- Cults/Religions
- Christianity
- Apologetics
19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.1 Peter 3:19-20
Who are the "spirits in prison" mentioned in 1 Peter 3:19?
The Spirits in Prison are Fallen Angels
For more on the "sons of God", the fallen angels, Tartarus, and the Nephilim:
The Spirits in Prison are Fallen Angels
Specifically, the "spirits in prison" are the fallen angels who had sex with human women and were imprisoned in Tartarus.
The Greek
The Greek word used for "spirits" is pneumasin. It is used in Scripture in reference to angels (Hebrews 1:14), demons (Mark 1:23), the spirit of Jesus (Matthew 27:50), and the Holy Spirit (John 14:17). However, it is clear that 1 Peter is not referencing the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus, or heavenly angels. It is very unlikely that it is referencing the human spirit either. While humans have spirits, they are not merely spirits. Contrast this with the Holy Spirit, angels, and the spirit of Jesus, all of which are spirits. Nowhere in Scripture do we read of "spirits" being a reference to humans. Lastly, anywhere we read of "spirits" without a qualifier (the spirit of someone, the Holy spirit, etc), it refers to supernatural (non-human) beings. All of this gives us good reason to believe that the "spirits in prison" are fallen angels, and the rest of Scripture seems to support this conclusion.
2 Peter 2:4-5
In Peter's second letter, there is further support for the identification of the "spirits in prison" as fallen angels.
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world2 Peter 2:4-5
Though the translation reads "hell" here, it is actually the Greek word tartarow, which does not reference hell, but is a verb which should be translated "holding them captive in Tartarus". This is the only time the word is used in the New Testament. Immediate context describes Tartarus as being a place of "utter darkness" where the fallen angels are "locked up in chains". In 1 Peter, we have "spirits in prison". In 2 Peter, we have "angels who sinned...[thrown] into hell and locked [...] up in chains". Peter is talking about the same thing!
Of course, not all fallen angels are imprisoned. There are, after all, demons who are on the loose, rather than bound in chains awaiting judgment. Peter is referring specifically to the angels who had sex with human women, which we read about in Genesis 6.
Jude 1:6-7
Jude also references these fallen angels.
6 You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day. 7 So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.Jude 1:6-7
And so we see that 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude all reference certainy angels as being "kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment", and that these angels are related somehow to the flood. And Jude adds an interesting note to the mix which will help in helping to more certainly identify of the "spirits in prison"; the angels engaged in "sexual immorality" and "pursued unnatural desire".
They are the fallen angels from Genesis
In Genesis 6, right before we read about Noah, we read about the "sons of God" (angels--in this case, fallen) having sex with the "daughters of humankind" (human women). God, seeing this, says that "They will remain for 120 more years". It is after this that God says He wipe everything from the earth, at which point we are introduced to Noah. This ties together the verses in 1 Peter and 2 Peter which mention angels and the flood and prison, and Jude, which mentions angels and sexual immorality and prison.
