Peter now picks up the theme of judgment which he has already introduced earlier. Once again, he affirms the imminence of this judgment: it is about to begin. The judge is not explicitly mentioned; it could either be Christ or God, but probably the latter (compare Phillips, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “God’s judgment”). This judgment will begin with God’s own people (literally “the household of God” or “the temple of God”; compare 2.5). The background of the idea may have been Malachi 3.1-5, made famous by an anthem in Handel’s Messiah, where God suddenly comes into his temple and starts purifying the sons of Levi. The idea that God’s judgment starts with his own people is found elsewhere in the Bible (Jer 25.29; Ezek 9.6; Isa 10.12). The connection of this judgment with the sufferings of the Christians of Asia Minor is not made explicit; it can only be suggested that perhaps in Peter’s mind, the trials and persecutions being experienced by the Christians are already part of the impending judgment, perhaps as part of the messianic woes which are expected to occur before the second coming of Christ (compare 4.13; Mark 13.8-13).
It may be extremely difficult to translate more or less literally the clause The time has come for judgment to begin. In the first place a number of languages do not possess a more or less abstract term for time in the sense of “an occasion,” and they would not combine a noun meaning “judgment” and a verb meaning “begin.” However, the entire clause can be restructured as “God will soon begin to judge people.”
The passive expression God’s own people are the first to be judged may be restructured as “and God will first judge his own people” or “… those who belong to him” or “… those who worship him.”
The last part of the verse is a rhetorical question; the basic idea is that if God’s people do not escape judgment, then how much more terrible it will be for non-believers! Those who do not believe is literally “those who do not obey,” for which see notes on 2.7, 8; 3.1, 20. The Good News from God is literally “the gospel of God” (compare Revised Standard Version), and this may mean either “the Good News about God” or “the Good News from God himself”; many translations opt for this second alternative (for example, Barclay “the good news that God has sent”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “God’s good news”; Knox “God’s message”).
In a number of languages it is almost impossible to employ the kind of rhetorical question which exists in the second part of verse 17, especially one with a conditional clause such as If it starts with us. Obviously this question is not asked for the sake of information; it is simply designed to emphasize how much more difficult it will be for those who do not believe the Good News that comes from God. Accordingly, one may restructure the second sentence of verse 17 as “if God begins his judgment with us, then it will certainly be far more difficult for those who do not believe the Good News that comes from God.” In this way the contrast may be made explicit, and the rhetorical question may be turned into an emphatic statement.
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 .