In their translator’s handbook for 1 Peter, Daniel C. Arichea and Eugene A. Nida offer the following translation of 1 Pet 3:19:
and in his spiritual existence he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits.
While noting that some commentators have argued that this relates to an event during or after the ascension, Arichea and Nida note the following grammatical problems with this interpretation:
First, the verb is primarily neutral, indicating simply movement which is either up or down; besides, in verse 22 the verb is qualified by “to heaven,” a qualification which is absent in the present context. Secondly, the verb here is in the aorist tense, indicating a specific action at a particular place and time; if the preaching occurred during the ascension, one would perhaps expect a participle, indicating a process. (Daniel C. Arichea and Eugene A. Nida, A Translator’s Handbook on the First Letter from Peter New York: United Bible Societies, 1980], 115)
