Date

4-7-2026

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Bible Exposition (PhD)

Chair

Timothy Cochrell

Keywords

ongoing exile, 1 Peter

Disciplines

Religion

Abstract

In his first epistle, Peter employs the biblical theme of ongoing exile as a controlling metaphor to depict his readers’ circumstances. By doing so, he situates those readers as participants in the overarching biblical storyline of God’s restoring through Jesus Christ what man has lost through sin. The shape of that grand narrative is anticipated in what has called “the Deuteronomic scheme of sin–exile–restoration.” Using the idea of an ongoing exile followed by restoration, the writer of 1 Peter accomplishes two vitally important objectives. First, he shows his mostly Gentile readers’ experiences to be participation in exile like that of OT Israel. Second, he demonstrates how his readers ought to live as exiles, in a manner reminiscent of the prophets’ instructions to the original exiles—for example, Jeremiah’s (Jer 29:4–7). This study will explore the OT concept of exile, using key texts from the Torah where exile and restoration are first described and developed. It will go on to explore the concept as it can be seen in extrabiblical literature of the Second Temple Period and as it is used by New Testament writers—and by Peter himself in sermons recorded in Acts.

The heart of the present work is an exploration of how these themes converge in 1 Peter. It will include a detailed discussion of exile terminology, an overview of recent scholarship on 1 Peter, and an analysis of the book’s themes of identity, conduct, and expectation. Finally, it will explore the challenges and hopes of exilic life as Peter presents them: a life in which God’s people suffer, a life that glorifies God and can have an impact for good on the surrounding culture, a life that culminates in the promised but never before fully accomplished restoration.

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