Bible Strands
1 Peter 3:19
in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Peter addresses persecuted believers, noting that after Christ was put to death in the body and made alive in the Spirit, he performed a specific action following his resurrection.
The words — The Greek phrase πνεύμασιν ἐν φυλακῇ (pneumasin en phulakē) literally renders "spirits in prison," identifying the exact group to whom Christ directed his post-resurrection proclamation.
The thread — The text's claim that Christ preached to imprisoned spirits runs parallel to the statement in 1 Peter 4:6 that the gospel was preached to those now dead, and aligns with the liberation imagery of Isaiah 42:7 and Isaiah 61:1.
Why it lands — The verse demands that readers acknowledge Christ's active authority beyond the grave and accept his proclamation as historically grounded, requiring trust in his sovereign work regardless of present suffering.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 4:6 That is why the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
- Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- Isaiah 42:7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Isaiah 49:9 to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.
- Nehemiah 9:30 You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.
- Revelation 20:7 When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison,
- 1 Peter 1:11 trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
- Revelation 19:10 So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”