OET interlinear 1PET 3:19

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐν ᾧ

in which

Here, which refers to “spirit” in the previous verse. As in the previous verse, this could refer to: (1) the Holy Spirit. Alternate translation: “by means of the Spirit” (2) Jesus’ spiritual existence. Alternate translation: “in the spiritual realm”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

ἐκήρυξεν

˱he˲_proclaimed

Peter is leaving out some of the words that a sentence would need in many languages to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the context. This phrase could mean: (1) Jesus proclaimed God’s victory over sin and death, which he accomplished through his death and resurrection. Alternate translation: “he proclaimed God’s victory” (2) Jesus preached the gospel to wicked people indirectly through the preaching of Noah during the time before the great flood. This interpretation is less likely to be correct, because it would mean that Noah was actually the one preaching and Peter does not mention Noah preaching or Jesus’ pre-incarnate existence anywhere in this letter. Alternate translation: “he preached the gospel”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τοῖς ἐν φυλακῇ πνεύμασιν

˱to˲_the in prison ˱to˲_spirits

Here, spirits could refer to: (1) evil spirits whom God imprisoned because of what they did before the flood that occurred in Noah’s time (See: 2 Peter 2:4–5; Jude 6–7; Genesis 6:1–4), as in the UST. (2) the spirits of people who died during the flood that occurred in Noah’s time. This interpretation is a less likely to be correct because Peter never refers to people as spirits, but rather “souls,” as in the next verse. Alternate translation: “to those people who had died and were in prison”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἐν φυλακῇ

in in prison

Here Peter uses prison as a metaphor. It could refer to: (1) a place where God imprisoned certain evil spirits whom he will judge when he judges the whole world (See: 2 Peter 2:4–5; Jude 6–7). Alternate translation: “whom God had imprisoned to await judgment” (2) the place where sinful people go when they die. Alternate translation: “in hell”