1. 1 Peter 3:19 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is meant by “proclaimed"?

1 Peter 3:19 (ESV)

19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,

The New Testament uses several terms to convey the notion of preaching the gospel, one of them being proclaim. This term describes what a herald does in relation to a message that a superior (e.g., a king) wants the citizenry to know. King Ahasuerus had Haman make a proclamation concerning Mordecai (Esther 6:11); Jonah proclaimed a message of doom in Nineveh (Jonah 3:2, Jonah 3:4–5); Noah was a “herald [same word] of righteousness” to the generation before the flood (2 Peter 2:5). Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gave him authority to “proclaim” (or to instruct another to proclaim on his behalf) and at the same time provided a message worth proclaiming.