Who are the Spirits in Prison in 1 Peter 3:18-22?

[Alfred Persson]

Who are these “spirits in prison“?

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient [disbelieving: 544 ἀπειθέω apeitheo], when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21 There is also an antitype which now saves us– baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. (1 Pet. 3:18-22 NKJ)

544 ἀπειθέω apeitheo {ap-i-theh’-o}
Meaning: 1) not to allow one’s self to be persuaded 1a) to refuse or withhold belief 1b) to refuse belief and obedience 2) not to comply with.-Strong’s Concordance

QUESTION—Who are the spirits he is referring to?
1. They are the spirits of the people of Noah’s generation [Alf, ICC, TG, TNTC; NJB, TEV].
2. They are supernatural beings.
2.1 They are fallen angels [NTC].
2.2 They are the fallen angels of Genesis 6:1–4 who married human women and had offspring by them [BNTC, EGT, IVP, NCBC, NIBC, NIC, Sel].
2.3 They are evil spirit beings who are the spiritual offspring of the fallen angels of Genesis 6:1–4 who married human women and had offspring by them [WBC].
-Abernathy, D. (2008). An Exegetical Summary of 1 Peter (2nd ed., p. 137). SIL International.

Answer #1 is impossible because Scripture never refers to unregenerate humans as “spirits.” Only Believers who partake of the “divine nature of God” (2 Pet. 1:4) thereby regenerated (Tit. 3:5) have “spirits” that can be grouped with angelic spirits under the heading of what springs from God, the “sons of Elohim” (Gen. 6:2). For example, the “spirits of the prophets” (1 Cor. 14:32) or “spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. 12:23) are children of God (Jn. 1:13; 1 Pt. 1:22. None of the humans Noah preached to could have been classed among this group for if they were they would not have ended up in a prison in hell (Gen. 25:8; Lk. 16:22).

Answer #2 is ruled out by context, Noah preached to these πνεύμασιν therefore they can’t be “unclean spirits” (Mk. 1:27; Lk. 4:36; 1 Ti. 4:1),

Both Answer #2.1 and 2.2 are also ruled out by the context. Christ would not preach to fallen angels. The πνεύμασιν Christ preached to “gave the answer of a good conscience towards God” thus reversing their “disobedience brought on by disbelief (544 ἀπειθέω apeitheo) and so becoming an antitype to how belief manifested during baptism now “saves us”. Moreover, Peter locates the sinning angels of Genesis 6:1-4 as still in hell, in “chains of darkness in Tartarus” (2 Pt. 2:4) but the context of 1 Peter 3:18-22 implies these were captives in his train” (Eph. 4:8-10) when He went had “gone into heaven” and all “angels and authorities and powers” made subject to Him (1 Pt. 3:22).

Answer 2.3 is also impossible. Evil spirit begins would not suffer Noah’s preaching.

The Commentaries missed another possibility, the “spirits in prison” are the “good spirit beings” offspring of both the Nephilim (fallen Ones) and the “sons of God”. Because the angelic "Sons of God" did not join Satan's rebellion but did sin leaving their own habitation (Jude 1:6-7), they were segregated from them, demons going into the abyss (Lk. 8:31) but the angels who sinned into Tartarus (2 Pet. 2:4) Neither went to the "prison" Christ made a special trip to preached to the spirits imprisoned there.

These hybrid “angel-human children” simply could not believe (544 ἀπειθέω apeitheo) Noah’s preaching God for forgive their “Frankenstein angel-human nature” for it is an abomination, a hideous corruption of the Image of God in man with that of angels.

These “men of renown” (Gen. 6:4) perhaps called “Titans” in Greek mythology, died physically in the Flood—Genesis 7:21-23 thrice emphasizes “all …that was on dry land died”. Their spirits were segregated both from human souls and their angelic fathers who were cast in Tartarus (2 Pet. 2:4). As they are unique Christ made a special trip to their prison (5438 φυλακή phulake) to proclaim God’s offer of salvation. This time they believed the preaching “giving the answer of a good conscience”. How do we know this? The context. Only obedience to Christ’s preaching could cause Peter associate His preaching with Noah’s preaching during the flood and Baptism, where in “the like figure” all who responded “giving the “answer of a good conscience to God” were saved. Therefore, among the saved by preaching are these “spirits in prison.” Corroborating this is how completely foreign and antithetical to the context a “proclamation of doom to the dammed” would be, like mixing oil and water. It should be obvious Peter associated Christ preaching to His descent into Hell and ascension into heaven where He lead captivity captive gave gifts to men that He might fill all things (1 Pet. 3:18-22; Eph. 4:7-11). Confirmation this interpretation is correct is its 100% consistency with Peter’s teaching angels sinned in Noah’s day (2 Pet. 2:4) having sexually “gone after strange flesh” (Jude 1:6-7)


As for the "wicked men of renown" who died in the flood, and the spirits of Nephilim demons (cf, πνεύματα δαιμονίων (Rev. 16:14) who were denied re-entry into heaven when the flood came, and died physically in the flood but who were not cast into the Abyss, likely because they did not sire children corrupting the image of God in man; they became the "unclean spirits" and "spirits of demons" (Rev. 16:14) who wander the earth desperately seeking a return to corporeality by possessing insects (2Kings 1:2) animals and men (Lk. 8:27-32; Compare "nakedness" 2 Cor. 5:2-4).

 

[Alfred Persson]

Who are these “spirits in prison“?

Upon rereading what I wrote I realized the important part is a "hard read". Hopefully the following is more readable and easier to understand:

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The Commentaries missed another possibility, the “spirits in prison” are the “good spirit beings” the offspring of both the Nephilim (fallen Ones) and the “sons of God” who were blameless other than refusing to believe Noah’s preaching God would forgive their angel-human nature which defiled the image of God in man, an abomination.

Theses spirits were a “special case” and therefore kept separate from human dead and their angelic fathers and put in a separate “prison.” This is why Christ made a special trip proclaiming the truth of the gospel that God’s Mercy and Forgiveness also applied to them, that God would indeed forgive their nature, a sin they had no control over.

As for the angelic “Sons of God”, because they did not join Satan’s rebellion but sinned leaving their own habitation (Jude 1:6-7), they were seperated from demons who were cast into the tormenting abyss (Lk. 8:31; Rev. 9:1-12); they went to Tartarus and chained in darkness (2 Pet. 2:4)

So the “spirits in prison” are the “men of renown” (Gen. 6:4) also called “Titans” in Greek mythology, who died physically in the Flood—Genesis 7:21-23 thrice emphasizes “all …that was on dry land died”.

As they are unique Christ made a special trip to their prison (5438 φυλακή phulake) to proclaim God’s offer of salvation. This time they believed the preaching “giving the answer of a good conscience”. How do we know this? The context. Only obedience to Christ’s preaching could cause Peter associate His preaching with Noah’s preaching and the flood with Baptism, where “the like figure” of all who respond with belief are saved, having given the “answer of a good conscience to God”.

As we learned from the parable of “Dives and Lazarus” the righteous dead before the New Covenant were gathered to their people by angels and didn’t require relocation when Christ ascended into heaven (Gen. 25:8; Lk. 16:22). Therefore, only this special group of believers went to “paradise” when Christ ascended to heaven.

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended “– what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) (Eph. 4:7-10 NKJ)

Corroborating is how foreign and antithetical to the context a “proclamation of doom to the dammed” would be, especially when the entire event is seen as an antitype forerunner to how the church is saved by belief in God publicly declared during Baptism. Confirming this is correct is its 100% consistency with Peter’s teaching angels sinned in Noah’s day (2 Pet. 2:4) having sexually “gone after strange flesh” (Jude 1:6-7)

As for the “wicked men of renown” who died in the flood, and the spirits of Nephilim demons (cf, πνεύματα δαιμονίων (Rev. 16:14) who were denied re-entry into heaven when the flood came, and died physically in the flood but who were not cast into the Abyss—[likely because they did not sire children corrupting the image of God in man]—these became the “unclean spirits” and “spirits of demons” (Rev. 16:14) who wander the earth desperately seeking a return to corporeality by possessing insects (2Kings 1:2) animals and men (Lk. 8:27-32; Compare “nakedness” 2 Cor. 5:2-4).

Who are the spirits in prison? | End Time News

Discuss this article at EndTimeNewsForum.net Who are these "spirits in prison"? 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits

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[Exeter]

Against Christ Preaching To The Dead​

The reference to Jesus preaching is not to be construed as taking place after His death, but rather the "quickening" of His Spirit in Noah so as to preach through him to those who because of their unbelief are now in Hades, that is "prison".

• The translation is a difficult one because it ends up giving the impression that Jesus went from His crucifixion to preach to those in Hades, but Peter was simply saying those who drowned in the flood are in Hades as of the time of his writing the epistle, and they were preached to by Christ in Noah before the flood.
• The following earlier verses deal with "the Spirit of Christ" being in those who preached prior to His incarnation.

1Pe 1:9-12
(9) Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
(10) Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
(11) Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
(12) Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.