1.
Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
2.
While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
Verse 2
Fear; respect and reverence,--that is, for the husband.
3.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
Verse 3
The meaning is, not that proper attention to the personal appearance is wrong, but that the wife should not value herself upon her external decorations. She should seek to make herself alluring by menial and spiritual charms. They who consider all decoration as in itself wrong, evidently differ from him who daily creates the humming-bird, the tulip, and the rose.
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.
Verse 4
Man; character.
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:
6.
Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Verse 6
And are not afraid, &c., This expression is usually understood to mean, not deterred by fear from the faithful performance of duty.
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.
8.
Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
Verse 8
Pitiful; merciful.
9.
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
10.
For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11.
Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
Verse 11
Eschew evil; turn altogether away from it.
12.
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
13.
And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
14.
But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
15.
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Verse 15
Sanctify the Lord God, &c.; that is, praise and honor him.
16.
Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
17.
For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
18.
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Verse 18
Quickened; raised to life.
19.
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Verse 19
He went and preached; an emphatical mode of expression, common in the Hebrew language, meaning he preached. So, in Acts 1:1, "all that Jesus began both to do and teach," means merely all that Jesus did and taught; and in Matthew 9:13, "Go ye and learn," &c., means, simply, learn.--Unto the spirits in prison; that is, perhaps to mankind, in their state of guilt and condemnation. See Isaiah 42:7 , where the lost and helpless condition of men is represented as an imprisonment from which the gospel brings release. The meaning seems to be, that Jesus Christ, after suffering death, rose again by the power of the Spirit, and by the same Spirit brought the offers of pardon to mankind, who were under sentence of condemnation by the divine law; in consequence of which, as the writer goes on to explain in the Peter 3:20,21 a few are now saved, through baptism, just as in ancient times, in consequence of the preaching of Noah, a few were saved by the ark. Some suppose that the preaching here spoken of refers not to the general proclamation of the gospel to mankind, but to the warnings given by Noah to his generation, which they consider this passage as showing were inspired by Christ. Others suppose that this passage means that, during the interval between the Savior's death and his resurrection, he made the offers of salvation to departed spirits in the invisible world. The interpretation first given appears best to accord with the design of the writer in his remarks. In fact, the latter would seem to detach the passage entirely from its connection with what precedes and follows it. Besides, it is impossible to give any reason, if Jesus offered salvation to any departed spirits, why, of all the generations of the dead, the contemporaries of Noah alone were preached to in their prison.
20.
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Verse 20
Which; that is, not the same individuals, but the same class of men, namely, sinners.--Sometime; formerly.--Eight souls; Genesis 6:18.
21.
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Verse 21
The like figure whereunto; that is, the antitype whereunto. The meaning is, that believers are now saved through baptism, in a manner somewhat analogous to that in which Noah and his family were saved in the ark. Of course, baptism is, in this case, regarded as the indication and pledge of the inward spiritual change, in which alone all its meaning and efficacy consists.--Filth of the flesh; uncleanness of the flesh; that is, ceremonial uncleanness, like that provided against in the Mosaic law. The meaning is, that baptism has no ceremonial efficacy. Its power and value depend upon there being a good conscience toward God within, corresponding to the outward symbol.
22.
Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Verse 22
On the right hand of God; as his vicegerent in the government of the world.