1 Peter 2:17.

Pilgrim

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Who is the king in this scripture?

1 Peter 2:17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
The king is to be honored; but God alone, in the highest sense, feared.

Honor the king—Referring here primarily to the Roman sovereign, but implying that we are always to respect those who have the rule over us.
 
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W2L

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The king is to be honored; but God alone, in the highest sense, feared.

Honor the king—Referring here primarily to the Roman sovereign, but implying that we are always to respect those who have the rule over us.
Thanks for the re. Who was this letter written to?
 
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WilliamBo

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Thats interesting. I wonder if the word "king" is correct?

Look up the Hebrew definition for whatever word was used.

BTW, This scripture always comes to mind when I see people who call themselves Christians hating Donald Trump so much (paticularly all the Trump-hating threads on CF)
 
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W2L

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Look up the Hebrew definition for whatever word was used. The scripture always comes to mind when I see people who call themselves Christians hating Donald Trump so much
I believe politics are a more often than not a work of flesh. We as christians should be united not divided. The fact that politics divides us means we should not follow politicians. We were never commanded to run the world, but instead to be the change, or the light, in this world.
 
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HenryM

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Authority. That's the context of the passage.

Interestingly, what does honor mean?

Why is command not to love parents but to honor them?

An explanation that stuck with me about honor as a verb is that it essentially means not to harm. We could say both physically and emotionally.

When you honor someone, when you show respect to someone, what does that actually mean? It's not to love them. It's not to worship them. It's not to follow them. It's to accept their esteemed position by not degrading it in some way or manner, by not harming it.
 
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W2L

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Authority. That's the context of the passage.

Interestingly, what does honor mean?

Why is command not to love parents but to honor them?

An explanation that stuck with me about honor as a verb is that it esentially means not to harm. We could say both physically and emotionally.

When you honor someone, when you show respect to someone, what does that actually mean? It's not to love them. It's not to worship them. It's not to follow them. It's to accept their esteemed position by not degrading it in some way or manner, by not harming it.
I agree.
 
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Pilgrim

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Thanks for the re. Who was this letter written to?
Various churches in Asia Minor, all of whom were suffering religious persecution.

Note that 1 Peter 2:13-17 is about submission to the government.
 
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Thats interesting. I wonder if the word "king" is correct?
In the Greek, the word is βασιλεύς (basileus) meaning a king, monarch, one possessing regal authority.
 
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Radagast

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Look up the Hebrew definition for whatever word was used.

You mean Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek.

The word is actually basileus (βασιλεύς). It's generally translated as "king," but the meaning is broad enough to cover "emperor" and "prince."

Since Peter explains that the king is a man in "supreme authority," he clearly meant the Roman emperor. By extension, today it applies to kings, Prime Ministers, and Presidents.
 
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Hank77

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Since Peter explains that the king is a man in "supreme authority," he clearly meant the Roman emperor. By extension, today it applies to kings, Prime Ministers, and Presidents.
If Peter is talking about a person with 'supreme authority' that could not include Prime Ministers and Presidents, they are not the 'supreme authority' over their countries.
In this country when a President writes an EO it can be contested and it's the SCOTUS that will decide it's legality. Our SCOTUS is more of the 'supreme authority' than the President is. That is why they are called the 'Supreme Court'.
Our Founders were very careful to construct our government in such a way that one man could not have 'supreme authority'.
 
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AlexDTX

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Who is the king in this scripture?

1 Peter 2:17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
The natural assumption is secular leaders, but the context is the brotherhood, God and the king, who in our lives is Jesus.
 
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Hank77

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The natural assumption is secular leaders, but the context is the brotherhood, God and the king, who in our lives is Jesus.
Jesus is the only King that I know.
Thank you for this post.
 
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Radagast

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If Peter is talking about a person with 'supreme authority' that could not include Prime Ministers and Presidents, they are not the 'supreme authority' over their countries.

In verses 13 and 14, Peter is in fact talking about submitting to all human authorities from the top down.

And POTUS is certainly analogous to the emperor in 1 Peter 2:17. Both are the man at the top. Neither had total authority. Both can be described by the Greek word ὑπερέχοντι which Peter uses.
 
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Radagast

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The natural assumption is secular leaders, but the context is the brotherhood, God and the king, who in our lives is Jesus.

The context, beginning in verse 13, is human authorities, of whom the king/emperor is the most important. "King" in this passage is not referring to Jesus.
 
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Hank77

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In verses 13 and 14, Peter is in fact talking about submitting to all human authorities from the top down.

And POTUS is certainly analogous to the emperor in 1 Peter 2:17. Both are the man at the top. Neither had total authority. Both can be described by the Greek word ὑπερέχοντι which Peter uses.
G935
βασιλεύς
basileus
bas-il-yooce'
Probably from G939 (through the notion of a foundation of power); a sovereign (abstractly, relatively or figuratively): - king.

Our President is not the foundation of the power of our democracy. He is not abstractly, relatively, or figuratively a sovereign by any stretch of the imagination.
The Framers of the Constitution would roll over in their graves to think we would even consider the President to be a sovereign figure. They carefully constructed the government powers into three branches to check and balance power in the government. To remove this division of powers is to invite dictatorship.

When we say that God is Sovereign what do we mean? That He is all powerful, that His law is perfect and cannot be changed by any man. That position belongs to God and God alone.
Kings and dictators try to rob this right for God. Be leery of any man in power who appears to see himself as a king, a sovereign.
 
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