The work of a highly esteemed New Testament scholar, this commentary on I Peter has unparalleled breadth and depth and reflects a lifetime of devoted scholarship. Leonhard Goppelt presents here a rich exposition of I Peter that New Testament students and scholars will consult time and again with great profit.

Goppelt’s detailed section-by-section and phrase by phrase commentary is preceded by a complete bibliography and an extended introduction. Scattered throughout the commentary are special notes and excursuses on several themes and issues related to the text of the letter. The footnotes contain a wealth of bibliographical information, which has been updated by translator John Alsup, and an appendix by Alsup provides a brief appreciative survey of the life and works of Leonhard Goppelt. Besides its unusually thorough treatment of the biblical text and the history of interpretation, what distinguishes this commentary is Goppelt’s balanced focus on I Peter as a document setting forth social-ethical guidelines for Christians not just in the first century but in today’s world as well.

A scholarly Christian classic, this monumental commentary on I Peter will find a welcome place in seminary courses (New Testament, social ethics), in theological libraries, and in pastor’s studies.