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Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,
Verse 1. Wherefore laying aside all malice. Saint Peter having put them in mind of the great benefit of Christ’s coming to redeem us from sin, exhorts them to avoid sin, to lead a life worthy of their vocation, to follow Christ’s doctrine, and imitate his example. Witham.
as newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk, that with it you may grow,
Verse 2. Desire the rational [1] milk without guile, or deceit. Without guile, in construction, does not agree with new-born children, but with milk, as appears by the text. The sense is, follow the pure doctrine of the gospel, without mixture of errors. Witham.
if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Verse 3. Whoever has a relish for Jesus Christ, has also for his word; and such as have a relish for neither, are truly deplorable. Let us pray then that God would feed us with his word, and with the holy Eucharist, that contains his body and blood, his soul and his divinity, that we may thereby grow up to salvation.
Come to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
Verse 4. The living stone, rejected, and so forth Christ is the chief foundation of his Church, the corner-stone of the building, whom the Jews, and other obstinate unbelievers, reject to their own condemnation and destruction. See Isaiah 28:16. Matthew 21:42. Acts 4:11. Romans 9:32. Witham.
You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Verse 5. You also … a holy [2] priesthood; and, as he saith again, (verse 9) a royal priesthood. 1. Because they had ministers of God, who were truly and properly priests, of whom Christ is the chief. 2. Every good Christian in a less proper sense may be called a priest, inasmuch as he offers to God what in a less proper and metaphorical sense may be called sacrifices and oblations; that is, the sacrifice of an humble and contrite heart, (Psalms 50) the sacrifice of self-denials and mortifications, of prayer, almsdeeds, and so forth And it is called a royal priesthood, as Christians may be called metaphorically kings, by governing their passions, or because they are invited to reign with Christ in his kingdom, to sit on his throne, and so forth See Revelation 3:21. and so forth Witham.
Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious. He who believes in him will not be disappointed.”
“Behold”, from “הִנֵּה” or “ἰδοὺ”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”
and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
Verse 8. Whereunto also they are [3] set, or placed, that is by God’s permission; not that God is the cause of their sins or damnation, (whose will is that every one be saved) but his justice has appointed and decreed punishments against those who, by their own wilful malice, refuse to believe and to follow his doctrine: their stumbling against this stone is wilful and obstinate. Witham.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Verse 9. You are … a purchased people, whom Christ purchased, bought and redeemed with the price of his precious blood.—That you may declare his [4] virtues; that is the excellencies and perfections of God, who hath called you, and now made you his people, which you were not, at least in this matter before, neither you that were Jews, nor especially you that were Gentiles. Witham.
In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.