Matthew Poole and continuators on 1 Peter 3:20

20 Which sometime were disobedient , when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah , while the ark was a preparing, † wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water .

Which Spirits in Prison. Quest. When were these Spirits, to whom Christ preached by Noah, in Prison? Ans. Then when Peter writ this Epistle. The Greek Participle of the Present Tense is here to be supplied, and the word thus read, preached to the Spirits, which are in Prison, viz. now at this time; and so the time of their being in Prison, is opposed to the time of their being Disobedient; their Disobedience going before their Imprisonment, q. d. they were disobedient then, they are in Prison now.

Viz. In the days of Noah, when they were upon Earth.

Would not believe what Noah told them in God's Name, nor be brought to Repentance by his Preaching.

Not always, but for a determinate time, viz. 120 years; which term being expired, there was no hope left for them that they should be spared.

i. e. God in his Patience, and long-suffering.

For the Repentance and Reformation of that rebellious Generation.

Till the 120 years were run out, and the Ark, which was a preparing for the Security of him, and his Family, were finished.

i. e. Eight Persons, Noah, and his Wife, his three Sons, and their Wives.

Either, 1. by Water, is here put for in, as Rom. 4.11. that believe, though they be not circumcised. The same Greek Preposition is used as here, and the words may be read, by, or through, or rather in Uncircumcision; for Uncircumcision was not the cause or means of their believing. See the like use of this Particle, 2 Pet. 3.5. Thus saved in the Water, is as much as notwithstanding the Water, or the Water not hindring; so 1 Tim. 2.15. saved in Child-bearing, where the same Preposition is used: Or, 2. by Water; the Water, which drowned the World, lifting up the Ark and saving Noah and his Houshold. Quest. Doth not this Place countenance the Papist's Limbus, or the place where the Souls of the Old-Testament Fathers were reserved (as they pretend) till Christ's coming in the Flesh? Answ. No: For, 1. The Spirits here mentioned were disobedient, which cannot be said of the Fathers of the Old-Testament, who were true Believers. 2. The Spirits here mentioned, are not said to be delivered out of Prison, but only that Christ by his Spirit preached to them, and to his preaching to them, their disobedience is opposed. 3. According to the Papists, Noah and his Family must be in their Limbus, whereas they are opposed to those disobedient Spirits to whom Christ is said to preach.

Marginal references: Gen. 7.7. and 8.18.