1 Peter 2:10

In time past. That is, particularly during the time that Abraham and his descendants were God’s “peculiar people.”

Not a people. The apostle paraphrases Hosea 2:23 and applies it to Gentile Christians. He would not have so addressed Jewish Christians, whose ancestors had been the people of God for centuries. The “people” to whom he here speaks he later describes as converts from idolatry (1 Peter 4:3, 4). Paul similarly applies Hosea 2:23 to the call of the Gentiles (see on Rom. 9:25, 26).

People of God. Without Christ, all men, whether Jew or Gentile, are without hope (see on v. 9). However, when they become citizens of the kingdom of God they join the “holy nation” whose task it is to manifest the glory of their Master in the sight of men (see on v. 9).

Not obtained mercy. When Israel was God’s chosen people Gentiles could obtain divine mercy by becoming Israelites. But now, to obtain the same divine mercy, a Jew would have to leave Judaism and unite with the Christian church. In ancient times Israel was the channel through which divine mercy flowed to the world; today, the church is that channel.

Have obtained mercy. That is, by virtue of having become the divinely appointed agency through which “mercy” flows to the world.