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1Pe_2:16. ὡς ἐλεύθεροι ] is not, as Lachm., Jachmann, Steiger, Fronmüller think, to be joined with what follows (1Pe_2:17),[141] but with a preceding thought; either with ἀγαθοποιοῦντας (Beda, Luther, Calvin, Wiesinger, Hofm.), or with ὑποτάγητε (Chrys., Oecum., Gerhard, Bengel, de Wette, Schott, etc.). The latter of these connections deserves the preference, not because in the former a change of construction would take place, but because the special point to be brought out here was, that the freedom of the Christians was to be manifested in submission to (heathen) authorities. What follows shows this, inasmuch as those Christians who had not attained unto true freedom, might easily be led to justify their opposition to those in power on the ground of the liberty which belonged to them in Christ. ὡς ἐλεύθεροι states the position which the Christians are to take up inwardly towards the authorities; their subjection is not that of δοῦλοι , since they recognise them as a divine ordinance for the attainment of moral ends.[142]
καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ] καί is epexegetical: “and that,” since what follows defines the idea ἐλεύθεροι first negatively and then positively.
ὡς belongs not to ἐπικάλυμμα , but to ἔχοντες : “and that not as those who have.”
ἐπικάλυμμα is the more remote, τὴν ἐλευθερίαν the proximate, object of ἔχοντες : “who have the ἐλευθερία as the ἐπικάλυμμα τ . κακ .”
ἐπικάλυμμα , ἅπ . λεγ .; for its original meaning, cf. Exo_26:14, LXX.; here used metaphorically (cf. Kypke in loc.). The sense is: “not as those to whom their freedom serves as a covering for their κακία ” (cf. 2Pe_2:19; Gal_5:13), i.e. who seek to conceal their wickedness by boasting of their Christian freedom. This is the exact reverse of the Pharisaism of those who seek to conceal the wickedness of the heart by an outward conformity to the law.
ἀλλʼ ὡς δοῦλοι Θεοῦ ] expresses positively the nature of the truly free. True liberty consists in the δουλεία Θεοῦ (Rom_6:16 ff.); it refers back to the τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ , and further still to διὰ κύριον .
[141] Hofmann justly says: “We cannot think of joining ver. 16 with ver. 17, for its contents would not suit πάντας τιμήσατε —even should it be connected with this only (Fronmüller), which is quite impossible—not to speak of τὴν ἀδελφοτητα or τὸν Θεὸν φοβεῖσθε .”
[142] It is not probable that Peter here refers, as Weiss (p. 349) thinks, to the words of Christ, Mat_17:27, since they apply to circumstances altogether different from those mentioned here; see Meyer in loc.