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1Pe_3:1. From here to 1Pe_3:6 an exhortation to wives.
ὁμοίως ] not simply particula transeundi (Pott); on account of the subsequent ὑποτασσόμεναι it stands related rather to the exhortation contained in what precedes; the participle here as in chap. 1Pe_2:18.
αἱ γυναῖκες ] Form of address, like οἱ οἰκέται (as opposed to Steiger); vid. ὑμῶν , 1Pe_3:2; τῶν γυναικῶν (instead of ὑμῶν ) is used here, not because the thought is a general one (de Wette, Wiesinger), nor “because Peter means to say that the heathen men should be won over by their own wives” (Schott), but because the apostle wishes clearly to point out how the wives too may be able to advance the kingdom of God. The words are addressed generally to all Christian wives, though, as the sequel shows, with special reference to those who have unbelieving husbands.
ὑποτασσόμεναι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν ] ἰδίοις is used here, not by way of contradistinction (Glossa inter.: suis viris, non adulteris, or according to Calvin: ut Ap. castitatis uxores admoneat avocetque a suspectis obsequiis virorum aliorum; so, too, Fronmüller), but only to express the idea of belonging together more strongly than the simple pronoun; cf. also Winer, p. 145 f. [E. T. 191 f.].
With the thought here expressed, cf. Eph_5:22-24; Col_3:18; 1Ti_2:9. It is self-evident,—although many interpreters have discussed the question at considerable length,—that the subjection of the wife to the husband is of quite a different kind from that of the slave to the master. The apostle, however, does not go into the subject further, but contents himself with simply emphasizing that point.[166]
ἽΝΑ ΚΑῚ ΕἼ ΤΙΝΕς ἈΠΕΙΘΟῦΣΙ Τῷ ΛΌΓῼ ] ΚΑῚ ΕἼ , i.e. “even then when,” supposes not only a possible, but a particularly unfavourable case; that is to say, when men who are joined to Christian wives oppose the λόγος , even then may such be gained over by the Christian walk of their wives;[167] τινες must be conceived as referring to heathen men with Christian wives.
With τῷ λόγῳ , cf. chap. 1Pe_2:8.
The expression ἀπειθεῖν denotes here, as in chap. 1Pe_2:7, not a simple negation only, (Pott: ad religionem christianam nondum accessisse), but an opposition to.
διὰ τῆς τῶν γυναικῶν ἀναστροφῆς ] ἑαυτῶν must be supplied to γυναικῶν ; it is not wives in general who are here meant, but only the wives of heathen husbands.
ἀναστροφή ; quite generally: the Christian walk of women, with special reference, however, to their relation to their husbands; it is precisely obedience that most easily wins the heart.
ἄνευ λόγου ] Huss incorrectly: sine verbo praedicationis publicae (so, too, Fronmüller); the words are used here to emphasize more strongly διὰ τῆς … ἀναστροφῆς , and must be held to refer to the conduct of wives (de Wette, Wiesinger). Schott wrongly unites ἄνευ λόγου with the preceding τῆς … ἀναστροφῆς into one idea; Peter could never have meant to say that the walls of women should be a silent one. The apostle’s thought is this: if the husbands oppose the Word, the wives should all the more diligently seek to preserve a Christian walk, in order by it to win over their husbands, even without words, i.e. “without preaching and exhortation on their part” (de Wette). Oecumenius incorrectly refers these words to the conduct of husbands in the sense: cessanti omni verbo et contradictione.
κερδηθήσονται ] that is to say, for the faith, and by it for the kingdom of God; cf. 1Co_9:19 ff.; so, too, Schott indeed, who, however, unjustifiably thinks that the apostle’s meaning is, that the preservation of the marriage relation is the primary object which is to be attained by the good behaviour of the wives. On the indie, with ἵνα , cf. Winer, p. 269 ff. [E. T. 361].
[166] For similar remarks of the ancients, see in Steiger; that of the humorist Philemon (in a Fragment, ver. 123) is particularly significant: ἀγαθῆς γυναῖκός ἐστιν , ὧ Νικοστράτη , μὴ κρείττονʼ εἶναι τʼ ἀνδρὸς , ἀλλʼ ὑπήκοον .
[167] Hofmann maintains that if the protasis be thus understood, the apodosis is not suited to it, “inasmuch as no other case could be supposed in which the husband could be won, without words, by the conduct of his wife, than that of his being disobedient to the Word,” and that the difficulty can only be removed if εἴ τινες be interpreted as equal to οἵτινες . But the difficulty Hofmann alludes to clearly still remains, though in fact it has no existence if only the idea ἀπειθοῦσι receive the precision it is entitled to.