Interpreting First Peter 3:18–22

First Peter 3:18–22 is one of the most difficult passages in the nt to understand due to the cryptic statements of 1 Peter 3:19–20, where Peter describes Christ as preaching to disobedient “spirits in prison”—an event that is apparently linked to the time of Noah and the flood (Gen 6). Various interpretations have been proposed regarding this passage.

One option holds that Christ descended into the Underworld (Sheol, Hades, hell, or Tartarus) in connection with His death on the cross. Before His resurrection, while still “in the spirit” (1 Pet 3:18), He made a proclamation to the deceased human souls imprisoned in the Underworld. In this view, the “spirits” in 1 Peter 3:19 are the same as the “dead” in 1 Peter 4:6. Still, some options regarding the identification of these imprisoned souls and the purpose of Jesus’ message remain: Christ’s descent may have provided the dead of Noah’s generation with an opportunity for salvation; alternatively, it may have provided salvation for the ot righteous; or, it brought about condemnation for the unbelieving generation of Noah.

A related view is that the pre-incarnate Christ visited the generation of Noah in their lifetime, rather than in the Underworld after His death, preaching repentance from sin. This view was popular in the medieval era but has largely been rejected by modern interpreters. Essentially, the possibility that souls in the Underworld could repent after death poses a theological difficulty. Given this, another interpretation suggests that Christ descended into the Underworld to announce salvation to the people who had repented of their sins just prior to death.

Most of these interpretations understand the “spirits” as a reference to the souls of the human dead; however, the nt never uses the word for “spirit” in an unqualified fashion to refer to the human soul. Therefore, the reference in 1 Peter 3:19 may point to nonhuman supernatural beings. This interpretation is strengthened when the passage is read in the context of Genesis 6–9 because of the reference to Noah and the flood in 1 Pet 3:20. The flood reference also draws in the traditions of 1 Enoch, so the “spirits in prison” may have been understood to be the fallen angels or “sons of God” of Genesis 6:1–4. Enoch, as in Genesis 5:21–24, prefigures Christ in that God sent Enoch to the fallen spirits—the sons of God who cohabitated with human women (Genesis 6:1–4)—to announce their impending doom (see 1 Enoch 1:9; 10:1–10; Jude 14 and note). For Peter, Jesus is the new Enoch; He proclaimed victory over the powers of evil through His actions on the cross.

These three interpretive possibilities developed out of the various theological questions raised by the passage. Why would Christ preach to imprisoned spirits of the dead? Can the dead respond in faith? By the same token, why would Christ preach to imprisoned fallen angels, emphasizing His victory and their defeat? Despite these questions, understanding the context provided by Second Temple Jewish literature and its expansions on the Genesis traditions offers the closest parallel for understanding the cultural and literary allusions that might have been evident to the letter’s original audience: Christian Jews of the first century ad.

As the final option considered above, this culturally anchored interpretation can be summarized as follows. First, Peter expands on the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection: at some point, Jesus affirmed the condemnation of the fallen angels who had rebelled prior to the flood and had been imprisoned by God. Peter then employs the analogy of the salvation of Noah and his family through water to describe the salvation of believers through baptism: just as Noah was saved by righteousness, believers are saved by faith; baptism is symbolic of their act of faith. Peter emphasizes this by stating how baptism saves by an appeal to Christ’s resurrection, not the physical washing of water baptism. Essentially, Christ’s resurrection has eternal implications for the divine beings that rebelled against God. The resurrected Christ is now elevated to the right hand of God with authority over all other angelic beings.

Douglas Mangum

Further Reading

Genesis 6 and the Sons of God

Baptism