Last week, we saw the first portion of an Old Testament quotation Peter used. Today, we see the rest of that quote. See it for yourself in 1 Peter 3:12.

Peter used Psalm 34:12-16, from the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, to reinforce his point. Last week, we looked at the first portion of his quote. This week, we’ll memorize the rest.

Like last week, here is the passage Peter uses in its entirety:

Whoever of you loves life
    and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

In the last passage, Peter stated that live in unity and be a blessing to others. He supported that statement with a quote from the Old Testament. Read it for yourself in 1 Peter 3:10-11.

Peter states very clearly that we are to live our lives to a higher standard, and especially so when we are faced with suffering because of it. In order to reinforce this, he quotes the Old Testament book of Psalms, using the Septuagint version. The Septuagint was a Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures, and Peter uses Psalm 34:12-16 from it to make his point.

Here is the entire passage:

Whoever of you loves life
    and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

In most Bibles, 1 Peter 3:8 begins a new section. This is misleading. The passage begins with the word “finally,” meaning that it connects with what has come before. You can see what Peter says in 1 Peter 3:8-9.

Peter’s main topic since the middle of chapter 2 has been the idea of submission. Here in the middle of chapter 3, he begins to wrap up those thoughts with some specific instructions about how to respond to suffering under such circumstances.

The difference between this passage and the individually addressed sections is in the fact that Peter begins to address the whole Christian community now.

First of all, he urges harmony. It seems as if many of the churches were experiencing division and strife, and have been ever since. Peter encourages harmonious living and smooth relationships. This would definitely apply to relationships within the church, but also to their relationships to outsiders as well.

Next, he instructs them to be sympathetic to each other. This means to care about the needs of one another, their concerns, their joys, their circumstances.

Peter shifts from his instructions to wives to speak to husbands in this week’s passage, and he gives some very specific directions. Take a look at what he says in 1 Peter 3:7.

Peter has been addressing the attitude of submission, specifically in three areas: submission to the governing authorities, submission of slave to their masters, and submission of wives to their husbands within the realm of marriage. I find it interesting that in two cases, these directions are one sided. Peter does not give any direction to the governing authorities, nor does he speak to the masters of the slave. But he does address the husbands in the third section.

In all three cases, Peter addresses the ones who were likely to experience oppression from those in authority over them. It was, and is, quite common for governments to persecute their people, for masters to abuse their slaves, and for husbands to treat their wives poorly. But out of the three, Peter gives some specific instructions only to the last one, the husband.

Peter’s instruction begins with an imperative here. Most English translations soften it simply because it is difficult to put in English smoothly, but it should be translated more along the lines of “live with your wives according to your knowledge of what God requires.” Husbands are to live with their lives, informed of how God requires them to live, informed with knowledge of God’s will. Why? Because the wife is the weaker vessel, the weaker partner.

Peter appeals to history as he continues his discussion of submission within marriage. Take a look at his example in 1 Peter 3:5-6.

Peter looks to the past, and to the women listed in the Scriptures as an example of how submission is to play out in the realm of marriage.

While the NIV makes this text easy to read, it actually doesn’t translate it the most clearly. Other translations bring out the structure of Peter’s statement here much better. For example, the NRSV states it like this:

The holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands.

That allows us to see the structure of Peter’s statement, and not just our own adjusted interpretation. The main point behind all of this is the attitude of submission. And what Peter is emphasizing in this passage is the idea of adornment. Many of the women that came from pagan backgrounds were accustomed to much outward adornment. Peter says that the inner adornment, the attitude of the heart, is much more to be preferred.

Peter continues his instructions on submission in marriage,and sets some standards for beauty that are both amazing and controversial. This is true in our culture, and was likely true in his as well.  You can see his standards in 1 Peter 3:3-4.

Peter is in the middle of his third area of submission, the area of marriage. Beginning with wives (he will address husbands shortly), he gives some standards about beauty, and how wives should strive for it. It’s helpful to note, that while this is applicable to all women, it is in the context of a passage specifically addressed to believing wives. Often, in our culture, when someone disagrees with this passage, they are coming from a different point of view than those to whom Peter is writing.

Peter equates beauty with modesty it seems,and does so much like Isaiah did a few centuries earlier, in Isaiah 3:16-24. Paul states something similar in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 as well. In our culture of exposure, many disagree with this. Their words are worth listening to and following, but at the same time, they should not be taken out of context either. Many mistakenly believe that Peter, along with Paul and Isaiah, are advocating the elimination of all outer adornment. But that is not the case; rather it means overly extravagant or ostentatious adornment.

As 1 Peter moves into what we have identified as the third chapter of this letter, he addresses the third category in which he calls us to be submissive. First, he spoke of submission to the ruling authorities. Next, he addressed submission as slaves. And now he looks at submission within the context of marriage.

Take a look at this passage for yourself in 1 Peter 3:1-2.

In Peter’s instructions concerning marriage, he looks at the role of both partners, the husband and the wife, and encourages both in the area of submission to one another. He addresses the wife first of all.

In our modern, egalitarian culture, we have come to believe that men and women are equal in every aspect of life. Our culture states that there are no differences between men and women, husbands and wives, regardless of context. And when it comes to marriage, almost every trace of male authority, or headship in the home, is being systematically erased.

However, Peter’s instructions concerning submission within marriage create a bit of a problem with that view. Peter sees obvious differences between the two genders, and addresses each one differently. And first of all, he encourages Christian women to be submissive to their husbands. Peter’s remarks here about headship in the home have largely been rejected in our society as being archaic and no longer culturally relevant. But just because a culture has rejected an idea does not make it right. Peter’s words here are still as relevant to our culture as they were to the culture in which he wrote amost two thousand years ago.

Peter begins this section with a command for wives to be submissive to their husbands. This may have been a direct address to a common problem in Peter’s day, just as it is in our own, of a lack of submission to one another, especially in such an intimate relationship as a marriage. But what is worth noting here is that this is not a blanket statement of Peter stating wives in general should be submissive to husbands in general. He makes it very personal when he states that wives should be submissive to their own husbands.