I Peter 2:1 · Bible study
1 Peter 2:1 Commentary: Laying Aside the Vices of the Old Life
Greek · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examine 1 Peter 2:1, where believers are called to strip off malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander as the necessary response to being born again.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Believers must decisively reject malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander because they contradict the new birth.
- Key words: ἀποθέμενοι (apothemenoi), aorist middle participle, “having put aside”; καταλαλιά (katalalia), “evil speaking,” rare in the NT.
- Main debate: Whether the aorist participle implies a once-for-all act (most commentators) or an ongoing process; the consensus favors a decisive initiation of a new pattern.
- Theological theme: Indicative (new birth) precedes imperative (putting off sin); Christian ethics flow from identity in Christ.
- Best use: A sharp diagnostic for examining hidden sins of heart and tongue, especially within the church.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,
KJV King James Version 1769
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Having put aside, then, all evil, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envyings, and all evil speakings,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Laying aside therefore all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envyings and all evil speakings,
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Wherefore laying away all malice and all guile and dissimulations and envies and all detractions,
Translations in other languages (10 available)
DEJANDO pues toda malicia, y todo engaño, y fingimientos, y envidias, y todas las detracciones,
Abandonai, portanto, toda malícia, toda enganação, fingimentos, invejas, e todas as falas maldosas,
Rejetant donc toute malice et toute ruse, la dissimulation, l’ envie, et toute médisance,
So leget nun ab alle Bosheit und allen Betrug und Heuchelei und Neid und alles Afterreden,
Zo legt dan af alle kwaadheid, en alle bedrog, en geveinsdheid, en nijdigheid, en alle achterklappingen;
Gettando dunque lungi da voi ogni malizia, e ogni frode, e le ipocrisie, e le invidie, ed ogni sorta di maldicenze, come bambini pur ora nati,
Przetoż złożywszy wszelką złość i wszelką zdradę, i obłudę, i zazdrość, i wszelakie obmowiska,
Итак, отложив всякую злобу и всякое коварство, и лицемерие, и зависть, и всякое злословие,
所以，你們既除去 一切的 惡毒（或譯：陰毒）、 詭詐，並 假善、 嫉妒，和 一切 毀謗的話，
So putting away all wrongdoing, and all tricks and deceits and envies and evil talk,
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · I Peter 2:1
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that the word “wherefore” (οὖν) tethers this command directly to the regeneration described in 1 Peter 1:22-23. Barnes notes that the Greek verb for “laying aside” (ἀποθέμενοι, aorist middle participle) is a metaphor from stripping off clothes, it pictures a complete and final removal. Calvin adds that the vices listed belong to “the oldness of the flesh” and are utterly incompatible with the new birth. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown observes a genealogy within the list: malice breeds guile, guile breeds hypocrisy, hypocrisy breeds envy, envy breeds evil-speaking. The five items are representative, not exhaustive: they cover ill-will (malice), dishonesty (deceit), pretense (hypocrisy), resentment (envy), and slander (evil-speaking). The consensus is clear: because believers have been born again through the living word, they must decisively strip away these sins that destroy brotherly love. The aorist participle presents this as a decisive act, not a gradual process.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: All Christians agree that this verse commands believers to decisively reject malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander as contradictory to new life in Christ.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'malice' (κακία) | The term covers both general wickedness and the specific disposition of ill-will. | Some commentators (Barnes) emphasize the broad sense of all evil; others (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) see it as the root from which the other vices grow. |
| Aorist participle as once-for-all | The aorist tense indicates a decisive action, not a gradual or repeated one. | Calvin and most Reformed interpreters read it as the definitive break that occurs at conversion; some application-oriented readings treat it as a recurring call to repentance. |
| Target audience of the list | The letter addresses believers facing trials, and the vices are universal sins. | The Cambridge Bible argues the vices (hypocrisy, evil-speaking) reflect a Jewish background shaped by Jesus’ warnings; others see them as common to any human community. |
| Completeness of the list | The five items are representative, not exhaustive. | Some see them as covering all forms of evil (broadly); others (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) insist they are specifically sins against brotherly love, not a universal catalogue. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The metaphor of “laying aside” would have struck Peter’s readers with visceral force. Ancient people changed garments for cleanliness, for entering a sacred space, or when exchanging a soiled life for a pure one. Gill connects the imagery to Zechariah 3:3-5, where filthy robes are removed and a clean turban is placed on the high priest Joshua. The aorist participle suggests a once-for-all act, the kind of break that happens at baptism, when the old self is stripped off and the new is put on (compare Colossians 3:8-10 and the kindred noun in 1 Peter 3:21).
The Cambridge Bible notes that the vices of hypocrisy and evil-speaking were especially condemned by Jesus in his confrontations with the Pharisees (Matthew 23), which suggests Peter’s audience included Jewish converts familiar with that prophetic critique. Envy and deceit appear throughout the Old Testament as community-destroying sins (Psalm 34:13, Proverbs 3:31). Early Christian communities, often small house churches facing external persecution, were particularly vulnerable to internal fractures caused by envy or slander. Peter’s list names precisely the sins that would tear apart a group called to love one another deeply from the heart (1:22).
The opening “Wherefore” anchors the whole exhortation in the indicative of new birth. Morality is not a prerequisite for salvation; it is the inevitable fruit of being born again through God’s living and enduring word (1:23). Verse 2 will immediately contrast these vices with the “pure spiritual milk” that newborns in Christ crave.
Textual Notes
The consulted commentaries note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Greek text is stable across major manuscripts.
Reception History
This verse has been central to Christian catechesis on the moral transformation required by baptism. The metaphor of stripping off a garment appears in early baptismal liturgies. Augustine (quoted by Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) traced a “genealogy of sins” from malice through to evil-speaking. In the Reformation, Calvin used the verse to insist that regeneration must produce a changed life. Wesley and Methodist commentators connected it to the doctrine of entire sanctification. Across traditions, 1 Peter 2:1 remains a standard text for self-examination, linking heart attitudes to speech and community health.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The command: “Laying aside” is a decisive break with the old life, pictured as stripping off a dirty garment.
- The catalogue: Five vices (malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, evil-speaking) that poison relationships and contradict brotherly love.
- The cause: Regeneration through the word (1 Peter 1:23) supplies both the motive and the power for this moral cleanup.
Five-point outline
- Put off malice, all forms of ill-will, settled anger, and desire for another’s harm.
- Put off deceit, falsehood, flattery, or any crafty manipulation of others.
- Put off hypocrisy, pretending to be pious or friendly while the heart holds something else.
- Put off envy, grieving at the success or gifts of another.
- Put off evil-speaking, slander, gossip, or any word that tears down a brother or sister.
Illustration hooks
- The relief of shedding a heavy, dirty coat after a long day’s work, that crisp feeling of a fresh start.
- Watching a coworker receive a promotion and feeling that quiet twist in your stomach, envy is often the first sin we hide.
- A whispered rumor in a church hallway spreads faster than any announcement; evil-speaking can devastate a congregation overnight.
Questions your congregation is asking
- How do I know if I have hidden malice in my heart toward someone?
- What does “evil speaking” look like in the digital age, is sharing a negative article about a Christian leader the same as slander?
- If I struggle with envy, does that mean I’m not really born again?
Leading a Discussion
This small-group guide explores 1 Peter 2:1, focusing on how the new birth frees believers to strip off the attitudes and behaviors that harm relationships.
Discussion questions
- What does the phrase “laying aside” (or “putting away”) suggest about the nature of these sins, are they external habits or heart issues?
- How does the word “therefore” connect this verse to the teaching about regeneration in 1 Peter 1:22-23? Why does that connection matter?
- Of the five vices, malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, evil-speaking, which do you think is most destructive to a church community? Why?
- In what ways can hypocrisy show up in our lives today, both inside and outside of church settings?
- How can this group help one another recognize and “lay aside” envy?
- How does the promise of being “born again” (1:23) give both the motivation and the power to put off these sins?
- What is one practical step you can take this week to “lay aside” one of these vices?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| I Samuel 18:8 | Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have credited David with ten thousands, and they have only credited me with thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?” |
| I Samuel 18:9 | Saul watched David from that day and forward. |
| Job 36:13 | “But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They don’t cry for help when he binds them. |
| Psalms 32:2 | Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit. |
| Psalms 34:13 | Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. |
| Psalms 37:1 | By David. Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. |
| Psalms 73:3 | For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. |
| Proverbs 3:31 | Don’t envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
11 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke stresses that the command to lay aside malice and similar dispositions is inseparably linked to the preceding chapter. Such tempers were common among the Jews, he notes, but Christianity can never tolerate them because they reveal the mind of the old murderer, not the mind of Christ.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes stresses that genuine Christian faith strips away all deceit and insincerity, restoring the simple honesty of a child. He argues that conversion is meant to undo the guile and false appearances we acquire in life, so a person who remains characteristically crafty cannot truly be a Christian.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin insists that being born again through God's word demands a life that matches that new birth. He reads Peter's call for infant-like simplicity as a direct contrast to the vices of the old nature. Malice, hypocrisy and envy belong to the hardened corruption of the world, while sincere, guileless innocence is the mark of spiritual infancy.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge commentary connects the command to "lay aside" evil directly to the new birth mentioned earlier in the letter, treating it as the natural conduct of those beginning a purer life. It observes that the specific sins named, especially hypocrisies and evil speaking, were the besetting faults of Jewish rather than Gentile character, confirming the epistle was written mainly to Jewish converts.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Wherefore, laying aside all maliciousnes, and all guile, and dissimulation, and enuie, and all euill speaking,
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that these five vices are completely out of place for people who are born again, especially for newborn babes in Christ. He pictures them as filthy old clothes that a regenerate person should never wear again, since malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy and evil speaking directly contradict the innocence and sincerity that belong to God's children.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
jfb treats "laying aside" as a once-for-all act, like removing a garment, possible only for Christians who already possess the new nature. They trace a genealogy of sins against brotherly love: out of malice comes guile, then hypocrisies, then envies, then evil-speaking—each breeding the next.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange traces a deliberate progression: laying aside vices like removing a garment, then craving pure spiritual milk for growth, and finally being built as living stones into a temple where every believer serves as a priest. He stresses that this building is communal, not individualistic, and that spiritual sacrifices are acceptable only through Christ's mediation.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry insists that malice, deceit, and hypocrisy must be discarded like a rotten garment because they destroy love and block the Word from taking effect. He defines each sin sharply: malice as settled anger seeking harm, guile as crafty deception, and hypocrisy as counterfeit piety or friendship that hides mischief.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent draws attention to the Greek wording behind "all evil speaking," noting that "all" here means "every" or "all manner of." He also observes that the word for "evil speaking" is rare in the New Testament, meaning literally "speakings against."
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley stresses that dissimulation, the outward expression of inner deceit, is completely inconsistent with the pure love believers are called to show. He sees the command to lay it aside as flowing naturally from that love, not as a separate moral rule.