Spirits In Prison

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

This expression appears in 1 Peter 3:19, and some of its implications have been already discussed under Descent into Hades. It remains to summarize the principal interpretations that the phrase has received.

1. Augustine argues (Ep. clxiv. ‘ad Euod.’ 13 ff.) that 1 Peter 3:19 alludes to a preaching by the pre-incarnate Christ to the contemporaries of Noah, imprisoned in the darkness of ignorance, who were afterwards overwhelmed in the Flood for their sins. He is led to this conclusion by the difficulty which is presented by the apparent restriction of Christ’s preaching, if it was in Hades, to one section only of the men who lived before His advent, viz, the antediluvian patriarchs. Augustine’s interpretation has had a wide influence, but it must be dismissed as inconsistent with the whole tenor of 1 Peter 3:17 f. It was after Christ had been ‘put to death in the flesh’ that He was ‘quickened in the spirit,’ in which He ‘went and preached unto the spirits in prison.’ The words must refer to a ministry of Christ in Hades, after His Passion. To whom was this ministry addressed?

2. πνεύματα in the NT generally means ‘angels,’ and it has been held that the fallen angels are indicated by τὰ πνεύματα ἐν φυλακῇ. This would agree with the language of Judges 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4, the latter passage (as in 1 Peter 3:19) going on to speak of Noah and the Flood. So in Eth. Enoch, x. 12, the sons of God who had taken wives of the daughters of men (Genesis 6:2) are represented as bound fast under the hills until the Day of Judgment; cf. also Eth. Enoch, xxi. 10, and Slav. Enoch, vii. 1, where the fallen angels in the second heaven are described as ‘the prisoners suspended, reserved for the eternal judgement,’ So also Apoc. Baruch, lvi. 12f.: ‘Some of them descended, and mingled with women. And then those who did so were tormented in chains.… And those who dwelt on the earth perished … through the waters of the deluge.’ But in this literature there is no trace of a preaching by Christ to the fallen angels; although in Eth. Enoch, xii. 4, xiii. 8, the ‘watchers of the heaven’ who have fallen from their high estate are reproved and condemned by Enoch. Again, the ‘spirits in prison’ of 1 Peter 3:19 must be included among the νεκροί of 1 Peter 4:6 to whom the gospel was preached, and these cannot be angels. Augustine, indeed, was forced by the exigencies of his theory to explain νεκροί of the spiritually dead, but the contrast between ‘the quick and the dead’ in the preceding verse (1 Peter 4:5) proves that the physically dead are in view.

The objection of Loofs (Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethicsiv. 659) that σαρκί in 1 Peter 4:6 proves that the νέκροι must be alive in the flesh is not convincing. When they were judged, they were in the flesh; but ‘the difference in tense in κριθῶσι, ζῶσι makes the former verb antecedent in time to the latter, and the sense is the same as if St. Peter had written ἵνα κριθέντες ζῶσι’ (Bigg, International Critical Commentary, in loc.).

3. We have, then, to interpret πνεύματα of the disembodied spirits of men (as in Hebrews 12:23; cf. Luke 24:37; Luke 24:39), and φυλακή of Sheol or Hades, in which after death they are imprisoned, according to Jewish belief. Thus in Apoc. Baruch, xxiii. 4, we read of ‘a place prepared where the living might dwell and the dead might be guarded’; cf. 2 Es 7:85, 95 and Isaiah 42:7; Isaiah 49:9; Isaiah 61:1 for phrases out of which the idea of Sheol as a prison might have grown (see, further, Descent into Hades, 3). The idea was taken over by the early Christian Church. E.g., Hippolytus (c. Graecos, ed. P. A. de Lagarde, Leipzig 1858, p. 68) writes: τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον (sc. Ἅδης) ὡς φρούριον ἀπενεμήθη ψυχαῖς, and describes Hades as divided into two compartments, for the good and the evil both guarded by angels, the unrighteous being haled to their own place as prisoners (ὡς δἐσμιοι ἑλκόμενοι). And Tertullian (de Anima, 58) explains the φυλακή of Matthew 5:25 as the Hades of discipline for the soul. Indeed, the Peshiṭta Syriac of τοῖς ἐν φυλακῇ πνεύμασιν (1 Peter 3:19) is equivalent to ‘animabus illis quae detinebantur in inferis,’ which leaves no doubt as to the sense which the Syriac translators attached to the phrase under consideration.

4. The ‘spirits in prison’ of 1 Peter 3:19 are, therefore, human souls in Hades or the abode of the departed, to whom Christ ‘preached’ after His Passion, a further allusion to the same mysterious ministry being found in 1 Peter 4:6. This has already been discussed under Descent into Hades, where it has been shown that various opinions were held by the early Christian theologians as to the scope of Christ’s mission to the under world, some confining it to Jews, some to Gentiles, and some admitting all the departed, righteous or unrighteous, to a share in its benediction. But in 1 Peter 3:19, where alone in the NT the phrase ‘spirits in prison’ is found, it is immediately followed by the words ‘which aforetime were disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah,’ etc.-an apparent restriction of its content which is not easy to understand.

An explanation which has much to recommend it is that the Noachian patriarchs are here particularly specified, because the Flood was the great typical judgment of the ancient world, and thus the ‘disobedient in the days of Noah’ are representative of the disobedient in every age (see an excellent discussion of this by F. H. Chase in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols)iii. 795). There is, however, no suggestion in 1 Peter 3:20 that the Noachians are mentioned as representative of all those who died in sin. The emphasis is on the fact of Christ preaching in Hades after His death, and not upon the persons to whom He preached. Great stress was laid in the next age upon this ministry as the direct issue of the Passion. Irenaeus actually says (Haer. iv. 33) that the final cause of Christ’s sufferings was that, having died, He might thus visit and deliver the dead. And Origen (in Psalms 3:6), arguing that Christ effected by the separation of His soul from His body much more for the salvation of mankind than would otherwise have been accomplished, quotes 1 Peter 3:19 in proof. Thus the words θανατωθεὶς μὲν σαρκὶ, ζωοποιηθεὶς δὲ πνεύματι lead directly to the recital of the Descent into Hades. If any of those to whom Christ preached were to be specified, the argument would, indeed, require mention of ἄδικοι, as it is the suffering of the just for the unjust that is in question; but to proceed to specify any individuals at this point is a digression. It must be remembered, however, that the two topics-Hades and the Flood-were closely associated in Jewish thought, although to the modern mind they are quite distinct. For the Flood was caused primarily by the breaking forth of the fountains of the great deep (Genesis 7:11), upon which the earth rested, and which was the mysterious abode of dread monsters and evil things (Genesis 1:21, Isaiah 51:9). These abysmal waters were waters of destruction; and the ‘abyss’ (Luke 8:31) was the home of devils, from which the Beast of the Apocalypse came forth (Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:8). Now Sheol or Hades, the place of departed souls, was conceived as beneath these abysmal waters under the solid earth. ‘They that are deceased tremble beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof’ (Job 26:5). And it was into this ‘abyss’ that Christ descended after His Passion (Romans 10:7).

Hence the mention of the Descensus would at once suggest to a Jew the abyss, whence the waters of judgment burst forth at the Flood. Of the countless souls imprisoned there, the writer recalls, naturally and immediately, those who were carried to its depths in that overwhelming visitation of God’s wrath. To these (but not to the exclusion of others) Christ preached, that, having been judged in the flesh as men are judged (κατὰ ἀνθρώπους), they might henceforth live in the spirit as God lives (κατὰ θεόν, 1 Peter 4:6). And so was Christ’s ‘quickening in the spirit’ manifest after His death.

Literature.-To the books named under Descent into Hades may be added A. Schweizer, Hinabgefahren zur Hölle als Mythus biblische Begründung, Zürich, 1868; E. H. Plumptre. The Spirits in Prison, London, 1887; R. H. Charles, Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian, London, 1899.

J. H. Bernard.

Holman Bible Dictionary

1 Peter 3:191 Peter 3:201 Peter 3:21

The framework for this depiction of Christ's work is the notion, attributed to Jesus Himself, that “As it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man” (Luke 17:26 NRSV; compare Matthew 24:37 ). The immediate focus of the statement in 1Peter is not the flood as such. The flood becomes the center of attention in Matthew 24:20-21 . Matthew 24:19 focuses on the situation that necessitated the flood (see Genesis 6:1-8 ). The disobedient “spirits,” accordingly, are not the people who died in the flood, but the evil spirits, or demons, whose influence brought divine judgment on the world. Peter probably viewed these evil spirits as the offspring of the strange union mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4 between the “sons of God” (that is, angelic or superhuman beings of some kind) and the “daughters of men.” (Compare the Jewish apocalyptic book of 1Enoch 15.8-10: “But now the giants who are born from (the union of) spirits and the flesh shall be called evil spirits upon the earth.”) It is also likely that Peter identified them with the “unclean spirits” over which Jesus had triumphed again and again during His earthly ministry. Jesus' proclamation to these “spirits” must therefore be understood not as redemptive “good news,” but as judgment and defeat at the hands of God (see their anxious question in Matthew 8:29 , “Have you come here to torment us before the time?” NRSV).

That the outcome of this proclamation was the subjection of the disobedient spirits is seen from 1 Peter 3:22 , where Christ is glimpsed “at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him” (NRSV). Yet if they were already “in prison,” what precisely could further defeat and subjection mean? A possible answer to this question is provided by Revelation 18:2 , where “Babylon the great” (or Rome) is seen under God's final judgment as “a haunt for every unclean spirit” (REB). The word translated “haunt” in the RSV is the same word translated “prison” in 1 Peter 3:19 . Peter's point is not that the disobedient spirits were “imprisoned” in the sense of being inactive when Christ came to them, but that He came to them in their “haunts” or “havens” to notify them that their power over humanity was finally broken and that now they must surrender to His universal dominion.

J. Ramsey Michaels

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

The spirits in prison are referred to in 1 Peter 3:19-20 , where Peter declares that they disobeyed in the time of Noah and that Christ went and preached to them in prison. This passage has often been identified as one of the most obscure in the entire New Testament. Other passages are often used to interpret this one, but it must be understood in its own literary context and ideological environment.

Verses 19-21 appear in the middle of a christological confession of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (v. 18) and his exaltation to the right hand of the Father (v. 22 cf. 1 Timothy 3:16 ). Verses 19-21 declare his triumphant declaration to the evil spirits, and contrasts them with Noah, who was saved through water—a type of Christian baptism.

Peter used this confession and triumphant journey of Christ to encourage his readers, who were suffering ridicule and persecution as a result of their conversion (1:6; 4:4). In particular it follows 3:13-17, which explains how they should respond to unreasonable abuse, especially when they have been zealous in living an honorable life before their accusers (2:11-3:12). And their participation in the triumph of Christ is assured by their pledge of a good conscience in baptism (v. 21).

This journey of Christ took place after the resurrection rather than between his death and resurrection, since the description follows the resurrection in verse 18, and the relative clause "in which" ( en ho ) refers either to his resurrected spiritual state, or "at that time, " that is, after his death and resurrection. Since the very same form of the participle ( poreutheis, "going, " or "traveling") is used in both verse 19 and verse 22, it is most likely that this is a single journey of Christ through the heavens to the right hand of the Father (v. 22).

The distinctive characteristic of these spirits is that they were in prison when Christ traveled to them, since the prepositional phrase is in the attributive position ( tois en phulake pneumasin, "the in prison spirits").

That these spirits are the evil angels of Genesis 6:1-4 (or their offspring) is indicated by their being in prison, their disobedience in the time of Noah, their mention in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 , and the New Testament use of the plural noun ("spirits, " pneumasin ) as a reference to evil spirits unless otherwise qualified. This is further supported by contemporary Jewish literature (1Enoch 6:1-8; 12:1-16:4; 19:1; 2Baruch 56:12), which describes these evil angels in the same way as the passage in 1Peter.

Norman R. Ericson

See also [[Descent Into Hell (Hades)]]

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1 Peter 3:18-19. The argument is, Be not afraid (1 Peter 3:14; 1 Peter 3:17) of suffering for well doing even unto death, for death in the flesh leads to life in the spirit as in Christ's case, who was put to death in the flesh but quickened in spirit (i.e. in virtue of His divine nature: Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:45; 2 Corinthians 13:4) in which (as distinguished from in person) He went in the person of Noah (compare 1 Peter 1:11 "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5; He went not locally but as Ephesians 2:17, "He came and preached peace," namely, by His ministers) and preached unto the spirits in prison, namely, the antediluvian unbelievers; their bodies seemed free, but their spirits were in prison (Psalms 141:9) and they like "prisoners shut up in the prison" just as the fallen are judicially regarded as in chains of darkness, though for a time at large on the earth (2 Peter 2:4; Isaiah 24:18; Isaiah 24:22-23; Isaiah 61:1; Genesis 7:11, referred to in Isaiah 24:18). "His Spirit" long "strove" with them, but ceased to do so because even the seed of the godly Seth proved "flesh" and quenched the Spirit (Genesis 6:3).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SPIRITS IN PRISON . See Descent into Hades.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(1 Peter 3:18-20). This topic is introduced by the apostle in connection with the sufferings of Christians through persecution, as both the context preceding and that following indicate. Under these sufferings they are encouraged by the example of Christ; for although his passion was vicarious, as theirs is not, still the two are parallel in one point — namely, that death in either case is their extreme limit (1 Peter 3:18, "once suffered;" 1 Peter 4:1, "he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin"). Connected with this analogy the apostle presents another which is a favorite one with Paul also (Romans 8:10-13) — namely, that the death of carnality is the revival of spirituality, and Christians are consoled in their physical sufferings by this thought, which was the ground idea of the Redeemer's passion ("suffered for sins, to bring us to God"). This central antithesis is pithily expressed in the last clause of 1 Peter 3:18, "being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." Some commentators insist that this should be rendered "put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit" (θανατωθεὶς μὲν σαρκί, ζωοποιηθεὶς δὲ [τῷ ] πνεύματι ), alleging that the strict correspondence of the clauses requires exact parallelism of construction. This, however, appears to us to be far from necessary. The meaning of the first clause is, of course, unequivocal. Christ died physically. But we are at a loss to conceive what intelligible idea is conveyed by the expression, if parallel, Christ revived spiritually. All the labored interpretations collected by Van Oosterzee, in Lange's Commentary, seem to us either sheer nonsense or pure transcendentalism. Nobody imagines that any human being, much less Jesus, could cease to exist in spirit at physical death, or could therefore return to life spiritually. This latter clause is evidently tantamount to the statement elsewhere explicitly made, that the body of Jesus was reanimated by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). As the preposition necessary in English to indicate this relation (" in" or "by") is not expressed in the Greek (the simple dative being used), we are at liberty to employ either indifferently; nor to one thinking after the Greek idiom is it necessary to distinguish consciously between the two. Christ's death, like ours, is stated as the result of a physical affinity; his resurrection was, as ours is also to be, the effect of spiritual relationships. The former ensued from his connection with mortal flesh, the latter was accomplished by virtue of his unity with the Holy Spirit. We therefore obtain a consistent sense by translating, "being put to death by reason of [his] flesh, but quickened by reason of [his] Spirit." His physical constitution rendered him capable of death, but his divinity was sure to reanimate him. Both clauses can only have reference to the palpable facts on which the Gospel is founded — the bodily death and resurrection of Christ.

In the next clause this relation between Christ's humanity and divinity is more explicitly expressed in the Greek by the same case with a preposition (ἐν τῷ ), and we therefore render in like manner, "by virtue of which [Spirit] he went," etc. Here all interpreters recognize the idea of a spiritual presence of Christ, but many explain it as that of his disembodied spirit. This, again, is to us simply unintelligible, and the added statement of "going" (πορευθείς ), upon which some lay special stress as confirming the belief in an actual visit to the place of departed spirits, appears to us to flatly contradict it. What sort of a journey a disembodied spirit could make we cannot imagine. The only real meaning is, and must be, that Christ was, in some imaginary, figurative, or representative sense, present at the place in question. Grant that this was true by reason of his divine ubiquity, and by virtue of his special authority on the given occasion, and all becomes clear, consistent, and intelligible. But to suppose or insist that the presence in question was merely that of a ghost is to relegate the whole transaction to the sphere of the unknown, if not unknowable.

But the main question is, who were "the spirits in prison" to whom he "preached?" That they were the antediluvians doomed to destruction by the flood seems exegetically certain from the context, and is generally conceded. The disputed point is, at what time are they spoken of here; while yet living, or after their death? If the transaction were a real one, and not a mere phantasm, it seems to us, and it has seemed also to the good sense of the Church at large, that the former only can possibly be meant. Here is a well known historical fact, and the context evidently refers to it as such — namely, that Noah preached to the antediluvians "while the ark was a-preparing." We see no mystery or difficulty here whatever. But to understand "prison" to be Hades, Sheol, or the place of departed spirits, is wholly unwarranted by the context, and is repugnant to all that we know of that abode of the lost. It is in vain to appeal to the particles "sometime" (πότε ) and "also" (καί ) in support of this purgatorial notion; they require no such allusion. but simply indicate that the event in question was anterior to the present time, and in some respects a parallel case. The analogy is substantially that above indicated as underlying this whole paragraph, and it is immediately brought out as consisting in the fact of a deliverance by means and in, the midst of a seeming overthrow. The flood was the death of the Old World, and the ark was its renaissance. The same thought is in the next verse expressly termed a "figure," and is applied to baptism as an emblem of Christian redemption; and this is there explicitly referred to Christ's resurrection from the dead as its potential means. As if to prevent all possible misunderstanding, the Savior is there represented as having passed (πορευθείς, again, a bodily transferal in space) into the heavens. There is not a word about his descent ad inferos. To sum up, then, it appears to us clear — and we are not to be befogged by transcendental speculations about the assumed capabilities of the invisible world — that the preaching of Christ through Noah to his contemporaries during the respite before the flood, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, is eminently appropriate to the course of the apostle's argument. In illustrating the paradox of deliverance through destruction, he says that the same principle of mercy through Christ has prevailed in all dispensations, just as the Old World had the proffer of rescue by means of the ark, and as some actually embraced it; so the Gospel both now and finally saves us by a reconstruction through the seeming overthrow of its author. To introduce an allusion to some presumed scene in the other world enacted in the short interim of Christ's burial, and from which nothing seems to have resulted, is wholly gratuitous and irrelevant, not to say nugatory and puerile. Nobody uninfected with Romish superstition, we apprehend, would have originated so bald and yet so bold an interpretation. (See Descent Into Hell). See (besides the various commentaries, and the monographs cited by Danz, Wö rterb. p. 753), Journ. of Sac. Lit. Jan. 1853; Oct. 1860; Ch. Review, July, 1857; Biblioth. Sac. Jan. 1862; New- Englander, Oct. 1872; Princeton Rev. April, 1875; Brit. and For. Ev. Rev. Jan. 1876.