are used for it in the NT; in fact, Peter is the only one to use the term he uses here, anagennaō, and he uses it twice, here and in 1:23. But then in 2:2 he can refer to the same idea with different terminology. 4 Peter does not focus on the past, the new birth itself, but on the future, for the goal of this regeneration is “a living hope”; that is, it points to a bright future ahead, which will be discussed in the next verse. This fits the birth analogy in that birth, while wonderful, does not