In the second half of chapter two, and in chapter three, Peter deals with the idea of submission, and in three areas, submission to government in verses 13-17, submission to masters in verses 18-20, and submission in our marriages, beginning in chapter 3. In today’s passage, Peter addresses the second area.

You can see this passage for yourself in 1 Peter 2:18.

This passage can lead to some confusion in our society, because Peter is talking about masters and slaves. Some of the modern translations attempt to resolve this by making it to be “servants” or “workers,” but this isn’t really the point of this passage. Such efforts weaken the meaning of the text, although the principle certainly applies. That said, the Greek word doulos can mean “servant,” but that is an infrequent use in the Bible. The meaning of the word the majority of the time is “slave.”

In the time of Peter and his initial readers, the circumstances of slavery varied enormously. While one slave may be treated with something like equality by his master, another may have much worse circumstances, and a much harder life. Many were in slavery because they were born that way, others were enslaved because of war, or because of debt. Some slaves were owned by individuals, working in a home or on a farm, others were public slaves, working in the civic arena, or even in temples to pagan gods.

The New Testament in general is focused on improving the life and circumstances of slaves, and in many cases encourages slaves to earn their freedom if possible (manumission). And if the master was a believer, such as in Paul’s letter to Philemon about the slave Onisimus, the slave faced the likelihood of a better life. But Peter is writing to people who are newly Christians, or who are living in very pagan areas influenced by Greek culture. Most of the slave owners here were probably not believers.