Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson, Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 30 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 finish our four-week 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 second two weeks, we’re looking at Peter’s advice to the men in verse 7, although, as always, there are Biblical principles for everybody here, not just for married men.
o Someone[2] pointed out that “six times as much information is given to wives than to husbands. Now some may interpret this to mean wives are six times more in need of shaping up in a marriage than men. However, you could just as easily interpret it to mean that it is six times more difficult for wives to live with their husbands than for husbands to live with their wives.”
· Last week we looked at the first half of verse 7 which contained the instruction to “reside with your wife according to wisdom” Guys, if you missed it, please read or listen to it online.
· To review briefly, we looked at the first of two things that God calls men/husbands to prioritize in honor and Christian lifestyle, that is to “reside together according to knowledge with your wife as with a weaker vessel.”
o I noted how the word “dwell/reside together” was used in the Bible and other literature to mean “get married,” “make love,” and “take a real interest in the house and the people who live in it.”
o We also saw that God invites us to ask Him for the knowledge we need about everything – including how to live together with our wife considerately.
o And finally we looked at how God models for us how to respond to weakness with gentleness, protection, and healing strength.
· Now we get to the second word of instruction for husbands:
· This 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,”
o so it may have a connotation of applying the principles of the law of God,
o most scholars seem to think it connotes the idea of distributing/apportioning/allotting/ paying out.
o It pictures you, men, as having the resources to give honor to your wife and that you will do that in a fair way in accordance with God’s word.
· Now, this is counter-intuitive. Give honor away? No way! Respect what we guys want, right! We don’t get enough of it! How many of you guys think your wife is too respectful toward you? (Don’t raise your hands!).
· My observation is that most guys, instead of giving honor, are desperately trying to get honor.
o You can see it in the way they dress for success,
o the way they stand in dominant postures,
o the way they trash-talk others around them – or brag about their accomplishments,
o the way they never admit fault,
o and the way they associate themselves with powerful things – whether it be muscle-cars and pickups, Harleys, alcohol, or the way they drop names of rich and famous people they are connected with.
o We guys are like black holes trying to suck respect out of everybody around us.
· The wife is the hardest of them all to suck respect out of because she knows too much.
o She usually isn’t fooled by the false front you put on,
o and she is close enough to you that she has figured out a bunch of your weak points, so she can cut you down to size quick.
o And, of course, when she does that, it hurts all the more and makes the man feel less inclined to show love to her ever again. It’s a vicious cycle.
o The natural thought of a man in that position is to think of ways to physically threaten her so that she will come crawling back to him and lick his boots.
§ I’ve seen guys change the locks on the house and leave their wife locked out.
§ I’ve seen others just not come home after work or go live with another woman.
§ Some guys throw punches. That’s not the right way, but it is the natural way – In fact, that’s what my 4-year-old son is inclined to do when big sisters gets irritating.
§ In every case, we guys figure out that if we can make the girl afraid, we can gain some power over her. But that’s a warped application of God’s word. God’s word just told us in the previous verse that fear is one of the biggest challenges for a woman. For us guys to take that knowledge of where she is vulnerable and use it against her to manipulate her through fear is diabolical! I can think of almost nothing more wicked than that.
o The thought of handing out respect is the opposite of what comes naturally to a man’s mind, but it is what God calls husbands to do.
· To dispense honor, you must know that you have honor in the first place.
o If I’m supposed to be a water-boy, but all I have is an empty water-cooler, what am I naturally going to do? I can’t give anybody a drink; I’ve got to get water first, right? I’m going to ask for it; I might even steal water or force people to put water in my bucket.
o But if I’m handed a cooler full of water and told to be a water-boy, then I know I can dispense water because I’ve got a full tank of it.
o Now, what if God has commanded you to give honor? Do you have honor to give, or are you still looking to fill your own tank?
o Whether or not your wife affirms it, God has told you that “the husband is the head of the wife” in Ephesians 5:23. You therefore have intrinsic authority and honor which came from God for your role as husband and you do not need to get anybody to send any more honor your way. Whether or not any human acknowledges it, you have honor in God’s eyes and therefore you do not have to earn any more honor and therefore you can give away honor.
· “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. (... ‘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.)” ~Wayne Grudem
· Now, the question arises, is it possible to go too far? for a man to pay too much honor to a woman?
o Yes, our idol-factory hearts can make an idol out of anything!
o Solomon (1 Ki. 11:3-8), Ahab (1 Ki. 21:25), Abraham (Gn. 16:2), and Adam (Gn. 3:6) all got tripped up by prioritizing their wife over God.
o “Husbands must never allow love for their wives to become an excuse for sin.” ~Grudem
o So, there’s a balance, but usually we husbands are imbalanced in the other direction; we don’t give our wife a healthy amount of honor.
· I can at least speak for myself in saying that I have not done well at showing honor to my wife. So, I’m not sharing these ideas in a spirit of saying “Here’s what I, as super-husband, do for my marriage, and you all better buck up.”
o I think I do have a super marriage (and a lot of that has to do with my wife and with my supportive family), and I’m sure there are ways all of us need to repent of our selfishness and pride and “buck up,”
o but I guess I’m saying if you want to talk about this stuff more with me privately, I think you’ll find a sympathetic ear because I am a fellow struggler.
o I hope you can be inspired by some ideas I’ve gleaned from various men with good marriages and that you can put into practice some of these good ideas rather than feeling beat down by being compared to other husbands and their practices.
o What I’d like you to do is to write down maybe three practical ideas you hear from this sermon and focus on implementing them.
· Earlier, I did a word study on what it means to “honor.” I’d encourage you to look that up on our church website, but for the time being, let me review the four things I found in the Bible that people did to show honor:
1. One aspect of honor is giving that person gifts or money 1 Tim. 5:3-18 “honor those who are widows indeed... Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor... For the Scripture says, "...THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS WAGES." ~NKJV)
§ Give your wife gifts! (There’s a guy who used to attend our church that I used to have breakfast meetings with. Every time he would order for himself, and then he would add a side order of muffins to go to take home to his wife. Until then, it had never crossed my mind to do that for my wife. There I was getting the special restaurant food; the least I could do was to bring some home to her!)
§ Also make sure she has all she needs.
§ Some men are generous to themselves when it comes to spending money on going out with the guys and buying tools for the shop, but they are stingy when it comes to spending money in the kitchen or for mom’s outings. Honor her by being generous financially toward her.
2. A second scriptural way to show honor can be found at the end of the book of Esther, when certain Gentiles “honored” the Jews by providing protection for them when they were vulnerable to attack. (Esther 9:3, LXX). Proverbs 14:31 says that the opposite of “honor” is “oppression.” What vulnerabilities does your wife have that you can cover with your protection?
§ Women feel much more vulnerable walking around in public than we guys do, and I don’t know if we fully appreciate the fears they have to face. Most women could be physically overpowered by a man who was up to no good. One of the gifts that my father-in-law gave to my wife was a revolver... Practical application!
§ Here’s another application: what sins is she prone to fall prey to? You know, if it’s depression and suicide, don’t give her a gun, maybe give her a dog instead! That’s “dwelling together with knowledge.” Maybe she struggles with coveting while shopping or surfing the internet; are there ways you can help her build guardrails against these temptations?
§ And what about physical dangers in your home? Is there anything that you need to fix so she doesn’t injure herself? Are there sicknesses or allergies that require special medical or dietary attention? Does her car work?
§ What social injustices might befall her that you could head off with your social capital? Get into her world and honor her by protecting her!
3. A third way that the Bible speaks of showing honor is in showing esteem, respect, high regard, giving glowing reviews:
§ Prov. 31:28-31 “Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her [saying]: ‘Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.’ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.” ~NKJV
§ Men, don’t complain about your wife (especially not to other women!); instead, build her up with words of appreciation and praise and encouragement. When was the last time you wrote a love letter – or sang a love song – to her? [Ouch.]
§ You know, praise is multiplied by the number of people who hear it, so don’t just praise her in private; brag on her in front of other people!
4. Finally the Bible speaks of honor in terms of listening to what someone has to say and heeding their advice: (Proverbs 15:22a LXX).
§ In the last two sermons, I emphasized Peter’s exhortation to the wives to submit, but submission is really difficult when the one you are submitting to is overbearing and inconsiderate. Men, we need to show honor to our wife by being good listeners, drawing out their concerns, making the most of their experience, and letting them know that we are considering their perspective as we lead.
· But it is the only right thing to do to show this kind of consideration and honor because they are “Co-heirs/inheritors together of the grace of life”
· In order to understand this kind of phraseology, we need to review how it is used in the Bible:
o Hebrews 11:9 “By faith [Abraham] dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise”
o Romans 4:13 “the promise that he would be the heir of the world (Gen. 12) was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
o “Therefore,” continues Paul in Galatians 3:24-29, “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith... For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus... There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
o Ephesians 3:6 “...the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (NKJV)
o Titus 3:7 “... having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (NKJV)
o Romans 8:16-17a “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ...” (NKJV)
o Not only are we heirs, we are kings “reigning” in this inherited life: Romans 5:17b “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)
· So, you see, women are not inferior to men when it comes to a relationship with God.
o We are not like the Mormons who believe that a woman can only be saved by being married to a Mormon man.[3]
o We don’t say like they do in some countries that it’s “better to be a dog than a woman.”
o Jesus makes no differences between the way men and women are saved and makes no differences in the status of His relationship with those who are saved, just as He also does not make distinctions based upon ethnicity or social status.
o Jesus does not count a women’s testimony as though she is only half a person like in Islamic courts[4]; no, her word is as good as yours, and Jesus will hold you fully accountable for every grievance against her, overlooking nothing.
o Albert Barnes, in his commentaries wrote, “Make her the equal of man in the hope of heaven, and at once she rises to her appropriate place. Home is made what it should be, a place of intelligence and pure friendship; and a world of suffering and sadness smiles under the benefactions of a Christian woman.”
· Now we come to an interesting twist. You’d think that the reason for being nice to your wife would be so that you’d have a happy marriage, but Peter gives us a different reason – a reason based upon God’s interests:
· The way Peter words this, it is assumed that you are praying.
· Now, scholars debate whether this means husbands and wives praying together or if this refers to the personal prayer lives of the husbands, and I’m not going to resolve that debate, but I can affirm that both private and corporate prayer are important to healthy spiritual life.
o Brothers, do you pray on your own?
§ There’s too many things wrong with this world not to pray!
§ There is too much at stake in your relationship with God not to be spending at least a few minutes a day talking with Him in prayer.
§ Jesus Himself commanded us to pray alone (Matt. 6:6)
§ and He set the example by doing it Himself early in the mornings when He walked this earth (Mark 1:35).
§ God help us be men of private prayer!
o Likewise, men, it is important that you pray together with your wife (Acts 21:5).
§ She needs you to teach her to cast all her cares on Christ (1 Peter 5:7), and there’s no better way than to do it in prayer together.
§ And besides, when you ask her for prayer requests, you will learn all sorts of new insights about her and what she’s thinking that will enable you to be a better husband.
§ Furthermore, if your wife trusts Christ more than she trusts you, then you can’t help but win by bringing Christ as a third party into your relationship. As you pray together, you will hear her say things to Him she might not have told you otherwise.
§ Yeah, it’s going to be challenge to shove back the torrent of urgent distractions that will arise every day to pre-empt and postpone that precious time with your wife, but it is worth the fight to get that time!
· Peter is telling us, however, that our own poor husbanding can mess up our prayer life.
· The Greek word egkoptw is a compound of the Greek verb “to cut” plus the preposition “in.”
· Because Peter is not very specific about what he means here by our prayers being hindered or interrupted, we can consider a wide range of things which might affect our prayer life:
o interpersonal conflict between you and your wife that makes you not even want to be in the same room together to pray,
o sin in your life that makes you not want to talk to God in the first place because you don’t want Him holding you accountable,
o the busy-ness of work (and even of charitable service) that can eat up your hours so that you have no time left to spend with your wife,
o or bad attitudes that make you resent her weaknesses and despise her inferiority.
o All these will destroy your ability to pray together and will mess up your personal prayer life too.
· “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.” ~Wayne Grudem
· The principle in Psalm 34:15-16 is that, “The eyes of the Lord are [upon] the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil...” (Brenton).
o We see the negative side of that equation repeated in Isaiah 1:15 “When you spread out your hands... and multiply prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood” (NAW),
o and the positive side of the equation in Hebrews 5:7, “[Christ], in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications... was heard because of His godly fear” (NKJV).
o Of course, since we are all sinners, the way to be heard by God is to be united with Christ who is the only one righteous enough for God to hear, and when we are united with Him through our trust in Him and submission to Him, God will hear our prayers.
· But, in addition to that, Peter gives us practical, everyday ways we can keep up our prayer life:
o First “dwell together with” her – so you can actually be together,
o Second, “give honor” to her – even when you don’t think she deserves it,
o and then actually pray together so that your thinking gets in line with God (rather than being aligned with Satan whose standard tactic is to put partly-untrue thoughts into your mind in order to drive you apart from God and in order to drive you apart from your wife. It’s a spiritual battle; it really is.)
· Obeying God’s word really works. We discussed last week the truth that a wife’s submission will win-over her husband. It can work the other way too; a husband’s cherishing of his wife can win-over his wife.
o Guys, if you wait for her to submit and show respect to you before you pay out any honor to her – if you make her earn your love, you’ll probably never see it happen.
o The pastor I grew up under called that kind of marriage “two ticks – and no dog.”
o That’s a recipe for strife and heartache and divorce.
o But, brothers, if you can draw on the love of God for you first and then initiate honor to your wife – before she even shows submission to you, you’re usually going to see that melt her heart to the point that she wants you to be her leader.
· “Whenever the most intimate human relationship—marriage—is... lived out satisfactorily, the prayers of those involved ... achieve the proper stature and ... reach oneness with God’s will and provision.” ~ Leonhard Goppelt
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Patriarchal text |
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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] Dr. Jack Arnold http://www.cleartheology.com/expo/36I%20Peter/I%20Peter%2014.pdf
[3] See, for instance, http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/resurrectwife.htm
[4] Quaran 2:282, Sahih al-Bukhari, 3:48:826, etc.
[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)...)” See word study with 4 applications of honor at (http://ctrchurch-mhk.org/ctrupdate/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1Peter_2_17HonorAll.htm)
[xxii] cf. 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,” which is 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...” ~ 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.” Grudem: “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.”