Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross is an allusion to Isaiah 53.11 (compare 53.4) and gives content to verse 21 (Christ himself suffered for you). One notes the use of the inclusive first person plural here (our) instead of the second person plural which is used throughout the whole passage. The redemptive act of Christ on the cross is meant not only for the slaves or the Christians, but for all people.
Cross is literally “tree,” used in secular Greek literature for the scaffold, and in Christian literature for the cross (compare Acts 5.30; 10.39; 13.29; Gal 3.13). To the cross may also be translated “on the cross” (Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, Phillips, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy); the idea then is that through Christ’s death on the cross, the sins of people are taken away, that is, forgiven. On the other hand, since the Greek verb carried (anapherō) is often used to describe the act of bringing offerings to the altar, then to the cross may be the proper translation, with the cross taking the place of “the altar.” At any rate, the main idea here is that something happened at the death of Christ: his suffering includes suffering for people’s sins, including the blame, the curse, and the judgment that accompany such acts; his death becomes the way by which people’s sins are forgiven. The purpose of Christ’s carrying our sins is that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. “To die to something” is a metaphorical way of expressing deliverance from its power and dominion; to die to sin therefore is to be free from its power, including the desire to perform it. Some translations have dropped the metaphor for a much clearer expression (for example, New English Bible “cease to live for sin”; Moffatt “break with sin”).
The clause Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross is an extremely complex figurative expression, and there are serious difficulties involved in translating this accurately and meaningfully into some languages. For example, if the word sins must be translated as a verb referring to the events of doing evil, then it may be almost impossible to talk about them as being “carried,” for how does one “carry events.” The emphasis here is, of course, not upon the events as such, but upon the guilt which results from such evil deeds. Therefore in place of “Christ himself carried our evil deeds,” it may be more satisfactory in many languages to say “Christ carried the guilt which resulted from our evil deeds.”
An additional problem in the first clause of verse 24 results from the phrase in his body. This phrase refers to the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross, but if one renders the reference to the cross as “on the way to the cross,” then it would appear as though Jesus was carrying the guilt of sins as he walked along to the cross. Some persons have therefore preferred to translate in his body to the cross as “as he suffered in his body on the cross.”
That we might die to sin is a bold metaphor which must sometimes be changed to a simile, for example, “so that we might die, so to speak, as far as sin is concerned” or “so that as far as sin is concerned we might be the same as dead.” Sometimes this metaphorical expression has been changed into a nonfigurative phrase as “so that we might not any longer respond to the impulse to sin.”
Positively, the death of Christ on the cross enables us to live for righteousness. Righteousness in the letters of Paul has the primary meaning of the act of God in putting people into a right relationship with himself. Here, however, it is used primarily in an ethical sense, that is, it describes the way Christians should live and act. (Compare New American Bible “live in accord with God’s will”; Barclay “live to goodness”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Live honest lives.”)
Live for righteousness may be rendered as “live in order to do that which is right,” but one can also speak in many instances of “living good lives.”
The last part of the verse is a quotation from Isaiah 53.5. Here Peter returns to the second person plural pronoun, and is once more directly talking to the slaves who suffer in the hands of cruel masters. The Greek word for wounds describes a bruise or a wound trickling with blood, but more specifically the marks left on the flesh when a person is scourged. Scourging was not an uncommon experience among slaves of that day, and the Christian slaves are reminded that even Jesus suffered in the same way. But again, his suffering is vicarious; it is by his wounds that they have been healed. The healing is not limited to physical wounds, but includes moral and spiritual healing.
Wounds in this context refers not primarily to the marks left on the flesh but to the process of being wounded, that is to say, the suffering which is involved in such wounding, since this was the vicarious element producing the healing. Therefore, one may translate the last sentence of verse 24 as “you have been healed because he was wounded” or “… because he suffered wounds.” The causative relationship may also be expressed as “his suffering has caused you to be healed.” If at all possible, a rendering of healed should suggest “restored to health” or “made whole again.” In this way the broader implications of the term healed may be implied. It would certainly be wrong to suggest merely that “his being wounded has healed your wounds.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .