Discussion thread for 1 Peter 3:19-20 Who were the “spirits in prison”? Comment: Not trying to just provoke debate. It’s the text for my SS lesson for Sunday. So get back to me right away! :)
3 Views ... later 2 are orthodox
Jim, I say that the ESV Study Bible note # 2 is the correct understanding.
It is the angels who are usually referred to as "spirits" (see Hebrews 1:7,14). In Acts 8 "an angel of the Lord" (v.26) is referred to as "the spirit" at verse 29.
The identity of the "spirits in prison."
I believe the answer is to be found from the context.
"Christ . . . by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, . . . For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." (1 Peter 3:. . .18, 19 . .. . 4:6.) [That, with the understanding Jesus in the Spirit was preaching to saints which died in the flood because of their disobedience. To them the gospel could be preached. ]
They being identified as "the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." (Genesis 6:2.) And so also being identified as "men in the flesh."
Suggesting the saints were marring women who were unbelievers. Which from the admonition of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: . . . what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15, . . .) Which, I think, would show the moral lesson God was teaching in bringing the flood.
http://www.christianmonthlystandard.com/index.php/preached-to-the-spirit... Preached To The Spirits In Prison (1 Peter 3:18-20)
I think we have missed the focus of the text. We have become so consumed with the meaning of the spirits in prison and Jesus’ proclamation that we have missed how suffering fits into Peter’s point. Do you think Noah had a life of suffering? The scriptures declare him to be a preacher of righteousness. He lived in a day when the thoughts of humanity were continually wicked. Only eight people were saved from God’s judgment. Noah went around preaching to people to repent of their sins and warned them that it was going to rain so much that the earth would be flooded. It had never rained on the earth before. How much ridicule did Noah endure? How much mockery came his way year after year as he built an enormous boat to keep animals and people? Day after day, month after month, and year after year for 120 years, Noah and his family are building a large boat to save the world from a flood. Christ was preached through Noah to those who chose to be disobedient. I submit to you that this is the simplest way to understand the text. Jesus went and preached to those disobedient in the days of Noah through Noah himself and only eight believed. Peter used this language earlier in 1:10-12 where Christ spoke through the prophets about suffering and the subsequent glories.
This is the view that makes the most sense to me.
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