Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Was the gospel preached (euhggelisqh). First aorist passive indicative of euaggelizw. Impersonal use.
Even to the dead (kai nekroiv). Does Peter here mean preached to men after they are dead or to men once alive but dead now or when the judgment comes? There are those (Augustine, Luther, etc.) who take "dead" here in the spiritual sense (dead in trespasses and sins as in Colossians 2:13; Ephesians 2:1), but consider it "impossible" for Peter to use the same word in two senses so close together; but Jesus did it in the same sentence, as in the case of yuxh (life) in Matthew 16:25. Bigg takes it to mean that all men who did not hear the gospel message in this life will hear it in the next before the final judgment.
That they might be judged (ina kriqwsin men). Purpose clause with ina and the first aorist passive subjunctive of krinw, to judge, whereas zwsin de (by contrast) is the present active subjunctive of zaw, to live. There is contrast also between kata anqrwpouv (according to men) and kata qeon (according to God).
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing 1 Peter 4:6:
1 Peter 1:3
1 Peter 3:4
1 Peter 4:7
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.
