What Does 1 Peter 5:9 Mean?
Stand against him, firm in trust, seeing that the same sufferings are being carried through your kin in the world.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.THE KEY
The verse pairs resistance with continuing suffering and turns what feels solitary into a shared, worldwide stance of trust.
THE MEANING
Resistance here is a firm stance of trust while suffering is still real. The same sufferings are being lived through by brothers and sisters across the world, so your pain is not presented as something only you carry.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that faithful resistance means suffering should already have stopped, or that ongoing pain means you stand alone.
THE ROOT
ἀντίστητε
antistēte
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
stand; set in place
The verb ἀνθίστημι (anthistēmi, stand against) joins ἀντί (antí, against) with ἵστημι (histēmi, stand or set in place). It describes taking a position against something, and the verse pairs that stance with firmness and trust while suffering continues.
ALSO GROWS
anistēmi: rise; stand up
ἀνίστημι
The same stand-root can describe rising up, showing that resistance here is a stance rather than a picture of striking back.
aphistēmi: withdraw; stand away
ἀφίστημι
The root can also describe stepping away; the added prefix shapes the direction of the stance.
στερεοί
stereoi
GROWS FROM
στερε-
stere-
solid; firm
“firm” in this verse is stereoi. The word carries the sense of solidity, making steadfastness more than a momentary feeling. Set beside trust, it pictures a stance that holds under strain without claiming the strain has vanished.
ALSO GROWS
stereoō: make firm; establish
στερεόω
This related verb shows the family’s movement from being firm to being made firm.
stereōma: firmness; solid support
στερέωμα
This related noun evokes a structure that holds, illuminating the steadiness named in the verse.
πίστει
pistei
GROWS FROM
πειθ-
peith-
persuade; bring to trust
“faith” in this verse is pistei. The Greek word πίστει (pistei, trust) belongs to a word-family of persuasion and reliance. Here trust is not mere agreement with an idea: it is the weight-bearing posture in which this firm stance is held, alongside others who suffer.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: persuade; convince; trust
πείθω
This related verb reveals the movement toward being persuaded or placing trust that stands beneath pistis.
pistos: trustworthy; reliable
πιστός
The related adjective links trust with reliability, echoing the steadfastness named in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Trust takes a firm stand while suffering remains real, and scripture places sufferers within a larger pattern of endurance and deliverance.
Many are the evils against the aligned one, but the LORD snatches him out of them all.Therefore place yourselves under God. Stand against the Slanderer, and he will flee from you.These things have I spoken to you, so that in me you may have wholeness. In the world you have pressure, but take heart; I have overcome the world.THE THREAD
Therefore place yourselves under God. Stand against the Slanderer, and he will flee from you.James uses the same Greek verb, ἀνθίστημι (anthistēmi, stand against), translated “resist” here. Both verses describe a planted stance; Peter adds that this stance is shared with brothers and sisters across the world as suffering continues.
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