Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson, Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 23 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,
2:7 Similarly, you [who are] husbands [should honor all]
by residing together according to knowledge with your wife as with a weaker vessel,
by sanctioning honor even as you are inheritors together of the grace of life
to the end that y’alls prayers not be hindered.
· This week we continue our Petrine marriage seminar
o The first two weeks we looked at Peter’s advice to women in 1 Peter 3:1-6. If you missed either of those sermons, I encourage you to read or listen to them on the church website[1].
o This week and next, we look at Peter’s advice to the men in verse 7.
o Now ladies, it’s your turn for me to tell you not to go to sleep on me,
§ because the principles that Peter applies to husbands can also be applied to women, so please consider how you can put these things into practice too!
§ If, however, the only reason you want to stay awake for this sermon is to get a collection of soundbites from me to quote at your husband this week to shame him for not being a good enough husband – well, maybe it would be better for your marriage if you did go to sleep on me!
· Once again Peter’s instruction to a class of people in the church starts with a comparative and contains no indicative verb. This makes the instructions in verse 7 dependent on what he has written earlier in the paragraph. I believe it points us all the way back to chapter 2 verse 17 which introduces the command (with indicative verbs) to “honor all.” Chapter 3 verse 7 tells us how husbands can honor all and live a Christian lifestyle: start by putting their relationship with their wife in the right place.
· Andres is the Greek word for “men” just as the Greek word for “wife” is literally the word for “woman.” In the context, it’s clearly talking about married men.
o However, this passage can also be applied to some extent to unmarried men in the way they treat any woman – your sister, you mom, other girls at church or school or work.
o Also note that there is only one “wife” here per husband (the Greek word for “wife” is singular, not plural, and I see no good reason why some English translations render it “wives” in the plural. At least the NAS italicizes it to show that it isn’t in the original text!).
o And, by the way, there is no corresponding male domestic partner. This is Biblical marriage: 1 man + 1 woman.
· Peter uses two participles to explain how to do this: First by “residing together,” and second by “allocating honor.” Let’s start by looking at the first participle, and I will plan to pick up on the second one next week.
· How does a married man live a Christian life? By being a great businessman? By being a great community leader? By great service in the church? No. Start with the way you live with your wife!
· This “dwelling together” “includes the total marital relationship.” (Peter David)
· The Greek word sunoikountes translated “Living/dwelling/residing together” is used in the Septuagint to mean “wedding/getting married” (Sir. 25:8; 42:9; 2 Macc. 1:14). This is the first step.
o Any man who will share a bed with a woman without making the covenantal promises of marriage – to take care of her until death, is inconsiderate. Girls, he may talk like he loves you and will care for you, but his actions betray that he is a liar and a cheat – someone you don’t want sharing your house. He will abandon you as soon as it is convenient for him. Stay far away from guys like that!
o The same goes for girls: Young men, any girl that is willing to hop into bed with you without first demanding marriage vows is terribly foolish; she has no idea how to build a legacy of a Godly family, and no idea how to be a helpmate to you into your old age. Stay far away from girls like that!
o A Christian man, a Christian woman, will get married first. This is the first step to show “consideration” and “honor” that will enable you to enjoy the “grace of life” as a married couple. Shacking up is not o.k. If there’s no reason not to get married, then just get married, o.k.?!
· Now a second application comes from the way that the word for “dwell/live with” is used in the Greek Old Testament: It is consistently used to denote the intimacy of the marriage bed. I believe that Peter is saying that if you’re married, you’d better be “loving on” your spouse. This shows “consideration” for him or her.
o This is consistent with Paul’s counsel to married couples in 1 Corinthians 7, when he said, “Don’t deprive one another and don’t stay apart too long.”
o It seems that we men can get so engrossed in our work projects that we have no room left in our minds to build our relationship with our wife.
o When God says here to “dwell together,” He does not just mean that you reserve a few minutes to touch her physically. Intimacy is so much more than that; it includes staking out quantity and quality time to talk, to enjoy her as a person, to grow in understanding, and to express love in creative ways.
o Now, I don’t want to be inappropriate, but at the same time, I’m painfully aware that if the family and the church don’t talk about sexuality, then the warped and abominable views of Hugh Heffner and his ilk will be the only messages about sexuality that our culture and our children hear, and I think most of us know how deceptive and devastating the world’s message is.
o The message of this word in the Bible is, first to “get married” and second to “make love” and, beyond that, the word literally means to share a house together (Deut. 25:5 – LXX).
· To share a house together (sun + oiko-) indicates a mutual commitment not only to each other but also to the home that you make together. The Biblical oikos includes both the physical building of the house as well as all the people inside it.
o Husbands, what is your commitment level to your house and household? O.K. you mow the lawn, but do you take an interest in how the house looks to guests?
o Maybe you don’t really care whether the curtains are beige or mauve, but if it’s important to your wife, tune in and make yourself care.
o Do you make sure that every appliance that is important to your wife is in working condition? (We have a shelf in our kitchen on which my wife stores her glass baking trays. The shelf is held up by pegs, but one of the pegs is slightly too small for the anchor hole, so it keeps slipping out and causing the baking trays to come crashing down. It’s been that way for a long time, and I know my wife has mentioned the problem to me more than once, but I’ve never gotten around to fixing it. Are there any things like that at your house?)
o Dwell in – and take an interest in – your home.
o What about your children and any other people who come in and out of your home? Are you spending time with the people in your home? Part of building a household is cultivating relationships with each child and each guest that will lead them to greater knowledge and obedience to Christ!
· Men, live with your wife; enter her world of the home and care about it! And how do you do that? “according to knowledge/in an understanding way”
· Now, to exercise “knowledge” is to follow the character of God Himself. The Greek versions of 1 Sam 2:3b use the same word to say that, “the Lord is a God of knowledge.”
· “Have this attitude in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, while existing in God’s form, did not consider being equal to God a prize to be clutched, but rather, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Phil. 2:5, NAW) Jesus took the opportunity to experience what it was like to be a human being. He did what it took to really know our situation inside out, and husbands, He is our example.
· But when it comes to women, many of us guys are tempted to throw up our hands and say, “Women! They’re incomprehensible! ‘Dwell together with knowledge’? Impossible! I could never understand her!”
o Well, the Bible has good news: Psalm 94:10c “[the Lord] teaches man knowledge,” “For the Lord gives wisdom; and from His presence come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6, Brenton). God can teach you the knowledge He requires you to use to reside together with your wife!
o If you are flummoxed concerning her, you can pray like David did in Psalm 119, “Teach me kindness, and instruction, and knowledge, for I [trust] in Your commandments.” (Ps. 119:66, Brenton). God, since You command that I reside together with her according to knowledge, please teach me that knowledge!
· This “knowledge” includes both spiritual-Biblical knowledge (such as the “knowledge of God” - Romans 11:33 and “the knowledge of salvation” - Luke 1:77) as well as the nitty-gritty practical kind of knowledge which has value in the here-and-now (even though it will eventually fade away in eternity - 1 Corinthians 13:8). Things like:
o Do you know what you’re wife’s favorite color is? (Does that change over time?)
o Do you know what her favorite dessert is? (I remember as a boy going with my Dad once to the bakery, and he bought a chocolate éclair. Now, he wasn’t the sort to buy that kind of thing for himself, and, as best I can remember, we had never bought an éclair before, so I asked him about it. He said, “Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, and this is your mom’s very favorite dessert! I’m buying it for her!”
o There’s so much more to know:
o What’s her dress size?
o Do you know when her cycles are?
o What is she reading?
o What does she struggle with being afraid of?
· One of the favorite music artists of my wife and I is Charlie Peacock. He put out a very insightful Christian album on marriage in the 1990’s entitled Love Life. Here’s the words to one of the songs on that album:
What’s it like in your world? What makes you laugh,
what makes you cry?
Let me look into your soul, so I can see what the world looks like through your
eyes.
You don’t have to ever pretend when you’re in my company.
You’ve got to know I will not turn and run from you if you practice honesty.
What’s it like in your world? What’s it like in your world? I want to know
what’s going on!
Do you have any expectations of yourself – or of the world in which you live?
If you had a chance to make some kind of difference, tell me, what would you,
what could you give?
Is there any hope you set aside in your dreams yet to come true?
Tell me, are there any longings – any passions – that you’ve kept hidden from
my view?
What’s it like in your world? What’s it like in your world? I want to know
what’s going on!
These are great questions!
· Most guys are pretty good students of their gal before they get married because we’re still working hard to win her, but once we get married, the tendency is to slack off and stop studying her and to move on in our minds to other things. I’m guilty of this myself. In order to “dwell with knowledge” we need to continue to apply ourselves to diligent research on our wife to learn everything we can so that we can obey God in “dwelling together with her according to knowledge.”
· “The ‘knowledge’ Peter intends here may include any knowledge that would be beneficial to the husband-wife relationship:
o knowledge of God’s purposes and principles for marriage;
o knowledge of the wife’s desires, goals, and frustrations;
o knowledge of her strengths and weaknesses in the physical, emotional and spiritual realms...
o A husband who lives according to such knowledge will greatly enrich his marriage relationship — yet such knowledge can only be gained through regular study of God’s Word and regular, unhurried times of private fellowship together as husband and wife.” ~Commentary by Wayne Grudem
· Now, Peter mentions explicitly that what we husbands need to be knowledgeable about is that she is a “weaker vessel.” This phrase is found nowhere else in scripture, so we have to make some general inferences as to its meaning.
· The Greek word for “vessel” (which is poorly translated “someone” in the NASB and only slightly better in the NIV with the word “partner”) is a catch-all word in Greek for “stuff/things/ tools” – anything that’s useful, and it is used to describe both men and women in the Bible as instruments in God’s hands (i.e. 1 Thess. 4:4). God made her this way for His own wise purposes, and you, as the husband, are to figure out how that design maximizes God’s purposes.
· In The New International Commentary on the New Testament, commentator Peter Davids[2] analyzed this very well. He wrote, “The sense of “weaker,” then, is not weaker in mind or morally inferior[3]... nor weaker in conscience... for the previous exhortation has just called women to feats of moral and spiritual strength as independent moral agents, but [rather the sense is] weaker physically than men... and for that and social reasons more vulnerable. It normally was quite easy for a husband to abuse his wife physically or sexually, or, because of his social power, including the power to divorce, intimidate her emotionally. All of this Peter rules out: especially because of her vulnerability he is to be sure to honor her in word and deed; rather than exploiting his power or denying that he has it, he lends it to her.”
o In Proverbs 6:8b[4], bees that make honey are called “weak” because they are so small, yet, it goes on to observe that bees are “desired and respected by all.”
o In 1 Corinthians 12:22, we read that “...the members of the body which seem weaker are rather necessary for existence” ~NAW,
o And in Job 36:15, God says that He watches out for those who have been taken advantage of because they are “weak” and He will bring social “justice” for them.[5]
· If our model in the use of knowledge is God Himself, who, as I pointed out from 1 Samuel, is “the God of knowledge,” we must also take note of how God uses His knowledge to deal with those of us who are weak: We consistently see that weakness is protected, treated gently, and brought to health and strength by our God. That is our example.
o The Darwinian philosophy of “survival of the fittest” has no place in Christian thinking.
o The attitude of despising someone for their weakness is from the devil and must be repented of.
o “[Jesus] sent [His disciples] to preach the kingdom of God and to heal those who were weak.” (Luke 9:2, NKJV)
o “it was the weak ones of the world God chose for Himself in order that He might put down the strength of the strong” (1 Cor. 1:27b, NKJV)
o For when we were still in weakness... Christ died for the ungodly.” (Rom. 5:6, NKJV)
o And He warns “beware... [that you] not become a stumbling block to the weak ones” (1 Cor. 8:9, NAW)
o but rather “... encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient toward all” (1 Thess. 5:14, NAW)
· “[W]ives are often more likely to be hurt deeply by conflict within a marriage, or by inconsiderate behaviour on the part of the husband. Knowing this, Christian husbands should not be ‘harsh’ (Col. 3:19) or fill their marriage relationship with criticism and conflict, but should rather be positive and affirming, ‘living together in an understanding way’, and ‘bestowing honour on the feminine one, as the weaker sex’.” ~Grudem
· Now we get to the second word of instruction for husbands. The first was to “reside together according to knowledge;” the second is to “show honor/treat with respect.” But I’m about out of time, so I’ll save that for next week. For now...
I want to close with a poem that my dad wrote based on 1 Peter 3 for my 20th wedding anniversary:
Those precious moments don’t just happen;
They’re like a vault that one must open.
They’re made when two works intersect,
That withering soul-mates may connect:
When two on earth wrest time together,
Amid the myriad tugs of lesser calls;
And God above binds one to other,
By giving grace and tearing down the walls.
To stay in love the work is hard,
If touching hearts with mate you highly do regard!
Ruthless tabling other tasks noble though they be,
And carving out and guarding times for this exclusively;
Passions and desires of self rejecting,
While needs and dreams of partner full engaging;
Shunning mundane talk and problem solving,
But sharing thoughts ‘round “grace of life”* revolving.
And so my son and daughter fair,
Be diligent by work and prayer
To make those precious moments happen – do it!
Time suspended episodes of heaven on earth will meet;
Glimpses of God’s glory you joyously will greet;
And all your sacrifices will be worth it!
And greater things will happen than would come
From all the things that you had left undone-
For all the world will also surely see it!
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Patriarchal text |
NAW |
KJV |
NKJV |
ESV |
NASB |
NIV |
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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, |
3:1 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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2:7 Οἱ ἄνδρεςNPM ὁμοίως συνοικοῦντεςPAP-NPM κατὰ γνῶσινASF, ὡς[xiii] ἀσθενεστέρῳ DSN-C σκεύειDSN τῳ γυναικείῳ[xiv] DSN ἀπονέμοντεςPAP-NPM τιμήν, ὡς καὶ [xv]συγκληρονόμοιNPM χάριτοςGSF ζωῆςGSF, εἰς τὸ μὴ [xvi]ἐγκόπτεσθαιPPN τὰς προσευχὰςAPF ὑμῶν. |
2:7 Similarly, you [who are] husbands[xvii] [should honor alliv] by residing together[xviii] according to knowledge[xix] with your wife as with a weaker vessel[xx], by sanctioning honor[xxi] even as you are inheritors together of the grace of life[xxii] to the end that y’alls prayers not be interrupted.[xxiii] |
7 Likewise, 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. |
7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to [the] weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. |
7 Likewise, husbands, live with [your wi |
7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wi |
7 Husbands, in the same way |
[1] http://ctrchurch-mhk.org/sermondetail/1-peter-31-4-marraige-seminar-part-1-women/ and http://ctrchurch-mhk.org/sermondetail/1-peter-305-07-marriage-counseling-part-2-to-the-women/
[2] Davids, Peter H. 1990. The First Epistle of Peter (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids , Mich.: Eerdmans.
[3] cf. Rom. 5:6, which uses this sense for all humans
[4] “... go to the bee... whose labours kings and private men use for health, and she is desired and respected by all: though weak in body, she is advanced by honouring wisdom.” (Proverbs 6:8b, Brenton)
[5] “...they afflicted the weak and helpless: and He will vindicate the judgment of the meek.” (Job 36:15, Brenton)
[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] Lenski: “The first participle ‘dwelling together’ governs the first hws [‘as being weaker’]; the second participle ‘rendering honor’ governs the second hws [‘as being co-heirs’]... both point to facts; nor is the second causal: “because also fellow heirs.” Both participles introduce considerations which the Christian husbands’ knowledge provides for their conduct toward their Christian wives. This second participle is subordinate to the first: “continuing to render honor as also joint heirs of life’s grace.”
[xiv] “The woman translates a rare word [found only here and in Genesis 18:11, Deut. 22:5, and Esther 2:11 & 17 in the Greek Bible] (meaning, more literally ‘the feminine one’). It suggests that Peter looks to the characteristic nature of womanhood or femininity and suggests that a wife’s ‘femaleness’ should itself elicit honour from her husband.” ~Grudem
[xv] Because four of the oldest-known manuscripts (P72, P81, א, B) add a sigma to the end of this word, the critical editions of the Greek New Testament read συγκληρονομοις, which would be a plural dative participle with no clear subject to match it. The modern versions proceeded to reflect this by translating this masculine participle as though it referred to the feminine women. The assumption of the critical editors is that Peter messed up here with his grammar and that later scribes corrected the participle to match the nominative masculine “husbands.” The majority of manuscripts, including two of the oldest (A & C), spell this participle in the nominative case as above, making this participle match the word “husbands” as its subject, and that is how the KJV translated it. Thankfully the result is not too much different since Peter says both husbands and wives are co-heirs, so, whether the subject of this participle is construed as the husbands or the wives, it applies to both. The assumption of the preservers of the majority text is that Peter used correct grammar here and that a couple of early copyists in Egypt garbled it. If I were a betting man, that’s where I’d put my money. It seems strange that, although the critical editors preferred the readings of P72 and א over the majority in this phrase, they rejected the readings of P72 and א in favor of the majority in the next phrase where those manuscripts added extra words: “[manifold] grace of [eternal] life.”
[xvi] The Textus Receptus changed one letter to εκκοπτεσθαι, as though the prepositional prefix were “ek” (“be cut out” – put out of commission) rather than “en” (“be cut into – interrupted/hindered). The majority of Greek manuscripts spelled it as above. However, the meaning of the two verbs is close enough that the modern English versions (which do not follow the Textus Receptus) came up with the same English translation as the KJV (which does follow the Textus Receptus), so no harm done. The Greek word in the Majority (and Critical) Text is only used 4 other times in the Greek Bible, where it is translated be “tedious/weary/detain/delay” in the context of not wanting to take too much time an attention of a busy official (Acts 24:4), and also translated “prevented/let/cut in on/stopped/thwarted/hindered” in the context of someone wanting to go somewhere but encountering obstacles (Romans 15:22 & Gal 5:7, & 1 Thess 2:18). (The spelling from the T.R. is found throughout the Greek Old Testament in the context of war, violence, logging, and a couple of times for excommunication/exhile – “cut off/put out/smite out,” whereas the spelling of the Majority is not found in the Septuagint.)
[xvii] This is the Greek word for “men” just as the Greek word for “wife” is literally the word for “woman.” In the context, this clearly applies to those who have gotten married. Note that there is only one “wife” here per husband, and that there is no corresponding male domestic partner. This passage can also be extended to apply to unmarried men in the way they treat any woman – your sister, you mom, other girls at church or school or work.
[xviii] Peter David’s commentary: The term “living with” is found only here in the NT, but in the Greek OT it... includes the total marital relationship, often with sexual overtones (Deut. 22:13; 24:1; 25:5 [and I would add Gen. 20:3, Judges 14:20, and Isa. 62:5 ~NAW] are more sexually toned than... Sir. 25:8; 42:9; 2 Macc. 1:14” [the apocraphyal occurances, which use the term synonymously with “wed/marry” ~NAW]. Deut. 25:5, however, uses the same word to speak both of brothers “dwelling together” in the same extended family compound and to speak of a brother sharing the marriage bed with his deceased brother’s wife.
[xix] The Greek word here is the word for “knowledge” (Of the other 28 times that this word occurs in the New Testament, the NKJV, ESV, and NASB translate 100% of them with the word “knowledge” so it seems odd that they all opted for different words here like “understanding” or being “considerate,” I say “odd” but not entirely off-base because these different words steer us away from the wrong connotation that this knowledge is mere scientific data; it is knowledge which will enhance an interpersonal relationship.)
(1 Sam 2:3b, Psalm 94:10c, Ps. 119:66, 1 Cor. 8:1–13; 13:8; Phil. 1:9; Col. 1:9–10; 3:10, 2 Pet. 3:5–6).
[xx] This phrase is found nowhere else in scripture, so we have to make more general inferences as to its meaning. The Greek word for “vessel” (which is poorly translated “someone” in the NASB and only slightly better in the NIV with the word “partner”) is a catch-all word in Greek for “stuff/things/tools” – anything useful, and it is used to describe both men and women in the Bible as instruments in God’s hands (i.e. 1 Thess. 4:4). (Alford: “A skeÂov is an instrument, meaning that men and women are God’s instruments in procreation of the human race.”) cf. Proverbs 6:8b, Job 36:15, 1 Cor 12:22, Luke 9:2, 1 Cor. 1:27b, 1 Cor. 8:9, 1 Thess. 5:14
[xxi] The verb is a rare one only occurring in the Greek Bible in Deut. 4:19 besides here. It is a combination of the Greek word for “from” and the Greek word for “law,” so it may have a connotation of applying the principles of the law of God, although most scholars seem to think it connotes the idea of distributing/apportioning/allotting/paying out. Commentator Wayne Grudem wrote, “God is often pleased to give honour to those who are weaker or less honoured in the eyes of the world (cf. Mt. 5:3-12; 1 Cor. 1:26-30; 1C 12:22-25; Jas. 2:5; 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5). In this case such honour ought to include kind and affirming words both privately and in public, and high priority in choices regarding the use of one’s time and money. (The NIV’s ‘treat them with respect’ is too weak -one can treat someone with detached, formal ‘respect’ and yet give no special honour to the person at all.)” See word study with 4 applications of honor at (http://ctrchurch-mhk.org/ctrupdate/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1Peter_2_17HonorAll.htm)
[xxii] Hebrews 11:9, Romans 4:13, Galatians 3:24-29, Ephesians 3:6, Titus 3:7, Romans 8:16-17a, 5:17b. “Eternal life” is supported by commentaries by Bigg, Leighton, Beare, Alford, Stibbs vs. “God’s grace in the Christian life here and now” supported by Moffat and by Lenski. “Like her husband, to whom she is united in faith, she receives in the new world the “gift of grace,” namely “life,” as an inheritance that is already now accorded her (1:4f.). This new eschatological viewpoint is valid not only in regard to marriage, but also in regard to all the stations of this world. In each of them the partner must finally be recognized as the one who is intended to be “fellow heir of the grace of life.” This is the final criterion of Christian social ethics. In marriage as elsewhere, it does not cancel the historical forms of life. But it does give them a boundary and a goal...” ~ Leonhard Goppelt
[xxiii] Praying is assumed. The Greek word egkoptw is a compound of the Greek preposition “in” and the verb “to cut.” It is only used a few other times in the Greek Bible: first in the context of taking undue time and attention away from a busy official (Acts 24:4), where it is translated “be tedious/weary/detain/delay,” and then in the context of someone wanting to go somewhere but encountering obstacles, where it is translated “prevent/let/cut in on/stop/thwart/hinder” (Romans 15:22 & Gal 5:7, & 1 Thess 2:18). God listens to the righteous, not sinners when they pray: Psalm 34:15-16, Isaiah 1:15, Hebrews 5:7 Scholars debate whether this means husbands and wives praying together or if this refers to the personal prayer lives of the husbands: “‘Your prayers’ are certainly not those of husbands alone, but the common prayers of husband and wife. Jesus himself taught that prayer is impeded when a relationship with a fellow human being is troubled. Whenever the most intimate human relationship—marriage—is not lived out satisfactorily the prayers of those involved are ‘hindered’; they do not achieve the proper stature and do not reach oneness with God’s will and provision.” ~ Commentary by Leonhard Goppelt (John Huther: “The apostle does not say that the power and the hearing of prayer are hindered, but that the prayer itself is….Depreciation of the wife, in spite of union with respect to the kljronomia [“joint heirs”], necessarily excludes prayer from married life.” Lenski: “To have an obstacle thrown in the way, does not restrict the thought to preventing the prayers from reaching their destination at God’s throne of grace. The thought includes all manner of hindering. A husband who treats his wife in the wrong way will himself be unfit to pray, will scarcely pray at all.” “Finally Peter adds a note of warning: in order that your prayers may not be hindered. ... ‘This ‘hindering’ of prayers is a form of God’s fatherly discipline, which Hebrews 12:3-11 reminds us is ‘for our good’ and is given to those whom God ‘loves’... So concerned is God that Christian husbands live in an understanding and loving way with their wives, that he ‘interrupts’ his relationship with them when they are not doing so. No Christian husband should presume to think that any spiritual good will be accomplished by his life without an effective ministry of prayer. And no husband may expect an effective prayer life unless he lives with his wife ‘in an understanding way, bestowing honour’ on her. To take the time to develop and maintain a good marriage is God’s will; it is serving God; it is a spiritual activity pleasing in his sight.” ~Wayne Grudem