MacArthur on Crowns

Excerpt from MacArthur’s commentary on 1 Pet 5.4: “Appears (phaneroō) means “to make manifest,” “to make clear,” or “to reveal.” Here, as in 5:1, the reference is to Christ’s revelation at the Second Coming, at which time shepherds will receive the unfading crown of glory. In the Greco-Roman world of Peter’s day, crowns rather than trophies were the awards for victory at athletic events:

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (1 Cor. 9:24–25)

Temporal crowns would eventually rust, fade, or, if made from plants, die quickly. Peter was not looking forward merely to some unfading version of an earthly crown, but metaphorically to eternal glory, which can never fade. The term unfading is from the same cognate as the name of the flower (amaranth) that supposedly never faded or lost its bloom. (See again the brief discussion of this term under 1:4, in chapter 2 of this volume.) Peter’s phrase can be expressed “the unfading crown that is glory.” This is consistent with the use of the genitive case in other mentions of eternal reward. James wrote of the crown that is life (1:12). Paul wrote of the crown that is righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8) and the crown that is rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19). All those are facets of eternal blessing and all are imperishable.”

John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 Peter, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2004), 270–271.