AND HE HIMSELF BORE (carried from lower place to higher, offered up like Ge 8:20) OUR SINS: hos tas hamartias (sins is first for emphasis) hemon autos anenegken (3SAAI): (Ex 28:38; Lev 16:22; 22:9; Nu 18:22; Ps 38:4; Is 53:4, 5, 6,11; Mt 8:17; Jn 1:29, 36; Heb 9:28)

He Himself - MacArthur comments that this phrase...

is an emphatic personalization and stresses that the Son of God voluntarily and without coercion (John 10:15, 17, 18) died as the only sufficient sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe (cf. John 1:29; 3:16; 1Ti 2:5, 6; 4:10; He 2:9 [note] He 2:17 [note]). The very name Jesus indicated that He would “save His people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). (MacArthur, J. 1 Peter. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos)

They shall therefore keep My charge, so that they may not bear sin because of it, and die thereby because they profane it; I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Peter presents the ultimate illustration of unjust suffering in the Cross of Christ.

Bore (399)(anaphero from ana = up, again, back + phero = bear, carry)  literally means to carry, bring or bear up and so to to cause to move from a lower position to a higher position. It serves as a technical term for offering sacrifices offer up (to an altar).

Anaphero is used 9 times in the NT in the NAS (see below) and is translated as:  bear, 1; bore, 1; brought, 1; led, 1; offer, 3; offered, 2.

Matthew 17:1 And six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves.

Mark 9:2 And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;

Luke 24:51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. (KJV only)

Hebrews 7:27 (note) who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 9:28 (note) so Christ also, having been offered (prosphero) once to bear (anaphero) the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Comment: The writer of Hebrews utilizes anaphero with a meaning similar to Peter i.e., to refer to Christ's propitiatory or satisfactory sacrifice)

Hebrews 13:15 (note) Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (Comment: Dear NT believers, you who are now priests of the Most High God and thus have the incredible privilege of continually doing what only the Jewish Levitical priests could do in the Old Testament. Are you "taking advantage" of your high and holy privilege as members of a royal priesthood? [1Pe 2:9-note])

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? (Comment: Justified in this context could be translated "shown to be justified". In other words, his offering up of Isaac showed that he had been declared righteous.)

1 Peter 2:5 (note) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (Comment: Believers now can offer up holy sacrifices because the Holy One offered up Himself! Precious truth!)

1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Anaphero is found 135 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Greek translation of the OT Hebrew) (Gen. 8:20; 22:2, 13; 31:39; 40:10; Ex 18:19, 22, 26; 19:8; 24:5; 29:18, 25; 30:9, 20; Lev. 2:16; 3:5, 11, 14, 16; 4:10, 19, 26, 31; 6:15, 26; 7:5, 31; 8:16, 20f, 27f; 9:10, 20; 14:20; 16:25; 17:5f; 23:11; Num. 5:26; 14:33; 18:17; 23:2, 30; Deut. 1:17; 12:13f, 27; 14:24; 27:6; Jdg. 6:26, 28; 11:31; 13:16, 19; 15:13; 16:8, 18; 20:26, 38; 21:4; 1 Sam. 2:19; 6:14f; 7:9f; 10:8; 13:9f, 12; 15:12; 18:27; 20:13; 2 Sam. 1:24; 6:17; 21:13; 24:22, 24f; 1 Ki. 2:35; 3:4; 5:13; 8:1; 9:15; 10:5; 12:27; 17:19; 2 Ki. 3:27; 4:21; 1 Chr. 15:3, 12, 14; 16:2, 40; 21:24, 26; 23:31; 29:21; 2 Chr. 1:4, 6; 2:4; 4:16; 5:2, 5; 8:12f; 9:4, 16; 23:18; 24:14; 29:21, 27, 29, 31f; 35:14; Ezra. 3:2, 6; Neh. 10:38; 12:31; Job 7:13; Ps. 51:19; 66:15; Prov. 8:6; Isa. 18:7; 53:11f; 57:6; 60:7; 66:3; Jer. 32:35; Ezek. 36:15; 43:18, 24; Da 6:23) Anaphero is the verb the translators of the LXX Old Testament  usually used to picture the offering of a sacrifice.

Figuratively (as used here by Peter) anaphero means to take up and bear sins by imputation (act of laying the responsibility or blame for) as typified by the ancient sacrifices.

Jesus our Great High Priest bore our sins as our substitutionary sacrifice, dying in our place, in order to bring about atonement for our sins. The priests in the Old Covenant could not bear our sins.

Wuest's paraphrase conveys Peter's allusion to the Old Testament sacrificial system -- Jesus

Himself carried up to the Cross our sins in His body and offered Himself there as on an altar

It is notable that anaphero is used 25 times in the Septuagint translation of Leviticus regarding offerings! For example, Moses records that

Aaron's sons shall offer it up (anaphero = bear, carry) in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD. (Lev 3:5)

Jesus, as our Great High Priest , offered up the sacrifice of Himself by bringing His body up to the Cross. Anaphero is used in Hebrews which records that Jesus

"does not need daily, like those (Jewish) high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself." (He 7:27-note)

Exodus discusses the parallel role of the OT high priests recording that

Aaron shall take away (to lift, to carry) the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and (the turban) shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord. (Ex 28:38)

This was but a shadow of which Jesus was the Substance.

Isaiah in his famous prophecy of the suffering Servant (the Messiah) records that

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Isa 53:4, 5, 6)

Isaiah adds that

As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear (LXX uses anaphero) their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong, because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He Himself bore (LXX uses anaphero) the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. (Isa 53:11,12)

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him he declared the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (and all the OT Messianic prophecies for that matter) saying

Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn 1:29, cp Jn 1:36)

It is interesting to note that the Jewish people did not crucify criminals. They stoned them to death. But if the victim was especially evil, his dead body was hung on a tree until evening, as a mark of shame (Dt 21:23). Jesus died on a tree—a cross—and bore the curse of the Law (Gal 3:13). The force of ana = up, appears in the fact of the altar was in fact elevated.

Anaphero is often used of carrying from a lower to a higher place (Mt 17:1; Lk 24:51)

Matthew Henry writes that He Himself bore our sins teaches...

1.That Christ, in his sufferings, stood charged with our sins, as one who had undertaken to put them away by the sacrifice of himself, Isa. 53:6.

2 That he bore the punishment of them, and thereby satisfied divine justice.

3. That hereby he takes away our sins, and removes them away from us; as the scapegoat did typically bear the sins of the people on his head, and then carried them quite away, (Lev. 16:21, 22), so the Lamb of God does first bear our sins in his own body, and thereby take away the sins of the world, Jn. 1:29.

He Himself bore our sins - During the Napoleonic Wars, men were conscripted into the French army by a lottery system. If your name was drawn, you had to go off to battle. But in the rare case that you could get someone else to take your place, you were exempt. On one occasion the authorities came to a certain man and told him that his name had been drawn. But he refused to go, saying, “I was killed two years ago.” At first they questioned his sanity, but he insisted that this was in fact the case. He claimed that the records would show that he had been conscripted two years previously and that he had been killed in action. “How can that be?” they questioned. “You are alive now.” He explained that when his name came up, a close friend said to him, “You have a large family, but I’m not married and nobody is dependent on me. I’ll take your name and address and go in your place.” The records upheld the man’s claim. The case was referred to Napoleon himself, who decided that the country had no legal claim on that man. He was free because another man had died in his place.

IN HIS BODY ON THE CROSS: en to somati autou epi to xulon: (Dt 21:22,23; Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Gal 3:13)

Moses records the OT teaching regarding "the tree"...

And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance. (Dt 21:22,23)

Paul quotes in part from Moses declaring that on the Cross...

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"-- (Galatians 3:13)

Take up thy cross and follow on,
Nor think till death to lay it down,
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown. --Everest

Christ showed His love by dying for us;
we show our love by living for Him.

Cross (3586) (xulon/xylon from xuo = to scrape) is literally wood and refers to anything made of wood, including a tree or other wooden article or substance. 

In Ac 5:30, 10:39, 13:29, 1Pe 2:24 and Gal 3:13 xulon refers to the old rugged Cross. The NT idea of xulon/xylon as a cross is related to Dt 21:11 which emphasizes the shame that befalls the one who is exposed and punished in such a way.

Richards records that...

In the Roman world the cross was used to execute only slaves and foreigners. Those with Roman citizenship were protected from the shame and the pain associated with crucifixion. As practiced by the Romans, crucifixion involved either tying or nailing the convicted person to a crossbeam, which was attached to the stauros (4716) ("pole"). The cross might be in the form of a T or, as it is more traditionally represented, as a t. Death came slowly to a crucified person, through exhaustion or by suffocation. And it came with great pain. Death by crucifixion was also considered a great disgrace. It is the theological implications of Jesus' crucifixion, however, that are of most concern to the Christian (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency or Computer Version - New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words)

BDAG says xylon is (1) "wood as a plant substance in unmanufactured form", then an (2) "object made of word" (pole = Nu 21:8, club = Mt 26:47, 55, Mk 14:43, 48, Lk 22:52, stocks (Job 33:11, Ac 16:24), a wooden structure used for crucifixion (cf OT passages referring to hanging or impalement of a criminal’s corpse on a post = Ge 40:19, Dt 21:22, 23, Josh 10:26) and finally (3) a "tree" (Ge 1:29, 2:9, 3:1ff, Is 14:8, Eccl 2:5, Lk 23:31, tree of life = Re 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19)

Liddell-Scott says xulon/xylon means "wood cut and ready for use, firewood, timber, Homer; ship-timber; a piece of wood, a post; a perch; a stick, cudgel, club" (2) "a collar of wood, put on the neck of the prisoner; also stocks, for the feet", (3) "a plank or beam to which malefactors were bound, the Cross"; (4) "a money changer's table" (5) "of live wood, a tree".

TDNT "Figuratively xylon is an “unfeeling” person. The LXX often uses xyla for trees, but also has xylon for wood, used for cultic or secular purposes.

NIDNTT...

The word now normally translated as cross denotes in Greek an instrument of torture and execution. It has gained a special significance through its historic connection with the death of Jesus. Two words are used for the instrument of execution on which Jesus died: xylon (wood, tree) and stauros (stake, cross). xylon meant originally wood, and is often used in the NT of wood as a material. Through its connection with Deut. 21:23 (quoted in Gal. 3:13, “Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree”), xylon could virtually be treated as synonymous with stauros. In the gospels stauros is used in the accounts of the execution of Jesus, and in the theological reflection of the Pauline literature it symbolizes the sufferings and death of Christ

Xylon is commonly used in classic literature for wood or timber, as a building material, fuel, and material from which utensils and cultic objects are made (e.g. Dem. 45, 33; Hesiod, Works 808). Cudgels, clubs, instruments of torture and punishment in the form of sticks, blocks and collars for slaves, lunatics and prisoners were called xylon (Hdt., 2, 63; 4, 180). xylon as a tree is rare. It is first attested in Hdt., 3:46; 7, 65; Euripides, Cyclops, 572; and Xen., Anab., 6, 4, 5.

In the Septuagint - Wood (xylon) is mentioned in the LXX as fuel (Gen. 22:3), building material (Gen. 6:14; Exod. 25:10ff.; 1 Ki. 6:15), and as an instrument of torture (stocks, Job 33:11, RSV). The meaning tree is more common than in secular Gk. xylon is used to denote fruit trees, cypresses and trees planted by running water (Ge 1:11; Isa. 14:8; Ps. 1:3)....

 Disobedience turns a created thing into a god. The tree becomes a cultic object and the carving an idol. The prophets condemned Israel’s apostasy as “adultery with stone and tree” (Jer. 3:9; cf. Is 40:20; 44:13, 14, 15.; Ezek. 20:32).

The concepts of the tree and the curse and the “tree of life” are theologically more central (in the NT)...The picture of the tree of life reappears in Rev. 2:7. What was forbidden to Adam and Eve is given in the new creation. In the new Jerusalem on either side of the river of life grows “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2). The righteous alone have access to the tree of life (Rev. 22:14, 19). The living tree symbolizes life, and presents a contrast with the cross as the wooden instrument of death. But the significance of the cross is retained. It is the place where God bears and overcomes suffering and death, so that he may give life to a world overcome by sin and death (Rev. 22:14). (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan  or Computer version)

Ralph Earle writes that...

The word xylon has quite a history of usage. It first meant "wood" (1Cor. 3:12; Rev 18:12). Then it meant a piece of wood, and so anything made of wood. It was used for a staff or club (Mt. 26:47, 55; Mk 14:43, 48; Lk 22:52). Only in Acts 16:24 in the NT is it used for wooden "stocks," into which prisoners' feet were fastened. It is used a number of times in the NT for the cross on which Jesus was hanged. Finally, in late writers, it came to be used for a "tree," as we find in Luke 23:31. In Revelation (Re 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19) it is used for the "tree" of life. (Earle, R. Word Meanings in the New Testament)

Xulon- 20x in 18v - Matt 26:47, 55; Mark 14:43, 48; Luke 22:52; 23:31; Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; 16:24; 1 Cor 3:12; Gal 3:13; 1 Pet 2:24; Rev 2:7; 18:12; 22:2, 14, 19. NAS - clubs(5), cross(4), stocks(1), tree(7), wood(3).

Matthew 26:47  While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

Matthew 26:55 At that time Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.

Mark 14:43  Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Mark 14:48 And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber?

Luke 22:52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber?

Luke 23:31 "For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

Acts 5:30 "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.

Acts 10:39 "We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

Acts 13:29 "When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

Acts 16:24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

1Corinthians 3:12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE "--

1Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Revelation 2:7 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

Revelation 18:12 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble,

Revelation 22:2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:14  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.

Revelation 22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

Xulon - 275x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint - Ge 1:11f, 29; 2:9, 16f; 3:1ff, 6, 8, 11f, 17, 22, 24; 6:14; 22:3, 6f, 9; 40:19; Ex 7:19; 9:25; 10:5, 12, 15; 15:25; 25:5, 10, 13, 28; 26:15, 26; 27:1, 6; 30:1, 5; 31:5; 35:7, 24, 33; Lev 1:7f, 12, 17; 3:5; 4:12; 6:5; 14:4, 6, 45, 49, 51f; 19:23; 23:40; 26:4, 20; Num 15:32f; 19:6; Deut 4:28; 10:3; 16:21; 19:5; 20:19f; 21:22f; 28:36, 64; 29:16; Josh 8:29; 10:26f; Judg 6:26; 9:8ff, 48; 1 Sam 6:14; 2 Sam 5:11; 21:19; 23:7, 21; 24:22; 1 Kgs 5:13, 20, 22, 32; 6:10, 15, 31ff; 9:11; 10:11f; 14:23; 15:22; 17:10; 18:23; 2 Kgs 3:19, 25; 6:4, 6; 12:12f; 16:4; 17:10; 19:18; 22:6; 1 Chr 14:1; 16:32f; 20:5; 21:23; 22:4, 14f; 29:2; 2 Chr 2:7ff, 13, 15; 3:5, 10; 7:13; 9:10f; 16:6; 28:4; 34:11; Ezra 3:7; 5:8; 6:11; Neh 2:8; 8:15; 9:25; 10:36, 38; Esth 5:14; 6:4; 7:9f; 8:7; Ps 1:3; 73:6; 95:12; 103:16; 104:33; 148:9; Prov 3:18; 12:4; 25:20; 26:20f; Eccl 2:5f; 10:9; 11:3; Song 2:3; 3:9; 4:14; Job 24:20; 30:4; 33:11; 41:19; Joel 1:12, 19; 2:22; Hab 2:11, 19; Hag 1:8; 2:19; Zech 5:4; 12:6; Isa 7:2, 4, 19; 10:15; 14:8; 30:33; 34:13; 37:19; 40:20; 44:13f, 23; 45:20; 55:12; 56:3; 60:17; 65:22; Jer 2:20, 27; 3:6, 9, 13; 5:14; 6:6; 7:18, 20; 10:3; 11:19; 17:8; 26:22; 38:12; Lam 4:8; 5:4, 13; Ezek 15:2f, 6; 17:24; 20:28, 32; 21:3, 15; 24:10; 26:12; 31:4f, 8f, 14ff, 18; 34:27; 36:30; 39:10; 41:25; 47:12

This great doctrine of the substitutionary atonement is the heart of the gospel. Actual atonement, sufficient for the sins of the whole world, was made for all who would ever believe, namely, the elect.

QUOTATIONS ON
THE CROSS

Billy Graham in “The Offense of the Cross” -When Jesus said, “If you are going to follow me, you have to take up a cross,” it was the same as saying, “Come and bring your electric chair with you. Take up the gas chamber and follow me.” He did not have a beautiful gold cross in mind—the cross on a church steeple or on the front of your Bible. Jesus had in mind a place of execution.

• What our Lord said about cross-bearing and obedience is not in fine type. It is in bold print on the face of the contract. - Vance Havner

• Jesus was crucified, not in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves. - George F. MacLeod

•The cross cannot be defeated, for it is defeat. - G K. Chesterton

• There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below. - C H Spurgeon

• We need men of the cross, with the message of the cross, bearing the marks of the cross. - Vance Havner

•Christ’s cross is such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird. - Samuel Rutherford

• He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. - Anonymous

•The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. - A.W. Tozer

• All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning. - Oswald Chambers

• The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success for its standard. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• The cross is the lightning rod of grace that short-circuits God’s wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers. - A. W. Tozer in “The Old Cross and the New.”

The Biblical Evangelist warns about a drift in modern day understanding of the significance of the Cross in the life of believers...

"The New Cross" - From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life; and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique—a new type of meeting and new type of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as of the old, but its content is not the same, and the emphasis not as before.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into the public view the same thing the world does, only a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner; it re-directs him. It gears him to a cleaner and jollier way of living, and saves his self-respect...The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere, but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of DEATH. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took the cross and started down the road has already said goodbye to his friends. He was not coming back. He was not going out to have his life re-directed; he was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise; modified nothing; spared nothing. It slew all of the man completely, and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with the victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under the death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear, or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him, and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world; it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life to a higher plane; we leave it at the cross....

We, who preach the gospel, must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, or the world of sports, or modern entertainment. We are not diplomats, but prophets; and our message is not a compromise, but an ultimatum.” (The Biblical Evangelist, 11-1-91, p11)

Easton's Bible Dictionary entry on Cross...

in the New Testament the instrument of crucifixion, and hence used for the crucifixion of Christ itself (Eph. 2:16; Heb. 12:2; 1 Cor. 1:17, 18; Gal. 5:11; 6:12, 14; Phil. 3:18). The word is also used to denote any severe affliction or trial (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; 10:21).

The forms in which the cross is represented are these:

1. The crux simplex (I), a "single piece without transom."

2. The crux decussata (X), or St. Andrew's cross.

3. The crux commissa (T), or St. Anthony's cross.

4. The crux immissa (t), or Latin cross, which was the kind of cross on which our Saviour died. Above our Lord's head, on the projecting beam, was placed the "title."

After the conversion, so-called, of Constantine the Great (B.C. 313), the cross first came into use as an emblem of Christianity. He pretended at a critical moment that he saw a flaming cross in the heavens bearing the inscription, "In hoc signo vinces", i.e., By this sign thou shalt conquer, and that on the following night Christ himself appeared and ordered him to take for his standard the sign of this cross. In this form a new standard, called the Labarum, was accordingly made, and borne by the Roman armies. It remained the standard of the Roman army till the downfall of the Western empire. It bore the embroidered monogram of Christ, i.e., the first two Greek letters of his name, X and P (chi and rho), with the Alpha and Omega.

Smith's Bible Dictionary...

 As the emblem of a slave's death and a murderer's punishment, the cross was naturally looked upon with the profoundest horror. But after the celebrated vision of Constantine, he ordered his friends to make a cross of gold and gems, such as he had seen, and "the towering eagles resigned the flags unto the cross," and "the tree of cursing and shame" "sat upon the sceptres and was engraved and signed on the foreheads of kings." (Jer. Taylor, "Life of Christ," iii., xv. 1.) The new standards were called by the name Labarum, and may be seen on the coins of Constantine the Great and his nearer successors. The Latin cross on which our Lord suffered, was int he form of the letter T, and had an upright above the cross-bar, on which the "title" was placed. There was a projection from the central stem, on which the body of the sufferer rested. This was to prevent the weight of the body from tearing away the hands. Whether there was also a support to the feet (as we see in pictures) is doubtful. An inscription was generally placed above the criminal's head, briefly expressing his guilt, and generally was carried before him. It was covered with white gypsum, and the letter were black.

ISBE extracts...

CROSS - (stauros, "a cross," "the crucifixion"; skolops, "a stake," "a pole"): The name is not found in the Old Testament. It is derived from the Latin word crux. In the Greek language it is stauros, but sometimes we find the word skolops used as its Greek equivalent. The historical writers, who transferred the events of Roman history into the Greek language, make use of these two words. No word in human language has become more universally known than this word, and that because all of the history of the world since the death of Christ has been measured by the distance which separates events from it. The symbol and principal content of the Christian religion and of Christian civilization is found in this one word.

The suffering implied in crucifixion naturally made the cross a symbol of pain, distress and burden-bearing. Thus Jesus used it Himself (Mt 10:38; 16:24). In Paulinic literature the cross stands for the preaching of the doctrine of the Atonement (1Cor 1:18; Gal 6:14; Phil 3:18; Col 1:20). It expresses the bond of unity between the Jew and the Gentile (Eph 2:16), and between the believer and Christ, and also symbolizes sanctification (Gal 5:24). The cross is the center and circumference of the preaching of the apostles and of the life of the New Testament church.

Crucifixion: As an instrument of death the cross was detested by the Jews. "Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree" (Gal 3:13; compare Dt 21:23), hence, it became a stumbling-block to them, for how could one accursed of God be their Messiah? Nor was the cross differently considered by the Romans. "Let the very name of the cross be far away not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears" (Cicero Pro Rabirio 5). The earliest mode of crucifixion seems to have been by impalation, the transfixion of the body lengthwise and crosswise by sharpened stakes, a mode of death-punishment still well known among the Mongol race. The usual mode of crucifixion was familiar to the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, Persians and Babylonians (Thuc. 1, 110; Herod. iii.125, 159). Alexander the Great executed two thousand Tyrian captives in this way, after the fall of the city. The Jews received this form of punishment from the Syrians and Romans (Ant., XII, v, 4; XX, vi, 2; BJ, I, iv, 6). The Roman citizen was exempt from this form of death, it being considered the death of a slave (Cicero In Verrem i. 5, 66; Quint. viii.4). The punishment was meted out for such crimes as treason, desertion in the face of the enemy, robbery, piracy, assassination, sedition, etc. It continued in vogue in the Roman empire till the day of Constantine, when it was abolished as an insult to Christianity. Among the Romans crucifixion was preceded by scourging, undoubtedly to hasten impending death. The victim then bore his own cross, or at least the upright beam, to the place of execution. This in itself proves that the structure was less ponderous than is commonly supposed. When he was tied to the cross nothing further was done and he was left to die from starvation. If he was nailed to the cross, at least in Judea, a stupefying drink was given him to deaden the agony. The number of nails used seems to have been indeterminate. A tablet, on which the feet rested or on which the body was partly supported, seems to have been a part of the cross to keep the wounds from tearing through the transfixed members (Iren., Adv. haer., ii.42). The suffering of death by crucifixion was intense, especially in hot climates. Severe local inflammation, coupled with an insignificant bleeding of the jagged wounds, produced traumatic fever, which was aggravated the exposure to the heat of the sun, the strained of the body and insufferable thirst. The swelled about the rough nails and the torn lacerated tendons and nerves caused excruciating agony. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood and a terrific throbbing headache ensued. The mind was confused and filled with anxiety and dread foreboding. The victim of crucifixion literally died a thousand deaths. Tetanus not rarely supervened and the rigors of the attending convulsions would tear at the wounds and add to the burden of pain, till at last the bodily forces were exhausted and the victim sank to unconsciousness and death. The sufferings were so frightful that "even among the raging passions of war pity was sometimes excited" (BJ, V, xi, 1). The length of this agony was wholly determined by the constitution of the victim, but death rarely ensued before thirty-six hours had elapsed. Instances are on record of victims of the cross who survived their terrible injuries when taken down from the cross after many hours of suspension (Josephus, Vita, 75). Death was sometimes hastened by breaking the legs of the victims and by a hard blow delivered under the armpit before crucifixion. Crura fracta was a well-known Roman term (Cicero Phil. xiii.12). The sudden death of Christ evidently was a matter of astonishment (Mk 15:44). The peculiar symptoms mentioned by John (Jn 19:34) would seem to point to a rupture of the heart, of which the Saviour died, independent of the cross itself, or perhaps hastened by its agony.

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F B Meyer writes that...

That we, being dead to sins, — Because He died for us, and we died in Him, — (1 Peter 2 Commentary)

That (hina) introduces a purpose clause and expresses the purpose of His death. He died for our sins that we might die to Sin -- the Sin principle or propensity inherited from Adam.

Peter thus draws the same inference as Paul did on the relation between the death of Christ for our sins and our death to sin explaining that...

through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:19-20, see notes Galatians 2:20)

In Romans 6 in answer to those who thought they could now wantonly sin so that grace might increase (reaching this fallacious conclusion based on the truth that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more!) Paul counters their faulty thinking declaring...

May it never be! (that believers should and can go on sinning freely and prolifically) How shall we who died to sin still live in it?...7 for he who has died is freed from sin. (Ro 6:2, 7-see notes Romans 6:2; 6:7)

Paul then brings the truths in Romans 6:1-10 to a conclusion charging believers...

Even so consider (present imperative = command to continually take accounting of these marvelous truths that flow from the Cross and your co-crucifixion with Christ) yourselves to be dead to Sin, (the power of Sin) but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let Sin reign (present imperative = stop letting this occur) in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to Sin (present imperative = stop doing this) as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (see notes Romans 6:11; 6:12; 6:13)

In Romans 7 Paul explains another benefit of Jesus' death on the Cross...

But now we have been released from the Law (released means to make ineffective the power or force of something) having died to that by which we were bound (the Law seized on us and retained us...we were under it's power and it was our ''master''), so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (see note Romans 7:6)

Might die (581) (apogenomenos/apoginomai  from apo = marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association +  ginomai = cause to be, become) means to be afar off, to be away from, to be removed from, to depart. It means to cease existing and implies a complete and abrupt change. Classic Greek writers use apoginomai to mean "cease to exist" which was their euphemism for death, just as we today speak of a "departed one."

The Amplified version nicely brings out the meaning of this verb rendering it...

"that we might die (cease to exist) to sin"

Literally apogenomenos means

"Having ceased to be what we were before" or "we having parted with (Sin).

When the Bible talks about death, it never means cessation of existence, but rather, speaks of separation. And so when we die physically, our soul is separated from our body. When we are born again, in a spiritual sense we die, for we are at that moment identified with Christ in His death, and that death or "co-crucifixion" brings about a separation from the power of the old nature, Sin. Now we can choose to obey God rather than the our old master Sin.  In short, Peter's use of apoginomai highlights the idea this critically important truth of separation.

Thayer renders Peter's words...

“that we might be utterly alienated from our sins.”

Believers are now separated from the sin that previously ruled and reigned their every thought and action. A practical application point is if we are truly born again, we can never be the same as we were before (Why? because "having ceased to be"). If one is (as a lifestyle) unchanged than he or she is still in bondage to sin's power and is dead in his or her trespasses and sins and needs to repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ so that they might be born again by His Spirit.

Paul amplifies this truth in Romans writing...

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (see notes on Romans 6:11)

In Christ the power and tyranny of sin in our lives has been broken (Jn 8:36, Ro 6:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6ff-see notes), enabling us to conquer sin daily (led by the Spirit Galatians 5:18-note) so that now

by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body (Ro 8:13-note)

Pastor Steven Cole adds the important note that...

True conversion is not just intellectual assent to the truth of the gospel. Saving faith always involves an exchange of masters, from self to Jesus Christ. While we spend a lifetime growing in our submission to Christ, if we are not seeking to live under His Lordship, our claim to faith is suspect. (Sermon)

BUT LIVE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS: te dikaiosune zesomen (1PAAS): (Mt 5:20; Lk 1:74,75; Acts 10:35; Ro 6:11,16,22; Eph 5:9; Php 1:11; 1 Jn 2:29; 3:7)

The International Children's Bible paraphrases  this verse as follows...

Christ carried our sins in his body on the Cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right....

Live (2198) (zao - see study on noun zoe) refers to natural physical life but figuratively (as used here) refers to how one conducts oneself. Ultimately Christ has opened the door for believers to enjoy life in its fullest, richest sense, as God intended it to be lived. And in context such a life is one that conforms to God's holy character (which equates with righteousness), for He is the essence of righteousness.  When one lives to righteousness they will manifest rightness of character before God and rightness of actions before men. Both of these qualities are based on truth, which is conformity to the Word and will of God.

John says that

If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices (present tense = as their lifestyle) righteousness is born (same verb used in John 3:7 where Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be “born” again) of Him. (1John 2:29) 

We know in the physical realm that like begets like. So it is in the spiritual. John looks from effect (righteous behavior) to cause (being truly born again) to affirm that righteous living is the proof of being born again. Peter says that because of the work of Christ on the Cross, righteous living now can be our reality. If one lays claim to being "born again" and their life does not change but instead continually manifests unrighteousness, they are very likely deceived and have never been born again. Those who have truly been born again as God’s children have their heavenly Father’s righteous nature. How would you describe your lifestyle beloved?

FOR BY HIS WOUNDS YOU WERE HEALED (spiritually not physically): ou to molopi iathete (2SAPI): (Isaiah 53:5,6; Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15; Jn 19:1, Ps 147:3; Mal 4:2; Lk 4:18; Rev 22:2)

By his sufferings, you were cured of sin. His death not only removed from you the penalty of sin; but what is far better, it also removed from you the dread disease itself. (1 Peter 2 Commentary)

Wounds (3468) (molops from molos = battle, fighting + ops = eye, face ) is literally "battle face" and means a welt, a "black eye", a mark of fighting, a blow or wound made in war, also a scar, a wheal, or the mark left on the body by the stripe of the whip, a stripe left by a lash. Molops refer to bruised, bloody welts as might result from sharp blows.

KJV has a more classic translation "by His stripes..."

Robertson notes that...

Writing to slaves who may have received such stripes, Peter’s word is effective.

Healed (2390) (iaomai) literally speaks of deliverance from physical diseases and afflictions and so to make whole and restore to bodily health. It means to heal or cause someone to achieve health after having been sick. Figuratively as used by Peter iaomai speaks of deliverance from sin and its evil consequences and enabled to experience restoration, to recovery and wholeness.

By simple observation of the context one can discern that Peter is not referring to physical healing in this verse as some interpreters claim. Peter explains ("for") in the next verse that the healing was "for" or "because" his readers were continually straying like sheep, clearly a picture of "sin sickness" not physical sickness.  In fairness, there is a sense in which Christ's substitutionary death did bring about the potential for "physical" healing -- in the sense that it guaranteed our future glorification when we receive our new resurrection bodies and when all sickness will be forever eradicated and believers will experience no sickness, pain, suffering, or death (Rev 21:1, 2, 3, 4, 22:1, 2, 3-see notes Rev 21:1; 21:2; 21:3; 21:4; 22:1; 22:2; 22:3).

Some falsely teach that physical healing is present in the atonement making referenced to the the Isaiah 53 passage and the passage from Matthew 8 where we read...

And when evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill 17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES, AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES." (Mt 8:16-17)

Observe that the context of Mt 8:17 is clearly Jesus' healing activity during His earthly ministry so that the prophecy in Isaiah 53:4 was fulfilled (note that verse 17 begins "in order that" indicating the healing just mentioned was in order to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy). When did Jesus perform this healing which fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy? It was clearly before the atoning work of Christ on the cross. The point is that physical healing in this life is not inherent or promised in the atoning work of Christ. There is a false doctrine that teaches one should expect to be physically healed because of Christ's work on the Cross. If physical healing does not occur, the problem is that the ill or sick individual lacks the faith necessary to invoke God's healing power. The upshot of this false teaching is that the faith they teach about is faith in "faith" not in Christ. As already alluded to, clearly when believers die our physical bodies are delivered from the presence of disease in the future resurrection life. Furthermore God can and still does heal physical illnesses because He is a God of lovingkindness and mercy and it is His sovereign pleasure to chose to heal or not to heal. He alone is God.

McGee commenting on 1Peter 2:24 asks

Healed of what? I notice that when so-called faith healers use the words, “by whose stripes ye were healed,” they refer to Isaiah 53:5 rather than to this verse in 1 Peter, because Peter makes it evident that the healing is of sins. I certainly agree that the Lord Jesus came to be the Great Healer—but the Great Healer heals of sins. No human physician can handle that problem. And Peter’s use of these words from Isaiah 53:5 reveals that the prophet Isaiah was not speaking primarily of physical healing but of that which is more important and more profound, healing from sin. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Thomas Nelson or Logos)

Wiersbe adds

The paradoxes of the cross never cease to amaze us. Christ was wounded that we might be healed. He died that we might live. We died with Him, and thus we are “dead to sin” (Rom. 6) so that we might “live unto righteousness.” The healing Peter mentioned in 1Peter 2:24 is not physical healing, but rather the spiritual healing of the soul (Ps 103:3- see Spurgeon's comment). One day, when we have glorified bodies, all sicknesses will be gone; but meanwhile, even some of God’s choicest servants may have physical afflictions (see 2Cor 12:1ff). (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor or Logos)

Theodoret (ca AD 393-458) wrote that Jesus' death on the Cross brought about

FOR YOU WERE CONTINUALLY STRAYING (being misled, being led astray) LIKE SHEEP: ete (2PIAI) gar os probata planomenoi (PPPMPN): (Ps 119:176; Isa 53:6; Jer 23:2; Ezek 34:6; Mt 9:36; 18:12; Lk 15:4, 5, 6)

You were continually - Peter uses the imperfect tense of eimi (to be). The imperfect tense pictures action (straying) as occurring again and again.

Straying (4105) (planao [word study] from pláne = a wandering) can describe physical wandering but often (as here in Peter) planao is used of straying from spiritual truth and as such frequently describes the condition of an unsaved individual (which is Peter's intent in this verse).

Planao - 39x in 37v - Matt 18:12f; 22:29; 24:4f, 11, 24; Mark 12:24, 27; 13:5f; Luke 21:8; John 7:12, 47; 1 Cor 6:9; 15:33; Gal 6:7; 2 Tim 3:13; Titus 3:3; Heb 3:10; 5:2; 11:38; Jas 1:16; 5:19; 1 Pet 2:25; 2 Pet 2:15; 1 John 1:8; 2:26; 3:7; Rev 2:20; 12:9; 13:14; 18:23; 19:20; 20:3, 8, 10. NAS - deceive(3), deceived(9), deceives(3), deceiving(2), go astray(1), gone astray(3), leads...astray(2), led astray(1), misguided(1), mislead(4), misleads(2), misled(1), mistaken(3), straying(2), strays(1), wandering(1).

Sheep (4263) (probaton from probaíno = to go before, walk ahead) is literally something that walks forward (a quadruped) and in context  refers to a sheep

Probaton - 39x in 37v - Matt 7:15; 9:36; 10:6, 16; 12:11f; 15:24; 18:12; 25:32f; 26:31; Mark 6:34; 14:27; Luke 15:4, 6; John 2:14f; 10:1ff, 7f, 11ff, 15f, 26f; 21:16f; Acts 8:32; Rom 8:36; Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25; Rev 18:13

Sheep are notoriously dull witted, prone to stray and helpless to find their way back. Straying sheep, lost in the wilderness or mountains and exposed to wild beasts and destruction, present a wretched picture of the needy state of the lost person.

Peter uses this metaphor of "sheep" to describe his readers in their unsaved state.

Isaiah describing Israel (and including himself in the picture) declared that

All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him (when He bore our sins in His body on the Cross). (Isa 53:6)

Matthew recorded that Jesus upon

seeing the multitudes... felt compassion for them, because they were distressed (root word = flaying or skinning. Derived meaning = harassed or severely troubled with ideas of being battered, bruised, mangled, ripped apart, worn out, and exhausted) and downcast (thrown down prostrate and utterly helpless, as from drunkenness or a mortal wound) like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt 9:36)

The lost multitudes were like sheep in that they were helpless and defenseless and like sheep with no one to protect them, they had been spiritually battered, thrown down. Jesus saw the multitudes as being inwardly devastated by their sinful and hopeless condition.

In the Old Testament, the sheep died for the shepherd; but at Calvary, the Shepherd died for the sheep (Jn 10:11,17).

Let me look on the crowd as my Savior did,
Till my eyes with tears grow dim;
Let me view with pity the wandering sheep,
And love them for the love of Him.

BUT NOW YOU HAVE RETURNED TO: alla epestraphete (2PAPI) nun epi ton:

Wherefore, since you have been brought back by the rich grace of God, continue to bear and forbear, that you may be the means of bringing others back. That is Peter’s counsel to servants, or slaves, as most of them were. (1 Peter 2 Commentary)

But is a strong adversative and marks a decisive change in the flow of the discourse.

Returned (1994) (epistrepho from epí = motion toward + strepho = twist, turn quite around or reverse) means to revert, to turn about, to turn around, to turn toward, to return and figuratively to convert. The idea is a definite turn to God in conduct as well as in one's mind. Study the 39 uses below and note the association with repentance and conversion.

Thayer's extended definition...

1. transitively,

a. “to turn to”:  to the worship of the true God, Acts 26:20.

b. “to cause to return, to bring back”; figuratively, to the love and obedience of God, Luke 1:16;, to love for the children, Luke 1:17;  that they may be in (R. V. to walk “in”) the wisdom of the righteous, Luke 1:17;

2. intransitive

a. “to turn,” “to turn oneself”: of Gentiles passing over to the religion of Christ, Acts 9:35; 11:21; 14:15; 15:19; 26:20, cf. 1Peter 2:25; Acts 9:40; 1Thessalonians 1:9; 2Corinthians 3:16; Acts 26:18.

b. “to turn oneself about, turn back”: absolutely, Acts 16:18; followed by an infinitive expressing purpose, Revelation 1:12.

c. “to return, turn back, come back”;

[α]. properly: Luke 2:20 Rec.; 8:55; Acts 15:36; with the addition of οπισω (as in Aelian v. h. 1, 6 (variant)), followed by an infinitive of purpose, Matthew 24:18: followed by εις with the accusative of place, Matthew 12:44; (Luke 2:39 T WH Tr marginal reading); εις τα οπισω, Mark 13:16; Luke 17:31; επι τι, “to,” 2 Peter 2:22.

[β]. metaphorically: Galatians 4:9; Luke 17:4,  to leave the commandment and turn back to a worse mental and moral condition, 2Peter 2:21 R G; absolutely, to turn back morally, “to reform”: Matthew 13:15; Mark 4:12; Luke 22:32; Acts 3:19; 28:27. In the middle and 2 aorist passive a. “to turn oneself about, to turn around”: absolutely, Matthew 9:22 R G; Mark 5:30; 8:33; John 21:20.

d. “to return”: followed by pros (WH text epi) tina, Matthew 10:13, 1Peter 2:25 (see 2a. above); to return to a better mind, repent, John 12:40

Epistrepho is used 39 times in the NAS and is translated: back, 3; return, 6; returned, 3; returns, 2; take back, 1; turn, 8; turn back, 1; turned, 6; turned again, 1; turned around, 1; turning, 2; turning around, 2; turns, 2; turns...back, 1.

There are 414 uses of epistrepho in the Septuagint (LXX) . Gen 8:12; 21:32; 24:49; 44:13; Exod 4:20; 5:22; 7:23; 16:10; 34:31; Num 10:36; 14:25; 16:50; 21:33; 23:5; Deut 1:7, 24, 40; 2:1, 3, 8; 3:1; 4:30, 39; 9:15; 10:5; 28:60; 30:2, 8, 9, 10; 31:18, 20; Josh 7:12; 19:27, 34; Jdg 6:14, 18; 7:3; 8:13, 33; 9:56, 57; 11:8f, 13, 31, 35, 39; 15:4, 19; 18:21, 23, 26; 19:3; 20:8, 41, 48; 21:14; Ruth 1:7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 22; 4:3, 15; 1Sa 4:19; 7:3; 10:9; 14:21, 26f; 15:12; 22:18; 26:21, 23; 30:19; 2 Sam 2:22; 3:12, 26f; 6:20; 10:5; 11:1; 12:23, 31; 14:13, 21; 15:8, 19f, 25, 27, 34; 16:3, 8, 12; 17:3; 18:30; 19:10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 39, 43; 1 Kgs 2:33; 8:33, 44, 47f; 12:21, 26f; 13:4, 6, 9, 11, 16, 17, 18, 22f, 26, 29, 33; 17:21; 18:43; 19:6f; 20:9, 22, 26; 22:27f, 34; 2 Kgs 1:5f; 2:13, 25; 3:4, 27; 4:22, 31, 35, 38; 5:10, 14f, 21, 26; 7:8, 15; 8:3, 6, 29; 9:18f, 23, 36; 13:25; 14:22, 28; 16:6, 18; 17:3; 19:8f; 20:5, 9, 10, 11; 21:3; 22:9, 20; 23:16, 20, 25, 34; 24:1; 1 Chr 10:14; 12:19; 16:43; 21:20; 2 Chr 6:3, 24, 26, 37f; 10:12; 11:1; 12:11; 14:15; 15:4; 18:26f, 33; 19:4; 20:27; 22:6; 24:19; 25:10, 24; 26:2, 20; 28:15; 30:6, 9; 31:1; 33:3, 13, 19; 35:19; 36:10, 13; Ezra 2:1; 6:22; 9:14; 10:16; Neh 1:9; 2:6, 15, 20; 4:4, 15; 5:11; 7:6; 8:17; 9:17, 26, 28f; 13:9; Esther 6:12; 7:8; Job 7:10; 22:23; 30:15; 33:23; 36:10; Ps 6:4; 7:7, 12, 16; 14:7; 19:7; 22:27; 23:3; 51:13; 53:6; 56:9; 59:6, 14; 60:1; 68:22; 71:20f; 73:10; 78:34, 39, 41; 80:3, 7, 14, 19; 85:4, 6, 8; 90:2, 13; 94:15; 104:9, 29; 116:7; 119:59, 79; 126:1, 4; 146:4; Prov 17:8; Eccl 1:6f; 2:20; 3:20; 4:1, 7; 5:15; 9:11; 12:2, 7; Song 6:13; Isa 6:10; 19:22; 31:6; 44:22; 45:13, 22; 46:8; 49:6; 55:7; 63:15, 17; Jer 2:24; 3:10, 12, 14, 22; 4:1; 5:3; 6:9; 8:4f; 9:5; 11:10; 12:15, 17; 15:19; 18:8; 22:10; 24:7; 27:16; 28:6; 31:16, 18; 32:33, 37; 33:7; 34:10, 15f, 22; 42:12; 44:14, 28; 47:3; 50:9; Lam 1:11f, 16, 19; 2:8, 14; 3:3, 40; 5:21; Ezek 1:9, 12, 17; 7:13; 10:11, 16; 14:6; 18:30; 26:2; 34:4, 16; 35:2; 38:12; 42:17, 18, 19; 44:1; Dan 4:34, 36; 9:25; 10:8, 20; 11:9f, 13, 15, 18f, 28, 29, 30; Hos 2:7, 9; 3:5; 5:4, 15; 6:1, 11; 7:10; 11:5; 12:6; 14:1f, 7; Joel 2:12, 13, 14; 3:1; Amos 4:6, 8, 9, 10; 9:14; Jonah 1:13; Mic 5:3; 7:19; Zeph 3:20; Hag 2:17; Zech 1:3, 16; 4:1; 5:1; 6:1; 8:3; 10:9, 10; Mal 1:4; 2:6; 3:7, 18

Epistrepho is used some 18 times (out of 39 uses) with a figurative spiritual meaning.

Matthew 10:13 "And if the house is worthy, let your greeting of peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your greeting of peace return to you.

Matthew 12:44 "Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.

Matthew 13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes Lest they should see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I should heal them.'  (Note: Here we see a picture of repentance.)

Matthew 24:18 and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak. (Note: Turning back in this context is literal but also is ultimately a manifestation of a spiritual decision).

Mark 4:12 in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven." (Note: Here we again see a picture of repentance.)

Mark 5:30 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments?"

Mark 8:33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

Mark 13:16 and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak. (Note: This turning back of course is ultimately a manifestation of a spiritual decision).

Luke 1:16 "And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.  (Note: Here again we see a picture of repentance.)

Luke 1:17 "And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Note: Disobedience is clearly associated with the unrighteousness. Genuine faith always obeys, albeit imperfectly in this life but perfectly in the one to come!)

Luke 2:39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.

Luke 8:55 And her spirit returned, and she rose immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.

Luke 17:4 "And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Luke 17:31 "On that day, let not the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house go down to take them away; and likewise let not the one who is in the field turn back.

Luke 22:32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." (Note: Here epistrepho is virtually synonymous with repentance, a change of heart and mind leading to a change of conduct.)

John 21:20 Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?"

Acts 3:19 "Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (Note: Here epistrepho is clearly associated with repentance.)

Acts 9:35 And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Acts 9:40 But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

Acts 11:21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. (Note: Again we see a picture of repentance.)

Acts 14:15 and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you in order that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them. (Note: Again we see a picture of repentance.)

Acts 15:19 "Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

Acts 15:36  And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are."

Acts 16:18 And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'  (Note: Here again we see a picture of repentance.)

Acts 26:20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. (Note: Here again we see a picture of repentance.)

Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes; Lest they should see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I should heal them."'

2Corinthians 3:16 but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Galatians 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

1Thessalonians 1:9-note For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,

James 5:19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back,

James 5:20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 2:25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

2 Peter 2:22-note It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."

Revelation 1:12-note And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands

Epistrepho is used frequently in the NT to describe a sinner’s turning to God, especially in the book of Acts (Click the 8 verses that use epistrepho figuratively of turning in their hearts to God and the 3 verses that speak of turning or returning in a physical sense)

At the end of his second sermon at the Temple in the so-called portico of Solomon, Peter proclaimed to his Jewish audience

Repent (change your mind and let it issue in changed behavior) therefore and return (epistrepho - turn around), that your sins may be wiped away (completely - pictures wiping of ink off a document), in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19, 20)

It Is Well with My Soul
Click to play hymn

My sin, O, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
                                        - Horatio Spafford

In Paul's letter to the Thessalonians we get an excellent picture of the figurative meaning of epistrepho. Paul writes to those previously pagan idol worshippers who had become believers describing

how (they) turned to (epistrepho) God from idols to serve a living and true God". (1Th 1:9-note)

In short, epistrepho means turning from dead, hopeless, worthless idols to the living and true God.

It’s that look that melted Peter,
It’s that face that Stephen saw,
It’s that heart that wept with Mary,
Can alone from idols draw.
                              —Ora Rowan

In Acts we read that after Stephen's martyrdom and the dispersion of the young church from Jerusalem

men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks (Jews evangelizing Gentiles!) also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of (pictures His power) the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to (epistrepho) the Lord. (Acts 11:20, 21)

Jesus' apostolic commission to Paul upon was to go to the Gentiles that he might

open their eyes so that they may turn from (epistrepho) darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me." (Acts 26:18).

Epistrepho is found 416 times in Septuagint (LXX - Greek translation of the Hebrew OT) where it frequently translates the ideas of restore, return, repent. For example David declares that

The law of the LORD is perfect (Heb = blameless, complete), restoring (Lxx = epistrepho = converting, restoring) the soul. (Ps 19:7-note)

Luke uses epistrepho in his description of John the Baptist who

will turn back (epistrepho) many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. (Lk 1:16)

See Harry Ironside's book - Except Ye Repent by Harry A. Ironside From Ironside's introduction to this treatise...

Fully convinced in my own mind that the doctrine of repentance is the missing note in many otherwise orthodox and fundamentally sound circles today, I have penned this volume out of a full heart. I hope and pray that God will be pleased to use it to awaken many of His servants to the importance of seeking so to present His truth as to bring men to the only place where He can meet them in blessing. That place is the recognition of their  own demerit and absolute unworthiness of His least mercies and a new conception of His saving power for all who come to Christ as lost sinners, resting alone upon His redemptive work for salvation, and depending upon the indwelling Holy Spirit to make them victorious over sin's power in daily life.

Since many of the uses of epistrepho refer to conversion it behooves us to have proper understanding of that term. George Peters offers the following description...

Conversion is that principal act of faith in which the soul by the initiative and the enablement of the Holy Spirit on the basis of the finished work of Christ on Calvary and in response to the Word of God voluntarily turns to God from sin and ungodliness and enters into an abiding relationship with the Lord which vitally and permanently affects life in its various aspects and relationships and leads to its eventual and complete restoration.

Our definition establishes the following principles: (1) Conversion is a principal act of faith; (2) Conversion is an act of the soul by the initiative and the enablement of the Holy Spirit; (3) Conversion is based upon the finished work of Christ on Calvary; (4) Conversion is an act of the soul in response to the Word of God; (5) Conversion is a voluntary act; (6) Conversion is an act of turning to God from sin and ungodliness; (7) Conversion is an act which results in a relationship with the Lord; (8) Conversion is an act which vitally affects life in its various aspects and relationships; (9) Conversion is an act which leads to a process in the restoration of life. These principles are illustrated by the various Biblical records on conversion.

Conversion is essentially a turning to God and a turning away from sin. The two elements are unusually expressed by the two Biblical terms of faith and repentance.

It is very important to realize that the Bible emphasizes both aspects, although the emphasis upon the positive definitely outweighs the negative, far more passages speaking of turning to God than turning away from sin. It must be understood, however, that both aspects are always present, the one expressed, the other implied. They form an indissoluble unit in a Biblical conversion. (Peters, George: The Meaning of Conversion. Volume 120, Issue 479, page 240. Dallas TX: Dallas Theological Seminary)

TO THE SHEPHERD: poimena: (1Peter 5:4 [note]; Ps 23:1, 2, 3; 80:1; Song 1:7,8; Isa 40:11; Ezek 34:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,23,24; 37:24; Zech 13:7; Jn 10:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Heb 13:20)

Shepherd (4166) (poimen) describes one who takes care of flocks of sheep or goats and here is clearly a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Click the following links for a study on the Name of God, the Lord My Shepherd: Part 1: Jehovah Roi , Part 2: Jehovah Roi.

Marvin Vincent has a lengthy note on poimaino writing that...

The word involves the whole office of the shepherd — guiding, guarding, folding, as well as feeding. Hence appropriate and often applied to the guides and guardians of others. Homer calls kings “the shepherds of the people.” To David the people said, “The Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed (as a shepherd) my people Israel” (2Sa 5:2; compare Ps. 78:70, 71, 72). God is often called a shepherd (Ge 48:15; Ps. 23:1; 77:20; 80:1; Isa. 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-31). Jesus calls himself the good shepherd (John 10:11).

Peter, who is bidden by Jesus to shepherd his sheep (John 21:16, poimaine, Rev., tend), calls him the Shepherd of Souls (1Pe 2:25-note), and the Chief Shepherd (1Pe 5:4-note); and in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 13:20-note), he is styled the great Shepherd of the sheep. In Rev 2:27- (note), rule is literally to shepherd (Rev 19:15-note); but Christ will shepherd his enemies, not with the pastoral crook, but with a sceptre of iron.

Finally, Jesus will perpetuate this name and office in heaven among his redeemed ones, for “the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall be their shepherd (Rev 7:17-note). In this verse the word governor is in harmony with the idea of shepherding, since the word hegoumenos originally means one who goes before, or leads the way, and suggests Christ’s words about the good shepherd in John 10:3, 4: “He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.… He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.” (1Peter  5: Greek Word Studies)

Easton's Bible Dictionary has the following excellent description of "shepherd" (as you read it think of your Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who watches over your soul)

"The duties of a shepherd in an unenclosed country like Palestine were very onerous. “In early morning he led forth the flock from the fold, marching at its head to the spot where they were to be pastured. Here he watched them all day, taking care that none of the sheep strayed, and if any for a time eluded his watch and wandered away from the rest, seeking diligently till he found and brought it back. In those lands sheep require to be supplied regularly with water, and the shepherd for this purpose has to guide them either to some running stream or to wells dug in the wilderness and furnished with troughs. At night he brought the flock home to the fold, counting them as they passed under the rod at the door to assure himself that none were missing. Nor did his labours always end with sunset. Often he had to guard the fold through the dark hours from the attack of wild beasts, or the wily attempts of the prowling thief (see 1Sa 17:34).”, Deane’s David. (Easton, M. Easton's Bible dictionary)

The writer of Hebrews ends his letter of exhortation with the following great prayer which describes Jesus as the "Great Shepherd":

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (He 13:20, 21-note)

AND GUARDIAN OF YOUR SOULS: kai episkopon ton psuchon humon: (Heb 3:1-note; Acts 20:28)

Guardian (1985) (episkopos [word study] from epi = upon + skopos = a watchman) refers literally to one who sees or watches over others and so describes one who looks over, who inspects, who oversees,  who superintends or who exercises oversight or care over.

Episkopos implies vigilance far more than hierarchy. (Oden, Thomas C. Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry)

Episkopos came originally from secular life, referring to the foreman of a construction gang or the supervisor of building construction, for instance.

In ancient Greek culture the word was often used of pagan gods, who supposedly watched over worshipers and over their nations. It also was used of human priests who represented a deity. Paul uses the term to emphasize the leadership responsibilities that pastors are to fulfill.

Episkopos is the secular Greek culture’s equivalent to the historic Hebrew idea of elders. Overseers (episkopos) were appointed by the emperors to lead captured or newly founded city-states. The overseer or bishop was responsible to the emperor, but oversight was delegated to him. He functioned as a commissioner, regulating the affairs of the new colony or acquisition. Thus episkopos suggested two ideas to the first-century Greek mind: responsibility to a superior power, and an introduction to a new order of things. Gentile converts would immediately understand those concepts.

Episkopos is sometimes translated "bishop".

The fundamental idea of episkopos is overseeing.

Thayer says that the episkopos is

an overseer, a man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly, any curator, guardian, or superintendent.

Paul describes the overseers (episkopos) in the NT church as those whose are responsibilities include the oversight and direction of the spiritual life of the local church. Episkopos emphasizes guidance, oversight, and leadership.

John MacArthur feels that

Episkopos emphasizes the function; presbuteros the character." (MacArthur, J.  The Master's Plan for the Church. Chicago: Moody Press)

MacArthur adds that

A shepherd’s oversight of the flock expresses itself broadly in two ways. First, shepherds provide truthful, positive direction and leadership to the flock. Second, they warn of spiritual dangers such as sin, false teaching, and false teachers, including Satan’s assaults against the saints. On one hand, the shepherd teaches truth, and on the other, he warns of sin and refutes doctrinal error. In leading the flock down the path of righteousness, the shepherd also watches for, warns, and even rescues the stray who has been enticed by false teaching and alluring sin. When shepherds exercise their oversight responsibly, they will have both a preventative and a confrontive side to their ministry. One cannot shepherd the flock with credibility unless he provides a corrective oversight of watching and warning." (MacArthur, J, et al: Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry: Shaping Contemporary Ministry with Biblical Mandates. Dallas: Word Pub)

The Bishop, the Lord Jesus Christ, watches over and oversees our souls, which need such a divine Overseer because there is continual war being waged against our soul

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. (see note 1 Peter 2:11).

Souls (5590) (psuche or psyche from psucho = to breathe, blow, English = psychology, "study of the soul") is  the breath, then that which breathes, the individual, animated creature. However the discerning reader must understand that psuche is one of those Greek words that can have several meanings, the exact nuance being determined by the context. It follows that one cannot simply select of the three main meanings of psuche and insert it in a given passage for it may not be appropriate to the given context. The meaning of psuche is also contingent upon whether one is a dichotomist or trichotomist. Consult Greek lexicons for more lengthy definitions of psuche as this definition is only a brief overview. (Click an excellent article on Soul in the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology; see also ISBE article on Soul)

Psuche - 103x in 93v - Matt 2:20; 6:25; 10:28, 39; 11:29; 12:18; 16:25f; 20:28; 22:37; 26:38; Mark 3:4; 8:35ff; 10:45; 12:30; 14:34; Luke 1:46; 2:35; 6:9; 9:24; 10:27; 12:19f, 22f; 14:26; 17:33; 21:19; John 10:11, 15, 17, 24; 12:25, 27; 13:37f; 15:13; Acts 2:27, 41, 43; 3:23; 4:32; 7:14; 14:2, 22; 15:24, 26; 20:10, 24; 27:10, 22, 37; Rom 2:9; 11:3; 13:1; 16:4; 1 Cor 15:45; 2 Cor 1:23; 12:15; Eph 6:6; Phil 1:27; 2:30; Col 3:23; 1 Thess 2:8; 5:23; Heb 4:12; 6:19; 10:38f; 12:3; 13:17; Jas 1:21; 5:20; 1 Pet 1:9, 22; 2:11, 25; 3:20; 4:19; 2 Pet 2:8, 14; 1 John 3:16; 3 John 1:2; Jude 1:15; Rev 6:9; 8:9; 12:11; 16:3; 18:13f; 20:4. NAS = heart(2), heartily(1), life(36), lives(7), mind(1), minds(1), person(1), persons(3), soul(33), souls(14), suspense*(1), thing(1).

There are some 458 uses of psuche in the Septuagint (LXX) and most of these translate the Hebrew word for "soul", nephesh (05315) with the majority of the uses of nephesh in the Psalms (See all 139 uses in Psalms)

BAGD's lexicon makes the point that...

It is often impossible to draw hard and fast lines in the use of this multivalent word. Generally it is used in reference to dematerialized existence or being... Without psuche a being, whether human or animal, consists merely of flesh and bones and without functioning capability. Speculations and views respecting the fortunes of psuche and its relation to the body find varied expression in our literature. (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature)

Lawrence Richards adds that as...

As with many biblical terms, the basic meaning of psyche is established by its OT counterpart, rather than by its meaning in Greek culture. "Soul" refers to personal life, the inner person. Of its over one hundred NT uses, psyche is rendered by the NIV as "soul(s)" only twenty-five times...While there is much overlap in the NT uses of psyche and pneuma (spirit), there seems to be some areas of distinction as well. Often the focus of contexts in which these terms appear overlaps. Thus, both are used in speaking of personal existence, of life after death, emotions, purpose, and the self. But psyche is also used of one's physical life and of spiritual growth, while pneuma is associated distinctively with breath, worship, understanding, one's attitude or disposition, and spiritual power

(1) One meaning is reference to the principle of life generally, the vital force which animates the body which shows itself in breathing, the "life principle" (the breath of life) as found even with animals (cf Luke 12:20 "...this very night your soul is required of you...", Acts 3:23 "every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed") .  To the Greeks the psuche was the principle of physical life. Everything which had physical life had psuche. Everything which is alive has psuche; a dog, a cat, any animal has psuche, but it has not got pneuma or spirit. Psuche is that physical life which a man shares with every living thing; but pneuma or spirit is that which makes a man different from the rest of creation and kin to God.

(2) A second meaning refers to the earthly, natural life in contrast to supernatural existence (Mt 6:25 "do not be anxious for your life...", Ro 11:3 "...they are seeking my life..."). This refers to So that the word denotes “life in the distinctness of individual existence” (Cremer).

(3) A third meaning of psuche is in reference to the inner nonmaterial life of man for which the physical body serves as the dwelling place often with focus on various aspects of feeling, thinking, etc and thus can refer primarily to the mind, to the heart, to desire (Lk 10:27 "love the Lord...with all your soul", Mk 14:34 "My soul is deeply grieved...", Eph 6:6 "doing the will of God from the heart [psuche]", Heb 12:3 "so that you may not grow weary and lose heart"). One might say this meaning refers to the inner self, the essence of life in terms of thinking, willing, and feeling. Here psuche describes the seat and center of the inner human life in its many and varied aspects. (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)

It should be noted that there is an additional meaning of a derivative of psuche (psuchikos) which is used to described a "soulish" person, one who is still unregenerate and in Adam, and thus a person whose life is dominated by the unredeemed nature (1Cor 2:14, 15:44, 46, James 3:15, Jude 1:19)

 Wuest says psuche (corresponding to meaning #3 above) is

"that part of man which wills, and thinks, and feels, or in other words, to the will power, the reason, and the emotions, to the personality with all his activities, hopes, and aspirations."

(Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)

Vincent says

psuche denotes life in the distinctness of individual existence, ‘the centre of the personal being, the I of each individual.

Henry Alford writes that

The psuche is the centre of the personal being, the ‘I’ of each individual. It is in each man bound to the spirit, man’s higher part, and to the body, man’s lower part; drawn upwards by the one, downward by the other. He who gives himself up to the lower appetites, is sarkikos (fleshly): he who by communion of his pneuma (spirit) with God’s Spirit is employed in the higher aims of his being, is pneumatikos (spiritual). He who rests midway, thinking only of self and self’s interests, whether animal or intellectual, is the psuchikos (sensual), the selfish man, the man in whom the spirit is sunk and degraded into subordination to the subordinate psuche (soul).

Vincent offers the follows thoughts on psuche

The soul (psuche) is the principle of individuality, the seat of personal impressions. It has a side in contact with both the material and the spiritual element of humanity, and is thus the mediating organ between body and spirit. Its meaning, therefore, constantly rises above life or the living individual, and takes color from its relation to either the emotional or the spiritual side of life, from the fact of its being the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions, and the bearer and manifester of the divine life-principle (pneuma). Consequently psuche is often used in our sense of heart (Lk 1:46; Lk 2:35; Jn 10:24; Acts 14:2); and the meanings of psuche, soul, and pneuma, spirit, occasionally approach each other very closely. Compare Jn 12:27 and Jn 9:33; Mt 11:29 and 1Co 16:18. Also both words in Lk 1:47. In this passage psuche, soul, expresses the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life. See Heb 6:19-note; Heb 10:39-note; Heb 13:17-note; 1Pe 2:11-note; 1Pe 4:19-note. John commonly uses the word to denote the principle of the natural life. See Jn 10:11, 15; Jn 13:37; Jn 15:13; 1Jn 3:16" (Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament. Vol. 2, Page 1-400).

Vine gives the following detailed analysis of psuche...

1. the natural life of the body, Matthew 2:20; Luke 12:22; Acts 20:10; Rev 8:9-note; Re 12:11-note, cp. Leviticus 17:11; 2Samuel 14:14; Esther 8:11:

2. the immaterial invisible part of man, Matthew 10:28; Acts 2:27; cp. 1Kings 17:21:

3. the disembodied (or “unclothed” or “naked,” 2 Cor. 5:3, 4) man, Revelation 6:9-note:

4. the seat of personality, Luke 9:24, explained as = “own self” Lk 9:25, He 6:19-note; He 10:39-note, cp. Isaiah 53:10 with 1Timothy 2:6:

5. the seat of the sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, desires, Matthew 11:29; Luke 1:46; 2:35; Acts 14:2, 22, cp. Psalms 84:2; 139:14; Isaiah 26:9:

6. the seat of will and purpose, Matthew 22:37; Acts 4:32; Ephesians 6:6-note; Philippians 1:27-note; Hebrews 12:3-note, cp. Numbers 21:4; Deuteronomy 11:13:

7. the seat of appetite, Revelation 18:14, cp. Psalm 107:9; Proverbs 6:30; Isaiah 5:14 (“desire”); Isa 29:8:

8. persons, individuals, Acts 2:41, 43; Ro 2:9-note; James 5:20;1PE 3:20-note; 2Pe 2:14-note, cp. Genesis 12:5; 14:21 (“persons”); Leviticus 4:2 (“any one”); Ezekiel 27:13, of dead bodies, Numbers 6:6, lit., “dead soul,” and of animals, Leviticus 24:18, lit., “soul for soul”:

9. the equivalent of the personal pronoun, used for emphasis and effect:—1st person, John 10:24 (“us”); Hebrews 10:38, cp. Genesis 12:13; Numbers 23:10; Judges 16:30; Psalm 120:2 (“me”); 2nd person, 2 Corinthians 12:15; Hebrews 13:17; James 1:21; 1Pe 1:9-note; 1Pe 2:25-note, cp. Leviticus 17:11; 26:15; 1 Samuel 1:26; 3rd person, 1Pe 4:19-note; 2Pe 2:8-note, cp. Exodus 30:12; Job 32:2; Hebrews “soul,” LXX “self”:

10. an animate creature, human or other, 1 Corinthians 15:45; Revelation 16:3-note, cp. Genesis 1:24; 2:7, 19:

11. “the inward man,” the seat of the new life, Luke 21:19 (cp. Matt. 10:39); 1Pe 2:11-note; 3John 2.

John MacArthur offer the following discussion on dichotomist versus trichotomist view...

There has been a significant debate over the years about the definition and usage of the terms spirit and soul. Some (historically called trichotomists) believe Paul was identifying two different, distinct categories of the nonmaterial essence of man. Those parts, along with the body, make man a three-part being. Others (historically called dichotomists) believe spirit and soul are interchangeable words denoting man’s indivisible inner nature. Those interpreters therefore view man as a two-part being, composed simply of a nonmaterial nature (spirit and soul) and a material nature (body).

No Scripture text ascribes different, distinct substance and functions to the spirit and soul. Trichotomists nevertheless usually propose that spirit is man’s Godward consciousness and soul is his earthward consciousness; however, neither the Greek usage of spirit (pneuma) nor of soul (psuche) sustains that proposition. The nonmaterial part of man does have myriad capacities to respond to God, Satan, and the world’s many stimuli, but it is untenable to arbitrarily separate the spirit from the soul. The two terms are used interchangeably in Scripture (Heb 6:19-note; He10:39-note; 1Pe 2:11-note; 2Pe 2:8-note). Spirit and soul are familiar and common synonyms that Paul used to emphasize the depth and scope of sanctification. Some suggest that an acceptable translation of this portion of Paul’s prayer could be, “May your spirit, even soul and body,” in which case “spirit” would refer to the whole person, and “soul and body” to the person’s nonmaterial and material parts. References from Paul’s other epistles provide clear evidence that he was a dichotomist (Ro 8:10-note; 1Cor. 2:11; 5:3, 5; 7:34; 2Co 7:1-note; Gal. 6:18; Col 2:5-note; 2Ti 4:22-note).