Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson, Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 16 Aug 2015
2:17 Honor all: Love the brotherhood, keep being respectful toward God; keep honoring the king.
2:18 [You who are] slaves [should honor all]
by submitting yourselves with total respect to your masters,
not only to the good and gracious ones but also to the crooked ones...
3:1 Similarly, [you who are] wives [should “honor all”]
by submitting yourselves to your own husbands
in order that, even though some are uncompliant with the word, they will be won over through the lifestyle of their wives without a word, 3:2 after observing y’all’s respectful, pure lifestyle,
3:3 of whom your adornment must be – not external,
of braiding of hairs or of decoration made of gold things or of trying on of clothes,
3:4 but rather [it must be] – the hidden person of the heart,
with the imperishable [characteristic] of your meek and quiet spirit
which continues to be very precious in God’s sight.
5 For in this way the holy wives in the past who hoped upon God would also adorn themselves:
by submitting themselves to their own husbands -
6 like Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him “lord.”
Y’all have become her children when you are doing good
and are not being afraid – not of even one terror.
· My wife often goes through a little ritual with our daughters when they dress up for church or for some special occasion. The get all gussied up and then they kinda walk by me hoping I will notice how nice they look. Paula will ask them, “What makes you beautiful? Is it your hair? Is it your pretty dress? Is it your necklace? No, it’s your heart! When a girl loves Jesus in her heart, it flows out onto her face and makes her BEAUTIFUL!”
· That was a main point of last week’s sermon. This week we are in the middle of a three-part seminar on marriage, authored by Peter, the only Apostle whose wife is actually mentioned in the gospels.
o Last week we camped on 1 Peter 3:1-4, and this week I intend to camp on verses 5-6 – both of which focus on advice to women.
o Next week I plan to round out the marriage seminar by working the men over with verse seven. But men, don’t go to sleep on me this week because the principles that Peter applies to wives are actually universal principles that the Scriptures apply to both men and women, so please consider how you can put these things into practice too!
· Before we get into the new material, remember the context of the scripture we’re looking at: In chapter 2 verse 17, we were commanded to show “honor” to all proper authorities, and now Peter is breaking that down into specific applications based on the different roles that different individual Christians have:
o In chapter 2 verse 13, he applied it to the role of citizenship which we all carry, saying that we should be “subject/submissive” to civil magistrates.
o He applied it to employees in chapter 2 verse 18, saying that those who serve should be “subject/submissive” to employers (2:18).
o He also mentioned “surrendering” to God in verse 23.
o Now, he is talking to the ladies about “submitting/being subject to” the head of your home in chapter 3 verse 1.
o He will go on to apply it to the husbands in verse 7.
· The principles from verses 1-4 which we covered last Sunday are very important, and if you missed that sermon, I encourage you to read it or listen to it on our church website, but let me summarize the points briefly now:
o Married ladies (and this also applies to children), here is how you start living out the lifestyle of a Christian: walk in an orderly way under the authority of your husband (or father).
o We talked about how there are limits to submission:
§ you don’t have to submit to just any man,
§ and you don’t have to submit to what is clearly unlawful,
§ but if you think your husband or father is telling you to do something wrong, you’d better make sure it is clearly wrong before you appeal to an outside authority.
§ In my example last week about a husband telling you to stop attending church, I realized later that I should have qualified it further. A wife could respond to such a demand with a sinful, unsubmissive attitude, “Ha! I won’t obey that! Hebrews 10:25 says, ‘Do not forsake the assembly,’ so I’m going to church whether you like it or not! Good-bye!” Is that going to win your husband over to Christ? Of course not. Matthew 18 tells us that the first step when you are grappling with something offensive is to go alone to the offending party and try to reconcile. “Husband, I’m really struggling with what you said. Could you help me come around to the right attitude by explaining your reasoning behind me not going to church? I want to understand it from your perspective so I can honor you.” It’s possible he has a good reason, “Wife, you have a contagious disease, and it would be wrong of you to infect everybody at church with it.” Or “Wife, you just had a baby; you need to stay home and rest for a few weeks so that you can be strong enough to run the house when my paternity leave is up.” You see, there are times when Hebrews 10:25 is temporarily not applicable. So it you think you need to challenge authority, but just to be really slow and careful and communicative about it.
o However, submission should be the normal course of relationship between wife and husband, and that is demonstrated in her “conduct/behavior.” It’s “lifestyle evangelism” designed to convince him of the value of your faith by how much good it does him. It is an attitude of seeking a “win” for Christ rather than a win for yourself.
o I might add that this teaching from 1 Peter 3 underscores a very important lesson to unmarried ladies and to ladies who are married to a non-Christian:
§ Girls, if you love Jesus, don’t settle for anything less than a godly man in a dating relationship or marriage. Compromising and becoming unequally yoked with an unbeliever or even with a nominal Christian is foolish and shortsighted. I can’t tell you the number of women I’ve met who live for year after year with strife and heartbreak because their husband is not a believer. Don’t give in to the Devil’s lie that the latest guy is your last chance to get married and it’s either him or perpetual spinsterhood. That’s rubbish. You are a princess under the care of a heavenly father who is just waiting for you to stop grasping relationships for yourself and to trust Him to provide for you before He opens up the relationship with a man who will really be a good husband for you.
§ At the same time, 1 Peter 3 is good news to every believing woman who struggles with being married to an unbeliever. God is telling you right here that it is His will to win your husband to Himself through your submissive attitude. The verb “won over” in verse 1 is not subjunctive (as in “Maybe your husband might be won over”) but rather future indicative (as in a prediction of the future, “He will be won over”). Those of you living under that stress, dear sisters, don’t give up! We have a prophetic word that is sure. God will change his heart. May He grant us the perseverance to endure with a right attitude until the fulfillment of this prophecy!
o Last week we also covered the four words Peter used in verses 2 and 4 to describe that inner person characterized by this winsome lifestyle:
§ Fear (they demonstrate “respect” or “reverence” to their husband)
§ Purity (They do not participate in sin)
§ Meekness/gentleness (They have Christ-like demeanor)
§ and Quietness (They don’t draw attention to themselves but rather are happy when people’s attention is drawn toward Jesus.)
§ These qualities will make you unimaginably attractive to a man, and they make you very attractive to Jesus as well.
o Finally, we talked about the tension between outward and inward adornment and noted that it’s a matter of order. You start by paying attention to your heart – your inner attitudes – by submitting to your husband (or father) and then express your Christ-honoring, spirit-led attitude through your outward appearance. But if you do it the other way around, and your focus starts on your hair and makeup and accessories and sees your inner attitudes as incidental and unimportant, you are not going to snag a good Christian husband and you’re not going to win over an ungodly husband.
We’ve seen a couple of reasons offered by Peter for wives to be submissive (gentle and quiet):
1. First that this attitude could win over an unbelieving husband,
2. second that this attitude is precious in God’s sight.
3. Now we get to a third reason, and it’s kind-of interesting. It is both an appeal to tradition: “this is the way the Old Testament saints did it,” and it is an appeal to membership in an exclusive club – You want good friends that make good company? This is the way to join the “holy wife” club started by none other than Abraham’s wife Sarah!
· The Greek word for “woman” is the same as the word for “wife.”
· Who are these “holy women/wives”? “Holy” means that you have a special relationship to God which not just anyone has. To be among this special group of people, you must “trust in/set your hopes upon” God. That’s what makes you a “saint;” that’s what makes you special to God is you have placed your faith in Jesus to save you and make everything in the world right again.
· Try this on for size: Your trust in your husband is a demonstration of your trust in God. Your respect for your man is a way you show your respect for God.
o When you see a woman who acts like her man “hung the moon,” there is probably a man who cherishes his wife or daughter, and she has probably the same kind of special place in God’s heart too.
o I’m not saying that you create a right relationship with God by the way you treat your man; I’m just trying to put verse 1 in different words: Your relationship with the head of your household is the place to start demonstrating your heart toward God.
o This is also the way to win a man’s heart. You may think that it has to do with the way you look, the kind of style you do your hair, the fashion you wear, and the aqua-goo-goo you put on your face, but that’s not what will get a guy to cherish you. It is your attitude that will win him.
o Sure, if you have the attitude of submitting to him you will wear clothes and stuff that he likes, so it doesn’t mean you ignore your looks; it just means you start with your attitude.
· I remember the song from the musical Annie, “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile.” That’s not from the Bible, but it sure is good advice.
o When you wake up in the morning, ladies, and you think of adorning yourself, start by asking God to help you put on a gentle, quiet, submissive attitude toward your husband (or your father).
· By the way, when the Bible speaks of being gentle and quiet, it isn’t talking about a mealy-mouthed, weak, spineless demeanor.
o Jael was a holy woman and she nailed a tent-stake through a general’s head.
o Priscilla was a holy woman, and she didn’t put up with Apollos’ weak doctrinal teaching, she and her husband Aquilla sat Apollos down and “taught him the way of the Lord more accurately” (Acts 18:26).
o So, being submissive doesn’t mean you sit around and do nothing and just tolerate evil, no, holy women get up and do whatever God calls them to do, but they do it because they want God to be glorified, and, if they’re married, they do it in a way that demonstrates they are working under the authority of their husband, and that makes him look good. And when he looks good, you share the benefits with him!
· Sarah, the wife of the patriarch Abraham is now introduced as a case study.
· Now everybody knows that the Jews are descended from Abraham and Sarah, and that Abraham was a great man of God. So, if you can be related to Abraham and Sarah, you’ve got to be right with God, right?
o I say that somewhat tongue-in-cheek, because we know it isn’t our genetics but rather our faith which relates us to God, but Peter’s argument speaks of becoming “children” of Sarah and Abraham. How does that work?
o In Hebrew, being a child of something – such as a “son of the desert” or a “son of encouragement” meant that you had certain character traits which were like the person or thing that was being attributed as your parent figuratively.
o Would you like to be characterized by the faith and greatness and blessing that Abraham and Sarah had? These people talked with God; God paid attention to them, and they enjoyed tremendous blessings and honor and carried great influence. Listen up and you can find out how you can get in on these things too.
· Peter alludes to Sarah’s careless comment in Genesis 18:12 about being too old to have a baby, since she was 89 years old, and Abraham, whom she calls her “lord,” was 99 years old. She said, “Is there grace after menopause with my adonai [lord/husband] so old?”
o And yet the very thoughtlessness of Sarah’s comment reveals that just as surely as she assumed that 90-year-old women can’t have babies, she just as much believed that Abraham was her “lord.” She was being honest.
o Now we must realize that the word “lord” (or adonai in Hebrew) denoted the authority over you, and it was used both as a term of respect for human rulers and leaders, as well as being used to denote God, who is the ultimately-authoritative Lord. So, Sarah was not calling Abraham “God,” she was just using a term of respect which could be applied to God as well as to men and which recognized Abraham as her authority to whom she submitted.
· But the point is not merely to say the right words; the point, once again, is to have the right attitude.
o Ladies, you can try calling your husband or father “lord,” but he’s probably going to think you’re overdoing it – and maybe buttering him up to ask a favor.
· How would you demonstrate that you have a real attitude of respectful submission?
o Maybe it’s a simple as looking into his eyes when you speak to him rather than muttering with your back to him.
o Maybe it’s interrupting what you’re doing to respond immediately when he asks something of you.
o Maybe it’s just smiling when he enters the room.
o Can you imagine if Jesus showed up at your house one afternoon and asked for a cup of coffee? “Just a sec, J, can’t you see I’m in the middle of an email?” Is that how you’d respond? Or would you tell your girl-friend, “Gotta go!” and rush to wait on Him. “Oh, what a privilege that You would visit me, Lord! Here, let me grind some fresh for you!”
· So how do you join Sarah in the “holy wife” club? Peter says there are two criteria for membership: 1) “do good” and 2) “don’t fear.”
· Ladies, what should you do when you are tempted to contradict or dishonor your husband or father? God’s word says 1) “do good” and 2) “don’t fear”!
1. “Doing good” involves obeying what God told you to do:
o 1 Peter 2:15 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (NKJV)
o 1 Peter 3:17 “For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” (NKJV)
o God told you to submit to your husband’s authority (assuming it is proper authority) even if it means you might suffer. That is “doing good.”
2. Secondly, “do not give in to fear.” I want to take a little more time with this point:
o First off, I think it is important to identify what we’re not talking about.
§ “Not fearing” is different from merely being “brave” like the girls in the movies.
§ Movies have all-too-often portrayed the brazen commission of sin as the thing that makes a woman a hero: whether it be disobedience to parents, putting down their stupid husband, winning the attention of multiple men, abandoning home or children, even killing or hitting people.
§ The courage exhibited by pagans is selfish, proud, dishonoring to authority and downright foolish. Only a Disney storywriter can make that kind of foolishness and evil turn out o.k. without Jesus’ salvation.
§ In real life, women destroy their lives when they do these sorts of things, and they live the rest of their life in regret for doing what God has not called them to do, but which they did anyway out of a false sense of bravado and self-confidence.
o So what is the Biblical way to be brave and courageous? This word ptoesin (translated “amazement/terror/fright/fear” – and which is omitted in the NIV) is found throughout the Greek Bible in messages from God:
§ God told Moses: “Be courageous and strong, fear not, neither be cowardly neither be [terrified] before them; for it is the Lord your God that advances with you in the midst of you, neither will he by any means forsake thee, nor desert thee.” (Deut. 31:6, Brenton)
§ David told Solomon: “...take heed to do the commandments and judgments which the Lord commanded Moses for Israel: be courageous and strong; fear not, nor be terrified.” (1 Chronicles 22:13, Brenton, cf. 28:20)
§ Jahaziel the prophet told King Jehosaphat: “...Thus saith the Lord to you, even you, Fear not, neither be [terrified], before all this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.” (2 Chron. 20:15, Brenton)
§ King Hezekiah told the captains of Jerusalem: “Be strong and courageous, and fear not, neither be [terrified] before the King of Assyria... With him are arms of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to save us, and to fight our battle...” (2 Chr. 32:7-8, Brenton)
§ And God told the Prophet Jeremiah: “The wise men are ashamed, and [terrified], and taken; [WHY?] because they have rejected the word of the Lord... [But as for you] be not afraid of their face, neither be thou [terrified] before them; for I am with thee to deliver thee,” thussays the Lord. (Jeremiah 8:9 & 1:17, Brenton)
o Did you hear the recurring message? Why is it that God’s people – and this speaks to men just as much as to women – Why is it that you don’t have to be afraid? Because God is with you!
o One of the most common problems I encounter in counseling women is with how they handle fears. This is one of the biggest problems women face. “What do I do when I am afraid?”
o Examples: I just discovered a few weeks ago that my wife is afraid to ride in the car when I’m driving because she is afraid I will wreck the car. I didn’t think my driving was all that bad – it’s just that everybody else is a bad driver. But my wife is thinking, “How on earth would I ever cope with raising 12 children all by myself if my husband gets himself killed in a careless driving accident?” It’s a real concern!
o Many women are scared to death that their husband will divorce them and leave them lonely and financially insecure and socially ostracized. Every time his eyes follow another woman, every time he goes back to pornography, that knot tightens in his wife’s stomach. Nowadays who hasn’t heard of a married man running off with a younger woman? How do you deal with that gut-wrenching fear?
o How many women have been afraid that their husband (or father) will made a job decision or an investment decision that will devastate the family?
§ Maybe he wants to invest all your savings in starting up a new business and you have serious doubts that it will work, but you can’t talk him out of it. “I like the stability we have now; I don’t want to lose it all and move back to a squalid apartment like we used to live in.”
§ Or what if he comes home one day and says he feels God calling him to be a missionary to Timbuktu? How can you as a wife face the prospect of moving away from everybody you know and learn a new language where they probably don’t even have electricity or running water? Help!
· It is at times like these when the rubber meets the road. Will you start by believing that God is with you and that God will bless you for doing what is right and putting on a submissive attitude, and then applying yourself to showing respect to your husband and purity towards God with a gentle and quiet spirit?
· There’s a saying, “Don’t trust your husband; trust what God is doing IN your husband.” Committing to practice submission to your husband can be a scary step. It can be painful at times, but God will bless a woman who is chaste and respectful in her behavior towards her husband.
· Proverbs 3:21-26 “...Keep sound wisdom and discretion; So they will be life to your soul And grace to your neck. Then you will walk safely in your way, And your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.” (NKJV)
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2:17 πάνταςAPM τιμήσατεAAM, τὴν ἀδελφότηταASF ἀγαπησᾶτε[ii], τὸν ΘεὸνASM φοβεῖσθεPNM, τὸν βασιλέαASM τιμᾶτεPAM. |
17 Honor all of them: Love the brotherhood, keep being respectful toward God; keep honoring the king. |
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. |
17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. |
17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. |
17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. |
17 Show |
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2:18 Οἱ οἰκέταιNPM, ὑποτασσόμενοιPPP-NPM ἐν παντὶDSM φόβῳ τοῖς δεσπόταις DPM, οὐ μόνον τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς καὶ ἐπιεικέσινDPM, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς σκολιοῖς. |
18 [You who are] slaves[iii] [should honor all[iv]] by submitting yourselves with total respect to their masters[v], not only to the good and gracious ones but also to the crooked ones, |
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. |
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. |
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. |
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. |
18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. |
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3:1 ῾Ομοίως αἱ γυναῖκεςNPF ὑποτασσόμεναιPPP-NPF τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσινDPM, ἵνα καὶ εἴ τινεςNPM ἀπειθοῦσιPAI τῳ λόγῳ, διὰ τῆς τῶν γυναικῶν ἀναστροφῆςGSF ἄνευ[vi] λόγου κερδηθήσο[vii]νται FPI, |
1 Similarly[viii], [you who are] wives [should “honor all”] by submitting yourselves to your own husbands[ix] in order that, even though[x] some are uncompliant with the word[xi], they will be won over through the lifestyle[xii] of their wives without a word |
1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, X if any obey not the word, they also may without [the] word be won by the conversation of the wives; |
1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, |
1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, |
1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, |
1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, X if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without word[s] by the behavior of their wives, |
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2 ἐποπτεύσαντεςAAP-NPM τὴνASF ἐν φόβῳ ἁγνὴν ἀναστροφὴν ὑμῶν. |
2 after observing y’all’s respectful, pure lifestyle[xiii], |
2 |
2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. |
2 when they see your respectful [and] pure conduct. |
2 |
2 when they see the purity [and] reverence [of] your lives. |
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3 ὧνGPF ἔστωPAM-3S οὐχ ὁNSM ἔξωθενADV [xiv]ἐμπλοκῆςGSF τριχῶν καὶ [xv]περιθέσεωςGSF χρυσίων ἢ [xvi]ἐνδύσεωςGSF ἱματίων κόσμοςNSM, |
3 of whom your world must be – not external, of braiding of hairs or of decoration made of gold things or of trying on of clothes[xvii], |
3 Whose X adorning let it not be [that] outward adorning of plaiting [the] hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparelX; |
3 Do not let your X adornment be merely outward—arranging [the] hair, X wearing gold, or putting on fine apparelX— |
3 Do not let your X adorning be external--the braiding of hair and [the] putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothingX [you] wearX-- |
3 Your X adornment must not be merely external--braiding [the] hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; |
3 Your X beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and [the] wearing of gold jewelry and X [fine] clothes. |
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4 ἀλλ᾿ ὁNSM κρυπτὸς τῆςGSF [xviii]καρδίαςGSF ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῳ ἀφθάρτῳ τοῦ πραέο[xix]ςGSN καὶ ἡσυχίουGSN πνεύματοςGSN, ὅNSM ἐστιν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ πολυτελέςNSN. |
4 but rather [it must be] – the hidden person of the heart[xx], with the imperishable [characteristic] of your meek and quiet spirit[xxi] which continues to be very precious[xxii] in God’s sight. |
4 But 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. |
4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. |
4 but [let your adorning be] the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable [beauty] of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. |
4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable [quality] of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. |
4 Instead, [it should be that of your inner self, the unfading [beauty] of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. |
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5 οὕτω γάρ ποτε καὶ αἱ ἅγιαι [xxiii]γυναῖκεςNPF αἱ ἐλπίζουσαιPAP-NPF ἐπὶ[xxiv] [τὸν[xxv]] Θεὸν ἐκόσμουν IAI-3P ἑαυτάς, ὑποτασσόμεναιPPP-NPF τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσινDPM, |
5 For in this way the holy wives[xxvi] in the past who hoped upon God would also adorn themselves: by submitting themselves to their own husbands - |
5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: |
5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, |
5 For this is how the holy women X X who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, |
5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; |
5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put
their hope in God X used to make themselves beautiful. They
were submi |
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6 ὡς Σάρρα ὑπήκουσεAAI τῳ ᾿Αβραάμ, κύριον αὐτὸν καλοῦσαPAP-NSF · ἧςR-GSF ἐγενήθητε τέκνα, ἀγαθοποιοῦσαιPAP-NPF καὶ μὴ φοβούμεναιPNP-NPF μηδεμίαν πτόησινASF. |
6 like Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him “lord[xxvii].” Y’all have become her children when you are doing good and are not being afraid – not of even one terror.[xxviii] |
6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord:
whose daughters ye |
6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord,
whose daughters you |
6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.
And you |
6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord,
and you have become her children |
6 like Sarah, |
[i] Where the traditional Patriarchal edition of the
Greek Bible is challenged by the Textus
Receptus or by the modern critical editions, I note that. When an
English translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does not indicate it
has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words
in [square brackets]. When one English version chooses a wording which is
different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from
the root meaning of the Greek word or departs too far from the grammar form of
the original Greek word, I use strikeout. And when an English version
omits a word which is in the Greek text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place
the X at the end of a word if the Greek word is plural but the English
translation is singular.) I have also tried to use colors to help the reader
see correlations between the Greek original and the various translations.
[ii] The majority of manuscripts spell this word in the Aorist tense, however, since there is no manuscript older than the 8th Century which spells it Aorist, this reading is considered suspect by most modern scholars. The reading of the oldest-known texts here is Present Imperative, so that is the way the modern critical texts spell it. However, it doesn’t really make a difference in English translation. At the most, it could shade the meaning between an ingressive command “Start loving” (Aorist) and the progressive “Keep loving” (Present). In the last instance of this verb – in 1 Peter 1:22b, all known manuscripts agree on the Aorist imperative spelling.
[iii] This is not the Greek word for one who merely renders service contractually, but of someone who for the rest of this life is under the authority of and is a chattel slave of the master of a household. Deut.15:17, a doulos contracted-servant might be put in charge of the oiketai chattel-slaves (Matt.24:45), and this lends more perspective to Jesus’ statement that a chattel-slave can’t serve more than one master (Luke 16:13), because he has no such choice; he is owned as household property by that master.
[iv] I believe the lack of an indicative verb in v.18 makes it dependent on the imperatives of verse 17, making the participle “submitting” in v.18 a description of HOW a slave can begin to go about obeying the command to “honor.” The slave (and, by parallel circumstances, the employee) starts “honoring all” by first submitting - righteously and cheerfully - to his (or her) master (or boss, in the case of the employee).
[v] Thayer suggests that “master” is a combination of the Greek word for “bind” and “husband.” This indicates a covenantally or contractually-tied relationship. cf. 1 Tim. 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10
[vi] Rare word, only here and in Matthew 10:29 (“fall to the ground apart from my Father”) and 1 Peter 4:9 (“love one another without grumbling”) in the N.T. (+ 27 more instances in the LXX O.T.). Alpha-privative construction of the Greek word for “mind” (nous), so it implies an act of the will not to utilize words
[vii] The Textus Receptus has an omega instead of an omicron here, making it a Present Subjunctive (that they might/shall be won) instead of Future Indicative (they will/shall be won), which, in Greek can be practically interchangeable in meaning, as evidenced by the fact that the modern versions which follow the critical text chose to use the KJV wording “may,” normally reserved for the subjunctive mood.
[viii] cf. grammar construction in 2:18 – same classification use of the plural definite article in the subject, same participial verb “submitting” (from hupotassw), same use of the plural object to indicate a class of covenantally-organized authority, and same prepositional phrase “en phobos,” indicating the manner in which this submitting should be done.
[ix] There are limits to a wife’s submission, and those limits come when a jurisdiction is crossed and especially when there is a clear violation of Biblical law.
[x] 1st class conditional structure (ei + Present indicative verb) indicates that this condition is indeed the case, so I chose the English “though” instead of “if” to reflect this reality.
[xi] cf. 1 Peter 2:7-8 cf. Isaiah 30:9-13
[xii] anastrophe/conversation/conduct/behavior introduced in 1 Peter 1:15-18 & 2:12. In Matthew 25, kerde- is used to describe making capital gains. Cf. Matt. 18:15, 1 Cor. 9:19-22
[xiii] cf. 1 Peter 2:12. Regarding phobos cf.1:17, 2:18, Eph 5:33. Regarding hagnen cf. Titus 2:4-5, 1 John 3:3-4, 1 Tim. 5:22, Psalm 12:6, Proverbs 20:9.
[xiv] Brenton, in his English translation of the Septuagint, rendered this word in Exo. 35:22 “necklace,” in Num 31:50 “hair-clasp,” in Isa. 3:18 “fringes,” and in Isa. 3:20 “wreathed work.” This is the only noun form in the NT of this root. Three verb forms occur in the NT in Rom 15:24, 2 Tim. 2:4, 2 Peter 2:24, all rendered “entangle.”
[xv] Hapex legomenon, but the verbal form of paratithemi occurs some 45 times throughout the Bible in various contexts from building construction to clothing to jewelry.
[xvi] Rare noun form used only here in the N.T., and in Job 41:13 and the apocryphal Esther 5 in the Greek O.T., where Brenton translated it “garment” and “train” respectively.
[xvii] All 186 times that the word cosmos appears outside of this verse in the New Testament, it is translated “world,” but the majority of the times this word cosmos is used in the Greek Old Testament, it refers to women’s accessories. See Matthew 23:25-28 on “exterior”
[xviii] Perhaps alluding to Deut 15:9 ...κρυπτὸν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ... and Romans 2:16 “...τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων...”
[xix] The Alexandrian text reads omega instead of omicron here, but it is merely a variation in spelling with no difference in parsing or meaning.
[xx] cf.1 Sam. 16:7, Mat. 6:4, 15:19, Romans 2:29.
[xxi] cf. 1 Peter 1:4 & 23. Re: “meekness/gentleness” see Psalms 25:8-10, 37:11 (cf. Mt. 5:5), 76:9, 147:6, Matt. 21:5 & 11:29. Re: “quiet”: Isaiah 66:2b, 1 Timothy 2:2b.
[xxii] cf. Isa. 28:16, 1 Timothy 2:9-10, and Proverbs 31:10-12
[xxiii] Pharaoh’s daughter was not “holy” because she did not hope in God, so Solomon had to build her a house outside the holy city when he married her. (1 Chron 8:11)
[xxiv] Most of the oldest-known Greek manuscripts have εις (“into”) instead of epi (“upon”), but the overall majority appears to follow the reading of one of the oldest manuscripts (Siniaticus), which is the Patriarchal reading above. Again, whether our hope is “in” or “upon” God, it means the same thing.
[xxv] Not found in the majority of manuscripts or in the Critical texts, but, for some reason, it is in the Patriarchal and Textus Receptus. It makes no difference whether “God” has the definite article because Scripture already portrays Him as a singular entity.
[xxvi] Peter is the only Bible author to speak of “holy women” – the Greek word for “woman” is the same as the word for “wife.”
[xxvii] In Hebrew, being a child of something – such as a “son of the desert” or a “son of encouragement” – meant that you had certain character traits which were like that, not that they were physically your parents. Peter alludes to Sarah’s careless comment in Genesis 18:12. Regarding the word “lord” (or adonai in Hebrew) Sarah was not calling Abraham “God,” she was just using a term of respect that could be applied to God as well as to men and that recognized Abraham as her authority to whom she submitted.
[xxviii] This word ptoesin only occurs here in the New Testament (and only once in the O.T. in Prov. 3:25), but its verb form shows up twice in the Gospel of Luke (21:9 & 24:37), however it is used in the recurring message from God through the prophets Prov. 3:21-26, Deut. 31:6, 1 Chron. 22:13, 28:20, 2 Chron. 20:15, 32:7-8, Jer. 8:9 & 1:17)