rd "Dispersion" is a Jewish phrase
taken over by the Christian Church. We agree, then, with St. Jerome
and St. Augustine in holding that this Epistle was written to Gentiles.

[Sidenote: Where and when written.]

The Epistle says, "She that is in Babylon, elect together with you,
saluteth you" (v. 13). This means the Church in Rome. The name
"Babylon" is applied to Rome in the Revelation, and from an early
period the Christians would naturally be inclined to give this name to
a city which had become, like Babylon of old, the centre of worldliness
and oppression. It is practically certain that St. Peter spent his
last days in Rome. Moreover, St. Mark was with St. Peter when this
Epistle was written (v. 13), and from 2 Tim. iv. 11 we know that St.
Mark was invited to Rome about A.D. 64. It is most improbable that
"Babylon" signifies either the Babylon near Cairo, or the great city on
the Euphrates. Three facts enable us to determine the date: (1) The
presence of Mark in Rome. (2) The fact that St. Peter appears never to
have been in Rome when Colossians was written in A.D. 60--so that the
Epistle cannot be earlier than A.D. 60. (3) The allusion in iv. 13-15
to the fact that Christians are already punished for being named
Christians. In the period described in Acts they are not yet punished
merely for being Christians, but for specific crimes alleged against
them by their opponents. It is often asserted that this Epistle must
be later than the time of Nero, on the ground that it was after Nero's
time that the name _Christian_ ensured the legal condemnation of any
one who bore it. But this assertion is not supported by the Roman
historians Tacitus and Suetonius. Their words support the contention
{243} that the kind of persecution mentioned in this Epistle began
under Nero in A.D. 64. When the Epistle was written this persecution
had probably begun, but it had not yet assumed its most savage form.[3]
(4) St. Peter himself suffered under Nero, not later than A.D. 67. We
may therefore confidently date the Epistle about A.D. 64.

It appears from v. 12 that in writing this Epistle St. Peter was
assisted by "Silvanus, our faithful brother," as an amanuensis. He is
probably the "Silas" (another form of the same name) mentioned in Acts
xv. 22, 32, 40, and the Silvanus in 1 Thess. i. 1; 2 Thess. i. 1, 2
Cor. i. 19.

[Sidenote: Character and Contents.]

This Epistle is highly practical, and though it is rich in