Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 24:1 (NA 2019)
Article: The Meaning Of Milk In 1 Peter 2:1–3
Author: Timothy E. Miller

DBSJ 24 (2019) p. 63

The Meaning Of Milk In 1 Peter 2:1–3

Timothy E. Miller1

That τὸ λογικὸν ἄδολον γάλα (the pure spiritual milk)2 in 1 Peter 2:2 refers to the word of God is the dominant position of scholarship.3 Nevertheless Karen Jobes questions whether interpreting the milk as the word is accurate.4 In her estimation, several misunderstandings

DBSJ 24 (2019) p. 64

have led to this misinterpretation. While recognizing her position as a minority one within scholarship,5 Jobes has put forth a substantial case for γάλα being a more general concept; namely, that which “is consistent with life in the new reality that Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension have created.”6 Since Jobes is the only one who has sought to offer a sustained defense of such a position, the following article focuses on her arguments.

It is important to note that Jobes is not against identifying the word of God as a part of the meaning of γάλα, but she argues that making the word of God central in the metaphor is not warranted by the biblical text.7 This article will argue for what I will call the traditional view: γάλα is used as a metaphor to refer to the word of God. To defend the traditional interpretation, I will first detail Jobes’s arguments against the word-view, showing that such arguments are insufficient for her case. Afterward, I will show how interpreting “milk” as primarily referring to the word of God makes the best sense of the passage lexically and contextually.

Considering Jobes’s Arguments

We will examine Jobes’s arguments for her position and against the word-view by categorizing them into two major groups: lexical arguments and contextual arguments. These arguments will, in the next major section, be countered by lexical and contextual arguments for the word-view.

Lexical Arguments

The two adjectives in the word-picture—λογικὸν and ἄδολον—are the source of lexical arguments for Jobes. As for the first, Jobes believes Peter’s word choice signals that he is not referring to the word. First,

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