The First Epistle of Peter constitutes an important work of New Testament theology and pastoral care, serves as an example of how the early church applied Jesus' sayings and the Old Testament writings to contemporary concerns, and presents some extremely useful perspectives on living the Christian life today. This commentary by Peter Davids does an excellent job of mining the rich wealth of instruction to be found in this very significant section of Scripture.

Davids's commentary contains several notable features: a unique grasp of 1 Peter's structure, a systematically arranged introduction that summarizes the commentary proper, a perceptive excursus on suffering in 1 Peter and the New Testament, Davids's own study translation, thorough and incisive comments on each verse of the test, frequent parallels to ancient literature, an exceptionally clear and lively writing style, and one of the most comprehensive bibliographies on 1 Peter available anywhere.