1 Peter 2:22

The context

First Peter 2 addresses servants suffering unjustly and points them to Christ as an example. The passage draws heavily on the servant song of Isaiah 53, quoting its language of bearing sins and of the sheep going astray. Verse 22 cites the servant's innocence, and verse 23 describes his refusal to retaliate.

What it establishes

Sinlessness is stated as a fact and put to use. The example is only credible if the one who suffered did not deserve it, and the quotation from Isaiah supplies both the claim and its scriptural warrant.

What it does not establish

It is a citation before it is a doctrine. The line comes from Isaiah 53 and its original referent is the servant of that poem, whose identity is itself debated. The verse also does not explain how sinlessness was maintained.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• What is Salvation?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.