.
Peculiar
People
What 1 Peter 2:9 means when
it refers to believers as peculiar people
The phrase “peculiar people” in 1 Peter 2:9 comes from the King James Version and is not seen in the more modern English translations.
This is because at the time the King James
Version was translated, the word peculiar was often used
to refer to something belonging to someone, as in someone’s property.
If we look up the word peculiar in a dictionary today we would still
see that is one of several meanings this word can have.
Probably the most common usage of the word peculiar today is referring to someone or
something that is strange, odd, or uncommon.
Yet
alternative meanings in the dictionary still tell us that this word can be used
to describe something or someone that “belongs
exclusively to some person, group, or thing” or to refer to “a property or privilege belonging
exclusively or characteristically to a person.”
The original
meaning of the Greek words translated “peculiar” in 1 Peter 2:9 is indeed what is meant in this
passage.
In this verse, Peter is not saying that
Christians are odd or unusual people, even though the world often looks at us that
way.
What this passage is communicating is that
Christians or believers are people who belong to God, they are His own
possession.
Another way of
saying it is that believers are “God’s
own special people.”
As we compare
the different English translations of this verse and consider the alternative
meaning of the word peculiar,
it becomes clear that peculiar in this verse is referring to the fact
that believers are a “special people”
because they were chosen from before the foundation of the earth to be “God’s own possession.”
Those who are born again are different from the
world around them because they are being transformed by the indwelling presence
of the Holy Spirit.
Also they are
different because, having been born again by the Spirit of God and
believing in Christ for salvation, they have received “the right to become children of
God” (John 1:12).
While it is true that believers are different, it
is the believers’ standing as the adopted children of God, joint heirs with
Christ Jesus, and God’s own special people that make us “peculiar.”
For reference, here are the ways several modern English translations translate this passage:
For reference, here are the ways several modern English translations translate this passage:
“But you are A
CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN
POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9 NASB)
“But you are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9
NKJV)
“But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light.” (1
Peter 2:9 ESV)
“But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so
that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 HCSB)
“But you are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,
that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9
NIV)
