Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as strangers in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
This was originally an encyclical letter written for circulation among the addressees. The sequence of provinces corresponds to the route that the bearer of the original epistle would have normally followed. [Note: F. J. A. Hort, The First Epistle of St. Peter 1:1-2:17, pp. 157-84; Selwyn, p. 119; Goppelt, p. 4.] This is also true of the seven cities addressed in Revelation 2, 3.