1 Peter 3

In the same way, wives, accept the leadership of your own husbands. Then if any of them will not believe the message, they may be won over without a word, just by watching how their wives live,

1Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

Note"Conversation" in 1611 English meant a person's whole way of life and conduct, not talk. That is why the verse can say a husband may be won "without the word" and yet "by the conversation of the wives": it is behavior, not speech, that does the work. The word carries the same sense in verses 2 and 16. The Greek verb behind "be in subjection" was an ordinary word for taking one's assigned place within an ordered arrangement, such as a household or an army. Verses 1 to 7 follow a standard ancient form, sometimes called a household code, in which a writer addresses each class of household member in turn; Peter has already addressed household slaves in the previous chapter.

2when they see the pure and respectful way you behave.

2While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

Note"Fear" here does not mean fright. The Greek word covers reverence and deep respect, the attitude a person shows toward someone or something held in awe. "Chaste" means pure or morally undefiled, not specifically sexually inexperienced.

3Your beauty should not come from the outside, from braiding your hair, wearing gold jewelry, or putting on fine clothes.

3Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

NoteThe three items listed were the stock description of conspicuous wealth in ancient writers, Jewish and Greek and Roman alike. Elaborate hairstyles of the period were built up in braids over a frame and could be threaded with gold, so "plaiting the hair" and "wearing of gold" describe one display as much as two. "Apparel" here means costly clothing, not clothes in general.

4Instead, it should come from who you are inside, from a beauty that does not fade: a gentle and quiet spirit, which God counts as very valuable.

4But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Note"The hidden man of the heart" is a literal rendering of a Greek phrase meaning the hidden person inside, the inner self, set against the outward display of verse 3. "Of great price" means costly or expensive; the same Greek word describes the jar of expensive perfume poured over Jesus. The verse deliberately borrows the vocabulary of jewelry: "ornament" and "price" are words a merchant would use.

5This is how the holy women of long ago made themselves beautiful. They put their hope in God and accepted the leadership of their own husbands.

5For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

6Sarah did this. She obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not let fear terrify you.

6Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

NoteSarah calls Abraham "my lord" in Genesis 18:12. In Hebrew and Greek alike this was an ordinary term of respect a wife might use for a husband, closer to "sir" than to a title of worship. "Afraid with any amazement" uses "amazement" in its older sense of terror or panic, not pleasant surprise. The Greek phrase means something like being frightened out of your wits.

7In the same way, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way. Treat your wife with honor as the more fragile partner, since she shares with you the gift of life. Then nothing will get in the way of your prayers.

7Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Note"Vessel" translates a Greek word for a container, tool or implement, used figuratively of a person or a person's body. The comparative "weaker" implies that the husband is a vessel too; the text compares two vessels rather than contrasting a vessel with something else. The weakness in view is most naturally physical and social, the lesser strength and lesser standing a wife had in that society, and the point of the sentence is that this is a reason for honor rather than for contempt. "Honour" in this culture was a public commodity, the rank and worth others acknowledged in you, so giving honor meant treating someone publicly as valuable.

8Finally, all of you: think alike, feel for one another, love each other like family, be tenderhearted, and be humble.

8Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

NoteTwo of these words have shifted. "Pitiful" meant full of pity, compassionate, not contemptible. "Courteous" here reflects the Greek manuscripts the KJV translators used, which read a word meaning friendly or kindly disposed; the earliest manuscripts read a different word meaning humble-minded, which is why modern translations say humble.

9Do not pay back evil with evil, or insult with insult. Instead, give a blessing back, because God called you to do this so that you would receive a blessing yourselves.

9Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Note"Railing" means abusive speech, insults and verbal attacks. The word appears twice in the verse and is the same on both sides: returning insult for insult.

10For the Scripture says, "Anyone who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from saying evil things and his lips from telling lies.

10For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

NoteVerses 10 to 12 quote Psalm 34:12 to 16, following the ancient Greek version of the Old Testament rather than the Hebrew. "Guile" means deceit or cunning, speech designed to mislead.

11He must turn away from evil and do good. He must look for peace and chase after it.

11Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

NoteBoth verbs are archaic. "Eschew" means shun or turn away from. "Ensue" here means pursue or chase after, not follow as a consequence.

12The Lord watches over those who do what is right, and he listens to their prayers. But the Lord sets his face against those who do evil."

12For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

Note"The face of the Lord is against" is a Hebrew idiom. To set your face toward someone means to give them your attention; to set it against them means to oppose them.

13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do what is good?

13And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?

14But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not be afraid of what they threaten, and do not let it shake you.

14But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

Note"Happy" translates a Greek word usually rendered "blessed," which describes a fortunate or enviable condition rather than a cheerful feeling. "Be not afraid of their terror" quotes Isaiah 8:12, and the phrase is ambiguous in the Greek exactly as it is in the Hebrew: it can mean do not fear what they fear, or do not fear the fear they try to inflict on you. Translations split on it.

15Instead, set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope you have. But give that answer with gentleness and respect,

15But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

NoteThe quotation from Isaiah continues here: Isaiah 8:13 reads "sanctify the Lord of hosts himself." To sanctify something meant to set it apart as holy, to treat it as belonging in a category of its own. The KJV reads "the Lord God" because of the manuscripts available in 1611; the earliest Greek manuscripts read "Christ as Lord," which is why the rendering says Christ. "Give an answer" translates the Greek word apologia, the formal defense a defendant makes in court, and "a reason" translates logos, an account or explanation. The vocabulary is legal, though the setting need not be a courtroom. "Fear" again means reverence or respect, as in verse 2.

16and keep your conscience clear. Then when people speak against you, those who attack the good way you live as followers of Christ will be put to shame for their lies.

16Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

Note"Conversation" again means way of life and conduct, not talk. "Speak evil of" and "falsely accuse" both translate words for slander and public defamation, the kind of talk that damaged a person's standing in a small community.

17It is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing evil.

17For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

18For Christ suffered for sins one time, the innocent one for the guilty ones, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in his body, but made alive in the Spirit.

18For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Note"Once" means once and for all, one time with no repetition, not "at one time in the past." "The just for the unjust" uses legal language: the righteous one in place of, or on behalf of, the unrighteous. The Greek preposition covers both senses. "Quickened" is old English for made alive. The two phrases "in the flesh" and "by the Spirit" are parallel in Greek and have the same grammatical form, so the second can be read either as by the Spirit or as in the realm of the spirit; translators divide on it.

19In that Spirit he also went and preached to the spirits who were in prison.

19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

Note"By which" translates a Greek phrase that can mean in whom, in which, or on which occasion, and readers have understood this verse very differently depending on which they choose. "The spirits in prison" is equally open: the Greek says only that, without identifying them. In Jewish writings of this period, including the widely read book of Enoch, the phrase normally refers to imprisoned angelic beings, while verse 20 ties these spirits to the disobedient human generation of Noah's day. The text does not resolve which is meant, and the rendering leaves it where the Greek leaves it.

20Long ago these spirits refused to obey, back when God waited patiently during the days of Noah, while the ark was being built. In that ark only a few people, eight in all, were brought safely through the water.

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

NoteSeveral words are archaic. "Sometime" means formerly or once. "Longsuffering" is patience under provocation, holding back over a long stretch of time. "While the ark was a preparing" is an old English passive, meaning while the ark was being built. "Souls" simply means people, as in a head count. "Saved by water" renders a Greek preposition that can mean either through, in the sense of passing safely through it, or by means of. The eight are Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, from Genesis 7:13.

21That water stands for the baptism that now saves you too. Baptism is not about washing dirt off your body. It is a pledge to God from a clear conscience, and it saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

21The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Note"The like figure whereunto" translates a single Greek word, antitypon, meaning the corresponding thing, the counterpart that matches an earlier pattern. The flood water is the pattern and baptism the counterpart. "The answer of a good conscience" turns on a Greek noun that was used for a formal question put to someone, for a request, and in legal contracts for the pledge given in reply to such a question. So the phrase can mean an appeal made to God from a good conscience, or a pledge given to God, or a request for a good conscience. The grammar allows all three and the sentence does not settle it. "The filth of the flesh" means dirt on the body, a plain reference to ordinary washing.

22He has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand, with angels and authorities and powers placed under his rule.

22Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

NoteSitting at the right hand of a ruler was the position of highest delegated authority, the place of the person who acts with the king's power. The wording echoes Psalm 110:1. "Angels and authorities and powers" is a list of ranks of unseen beings, the sort of catalog found in Jewish writings of the period for the powers thought to stand behind earthly rulers and events. The names of the ranks meant more to first readers than to us; the force of the list is its completeness.