support the traditional view that Peter the apostle wrote this letter.” D.A.
Carson, Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New
Testament, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1992), 424.
[3]Carson, Moo and Morris, 425.
[4]Mark Dubis, 1 Peter: A
Handbook on the Greek Text (Waco, Texas:
Baylor University Press, 2010)
47.
[5]Wheaton, “1 Peter,” 1802. οἰκοδομεῖσθε as an imperative can be
translated as “be built” Are being built as a statement makes better
sense of the Greek than the imperative ‘be built’ of some translations.
[6]Dubis, 1 Peter: A
Handbook on the Greek Text, 48.
[7]Richard T. France, “First Century
Bible Study: Old Testament Motifs in 1 Peter 2:4-10” 35,
[8]“Priest,” New International
Dictionary of New Testament Theology(NIDNTT), Ed. Colin Brown., Vol. 3, p. 40.
[9]“hieráteuma”
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), .
[10]Dubis, 1 Peter: A Handbook on
the Greek Text, 49.
[11]David H. Wheaton, “1 Peter” in New
Bible Commentary: 21 Century Edition, ed. DA Carson (Downers Groove:
Intervarsity, 1998), 1 Peter.
[12]Torrey
Seland, Strangers in the Light :
Philonic Perspectives on Christian Identity
in
1 Peter,
(Brill, 2005), 115.