Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Peter 3:19

"in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison," — 1 Peter 3:19 (ASV)

“Through whom” can also mean “in which.” If the reference in v.18 is to two different states of Christ, then v.19 says in which state he went and preached: the state of resurrection. To whom did Christ preach? The “spirits” are best understood as fallen angels. Jesus, then, in his resurrection “goes” to the place of angelic confinement. Since this is in another realm, we cannot locate it spatially. However, there does not seem to be good evidence for seeing here a literal “descent into hell.” What did he preach? The content of the proclamation is not stated, but Peter uses “preached” (GK 3062) rather than “proclaim good news” (GK 2294; cf. 4:6), because Christ did not announce the Gospel to the fallen angels. The thought of salvation for angels is foreign to the NT (Hebrews 2:16), including Peter (cf. comment on 1:12). The announcement is of Christ’s victory and of their doom that has come through his death on the cross and his resurrection.

To sum up, the thought of vv.18–19 may be paraphrased as follows: “He was put to death in the human sphere of existence but was made alive in the resurrection sphere of existence, in which state of existence he made a proclamation of his victory to the fallen angels.” As for the pastoral significance of these verses, it is one of comfort because through suffering Christians go on to victory. Those who oppose Christians will be defeated (Colossians 2:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:6–8).