The First Epistle of Peter is addressed to "the strangers scattered abroad", i.e., to the Jews of the Dispersion (the Diaspora). Its object is to confirm its readers in the doctrines they had been already taught. Peter has been called "the apostle of hope," because this epistle abounds with words of comfort and encouragement fitted to sustain a "lively hope." It contains about thirty-five references to the Old Testament. It was written from Babylon about 62–64 C.E., on the Euphrates, which was at this time one of the chief seats of Jewish learning, and a fitting centre for labour among the Jews.