3. Date
3. Date
A discussion of suggested dates after Peter’s life has already been given above (see the section on ‘Author’). But if we grant that the letter was written by Peter, when during his life did he write it? It is highly unlikely that the generally positive view of civil government which Peter gives in 1 Peter 2:13–17 could have been written without further qualification if the persecution under Nero had already begun in Rome. The severity of this persecution, coupled with the almost unqualified positive view of the government in 2:13–17, and with the traditions about Peter’s death under Nero (see section on ‘Place of Writing’ above), combine to indicate that the letter must have been written before AD 64.
On the other hand, when Eusebius reports that Peter was in Rome ‘at the end’ (epi telei en rhōmē genomenos), he indicates that he believed Peter to have been in Rome only near the end of his life. Yet the book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome (Acts 28:30–31), with no indication that Peter was present at that time. But if we date Paul’s prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon) between AD 60 and 62, when Paul was in prison in Rome, it is interesting that he nowhere in these four letters mentions Peter. If Peter had been there at that time, it would be hard to understand sentences like Philippians 2:20–21, referring to Timothy: ‘I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare. They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.’ Moreover, in Colossians 4:10–11, Paul mentions only Aristarchus, Mark the cousin of Barnabas, and Jesus who is called Justus, and then adds that ‘these are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me’. He also mentions ‘Luke the beloved physician’ and others in Colossians 4:2–14, but there is no mention of Peter (and it is hard to think that Paul would not consider Peter ‘a fellow worker’).
Similarly, one might suppose that if Paul had been in Rome at the time 1 Peter was written, Peter would have mentioned that and sent greetings from Paul, for at least some of the churches which were addressed had been founded by Paul. But in 1 Peter 5:12–13 he mentions only Silvanus and Mark.
These factors combine to suggest that 1 Peter was not written until after Paul left Rome, perhaps in AD 62 (if we accept the events narrated in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus as referring to genuine events in Paul’s life after he had been released from his first imprisonment in Rome).
This leaves us with a date for 1 Peter between AD 62 and 64. Moreover, if we also accept 2 Peter as having been written by Peter subsequent to 1 Peter, then time must be allowed for 2 Peter to have been written, perhaps between AD 63 and 64 (or, if Peter died later in Nero’s persecution, 65 or 66). That would push the date for 1 Peter back toward the beginning of the period allowed, placing it in AD 62 or 63. However, although 62 or 63 seems the most probable date for the writing of the letter, it must be remembered that the evidence used to determine AD 64 as the latest date possible is more firmly attested historical data, while many of the arguments regarding the earliest date possible are admittedly from silence.