Christ Preaching to the Spirits in Prison [pp. 636-650]

1874 ] CHRIST PREACHING TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON.
inference. That any of the good were preached to, is not
affirmed. That any of the disobedient ones became penitent or
believing, is not affirmed. That any others besides these antediluvians were detained in this "prison," or were preached to,
is not affirmed. Or, why these antediluvians were singled out
from the rest of "the dead," is not indicated. On all these
points we are left in ignorance, so far as the direct teachings of
the passage avail us.*
There is, however, an additional gleam of light which seems to
come to us in our perplexity, from the peculiar language of
chap. iv. 6. It is there said that the design of preaching the
gospel to the dead antediluvians, was, "that they might be
judged (indeed) according to men in the flesh, but (might) live
according to God in the spirit." The "flesh" and the "spirit"
are here manifestly contrasted with each other, as before; and
the word "judged" is suggested by the same word in the preceding verse, where Christ is said to be ready to judge the quick
and the dead. It is also to be particularly noticed that the
word "judged" (xpl2corL), is in the aorist or past tense, while
"live" (c5oGi), is in the present tense,-a change of tenses
which is remarkable and significant. The word xplz2cpz is also
followed by the particle /"v (indeed), which is not expressed in
our translation. The phrase i'va ipz2$c5z ]uEv ("that they
might indeed be judged") is equivalent to, "that although they
were judged." The whole clause then may be properly translated and paraphrased thus:-" That although they were
judged according to man (after the manner of men, or as other
men were) in the flesh, (by being swallowed up in the flood),
they might nevertheless (on hearing the gospel) live according
to God in the spirit, i.e., their souls be saved." (The construction
is similar to that of Rom. vi. 17, "God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin-i.e., although ye were-ye have obeyed from
the heart,"t &c.-Compare also, Rom. viii. 10. In corroboration
of this view we may also notice the significance of the particle
tovre, once, or "sometime," which is connected with the word
* Our interpretation thus far is fully sustained by Horsley, Bloomfield, Alford,
Lange, and the German critics generally.
t Since the above was written Dr. John Lillie's Lectures on Peter, have fallen
under the notice of the writer, and he is happy to find that this learned and acute
interpreter, while differing in some respects as to the general meaning of the
entire passage, fully sustains this translation of these words; so also does Alford.
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