Bible Question: Where was Jesus during the 3 days between the crucifixion and the resurrection? |
Bible Answer: [Part 1] Here is the Barnes' Notes of the NT concerning 1 Peter 3:19... "I Peter 3:19 Verse 19. By which. Evidently by the Spirit referred to in the previous verse--åíù--the Divine nature of the Son of God; that by which he was "quickened" again, after he had been put to death; the Son of God regarded as a Divine Being, or in that same nature which afterwards became incarnate, and whose agency was employed in quickening the man Christ Jesus, who had been put to death. The meaning is, that the same "Spirit" which was efficacious in restoring him to life, after he was put to death, was that by which he preached to the spirits in prison. He went. To wit, in the days of Noah. No particular stress should be laid here on the phrase he went." The literal sense is, "he, having gone, preached," etc. --ðïñåõèåéò. It is well known that such expressions are often redundant in Greek writers, as in others. So Herodotus, "to these things they spake, saying"--for they said. "And he, speaking, said;" that is, he said. So #Eph 2:17, "And came and preached peace," etc. #Mt 9:13, "But go and learn what that meaneth," etc. So God is often represented as coming, as descending, etc, when he brings a message to mankind. Thus #Gen 11:5, "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower." #Ex 19:20, "The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai." #Nu 11:25, "The Lord came down in a cloud." #2Sam 22:10, "He bowed the heavens and came down." The idea, however, would be conveyed by this language that he did this personally, or by himself, and not merely by employing the agency of another. It would then be implied here, that though the instrumentality of Noah was employed, yet that it was done not by the Holy Spirit, but by him who afterwards became incarnate. On the supposition, therefore, that this whole massage refers to his preaching to the antediluvians in the time of Noah, and not to the "spirits" after they were confined in prison, this is language which the apostle would have properly and probably used. If that supposition meets the full force of the language, then no argument can be based on it in proof that he went to preach to them after their death, and while his body was lying in the grave. And preached. The word used here (åêçñõîåí) is of a general character, meaning to make a proclamation of any kind, as a crier does, or to deliver a message, and does not necessarily imply that it was the gospel which was preached, nor does it determine anything in regard to the nature of the message. It is not affirmed that he preached the gospel, for if that specific idea had been expressed it would have been rather by another word--åõáããåëéæù. The word here used would be appropriate to such a message as Noah brought to his contemporaries, or to any communication which God made to men. See #Mt 3:1, 4:17, Mk 1:35; #Mk 5:20, 7:36. It is implied in the expression, as already remarked, that he did this himself; that it was the Son of God who subsequently became incarnate, and not the Holy Spirit, that did this; though the language is consistent With the supposition that he did it by the instrumentality of another, to wit, Noah. Qui facit per alium, facit per se. God really proclaims a message to mankind when he does it by the instrumentality of the prophets, or apostles, or other ministers of religion; and all that is necessarily implied in this language would be met by the supposition that Christ delivered a message to the antediluvian race by the agency of Noah. No argument, therefore, can be derived from this language to prove that Christ went and personally preached to those who were confined in hades or in prison. Unto the spirits in prison. That is, clearly, to the spirits now in prison, for this is the fair meaning of the passage. The obvious sense is, that Peter supposed there were "spirits in prison" at the time when he wrote, and that to those same spirits the Son of God had at some time "preached," or had made some proclamation respecting the will of God. As this is the only passage in the New Testament on which the Romish doctrine of purgatory is supposed to rest, it is important to ascertain the fair meaning of the language here employed. There are three obvious inquiries in ascertaining its signification. Who are referred to by spirits? What is meant by in prison? Was the message brought to them while in the prison, or at some previous period?" (Part 1) |