(1 Pet 3:1 NASB) 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 Pet 3:1: Peter was just speaking of how Yeshua was submissive to His Father. Now he says, “in the same way…” In the same way that Yeshua is obedient to the Father, wives are to be submissive to their husbands.
Peter says that even if their husbands are disobedient to the Torah, they may be won over to righteousness by her behavior.
(1 Pet 3:2 NASB) as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
(1 Pet 3:3 NASB) And let not your adornment be merely external– braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;
(1 Pet 3:4 NASB) but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
1 Pet 3:4: The adornment of a woman is not to be only external. Peter says a woman is to have an imperishable quality of a gentle and kind spirit.
(1 Pet 3:5 NASB) For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.
(1 Pet 3:6 NASB) Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
1 Pet 3:6: Sarah referred to Abraham as lord. It illustrates the matter of subjection of a wife to her husband.
(1 Pet 3:7 NASB) You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
1 Pet 3:7: Husbands are commanded to love with their wives in an understanding way and grant her honor. If both the husband and wife do not treat each other in these ways, harmony will be difficult to achieve.
If the husband does not do his part, he will find his prayers hindered. The Greek term can be rendered as “cut off.”
(1 Pet 3:8 NASB) To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;
(1 Pet 3:9 NASB) not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
1 Pet 3:9: Our actions are to speak to the fact that we are to inherit a blessing.
(1 Pet 3:10 NASB) For, “LET HIM WHO MEANS TO LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS REFRAIN HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING GUILE.
(1 Pet 3:11 NASB) “AND LET HIM TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; LET HIM SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.
(1 Pet 3:12 NASB) “FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”
1 Pet 3:12: This is a direct quote from Psalms 34:12-16.
(1 Pet 3:13 NASB) And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
(1 Pet 3:14 NASB) But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,
1 Pet 3:14: This is a quote from Isaiah 8:12-13. It is referencing the fact that even though the surrounding nations are conspiring against His people, they should not fear. They cannot change His plan.
(1 Pet 3:15 NASB) but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
(1 Pet 3:16 NASB) and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
(1 Pet 3:17 NASB) For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.
1 Pet 3:17: Our behavior should reflect Messiah at all times. If we suffer for doing good, that might be Elohim’s plan.
(1 Pet 3:18 NASB) For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
(1 Pet 3:19 NASB) in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,
(1 Pet 3:20 NASB) who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
1 Pet 3:20: This is a very difficult passage that has been classically misinterpreted for centuries. Some say that when Jesus died, He descended into hell and did an end zone dance in front of those lost souls that are suffering in hell. That took three days. Then He resurrected. Other say that the demonic beings during the days of Noah are being held in the “demon-dungeon” and after Jesus died, he did an end zone in front of those demons in chains. That took three days. Then he resurrected. Neither opinion is even close to being correct.
Peter is speaking of the evil of men in the days of Noah in the time of Noah who are now dead and buried deep into the earth because of the flood (Gen. 6:1-3). Peter speaks of how the Spirit made a proclamation, which we see in Gen. 6:3. Showing alternative meanings to a couple words in this passage makes it abundantly clear that he is speaking of those in the disobedient world that perished in the flood (1 Peter 2:18-19, Gen. 6:4-5).
Noah preached to them for 120 years. Peter also refers to Noah as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5).
(1 Pet 3:21 NASB) And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you– not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience– through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
(1 Pet 3:22 NASB) who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
1 Pet 3:22: Peter explicitly states that water baptism is NOT what saves us. It is our association with Messiah through which the Spirit (Breath of the Father) dwells within us (good conscience) that is our salvation.
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2014 Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly Fort Smith, Arkansas