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1Pe_3:4. As antithesis to what precedes, ἀλλʼ ὁ ἔσωθεν κόσμος would have been expected; instead of this, however, the author at once states in what that adornment does consist.
ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος ] does not mean: the virtutes christ. quas Spir. s. per regenerationem in homine operatur (Gerhard; so, too, Wiesinger and Fronmüiller), for here there is no mention either of the Holy Ghost or of regeneration. It denotes simply the inner man, in contradistinction to the outward man (so, too, de Wette, Brückner, Weiss, Schott, Hofmann); κρυπτός , antithesis to ἔξωθεν , 1Pe_3:3; cf. ὁ ἔσω ἀνθρ ., Rom_7:22; Eph_3:16; ὁ ἔσωθεν , sc. ἄνθρ ., 2Co_4:16; cf., too, such expressions as: τὰ κρυπτὰ τῆς καρδίας , 1Co_14:25, and τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἄνθρ ., Rom_2:16. The apostle selected the expression κρυπτός as a contrast to the conspicuous adornment formerly spoken of. τῆς καρδίας is not gen. qualitatis (Schott); καρδία itself denotes no quality; it is the genitive of apposition subjoined, in that καρδία is the seat of the feeling and the disposition.
ἐν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ ] τὸ ἄφθαρτον , substantive (like φθαρτά , chap. 1Pe_1:18), “the imperishable” (incorrectly, Hofmann: ἐν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ , sc. κόσμῳ ), in contrast to the perishable ornaments above mentioned. The prepos. ἐν points out the sphere in which the inner hidden man should move. If “ ὧν ὁ κόσμος ἔστω ” be supplied after ἀλλά , then “ ἐν is to be joined with it, so as to show in what, and with what, this their inward hidden man should be their ornament” (Schott; so, too, Hofmann).
τοῦ πρᾳέος καὶ ἡσυχίου πνεύματος ] a more exact definition of the ἄφθαρτον ; it denotes not the πν . ἅγιον of God, but the spirit of man. The meek and quiet spirit (here emphasized with special reference to ὑποτασσόμενοι , 1Pe_3:1) is that “imperishable,” in which the hidden life of woman should exist and move.[170]
Ὅ ἘΣΤΙΝ ἘΝΏΠΙΟΝ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ ΠΟΛΥΤΕΛΈς ] Ὅ does not apply to the whole (Grotius), nor to Τῷ ἈΦΘΆΡΤῼ (Bengel, Pott, Steiger, Schott), since it is self-evident that the ἌΦΘΑΡΤΟΝ is in God’s eyes ΠΟΛΥΤΕΛΈς . It is to be taken with the immediately preceding: ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟς (de Wette, Wiesinger). Such a ΠΝΕῦΜΑ is, in the judgment of God (1Ti_2:3), ΠΟΛΥΤΕΛΈς (Mar_14:3; 1Ti_2:9), whilst outward adornment, worthless to the divine mind, possesses a value only in the eyes of men.[171]
[170] The two expressions: πραΰς and ἡσύχιος , must not be sharply distinguished; πραΰτης stands contrasted specially with ὀργή (Jam_1:20-21) or ζῆλος (Jam_3:13-14), synonymous with ἐπιεικεία (2Co_10:1), μακροθυμία (Col_3:12), ὑπομονή (1Ti_6:11), etc.; it is peculiar to him who does not allow himself to be provoked to wrath. ἡσυχία is related to ἀκαταστασία ; a ἡσύχιος is he who is peaceable and does not care for noisy life. Bengel interprets: mansuetus ( πραύς ): qui non turbat; tranquillus ( ἡσύχιος ): qui turbas aliorum fert placide; the contrary would be more correct.
[171] Luther: “A woman should be thus disposed as not to care for adornment. Else when people turn their minds to adornment, they never give it up; that is their way and their nature; therefore, a Christian woman should despise it. But if her husband wish it, or there be some other good reason for adorning herself, then she is right to do so.” Calvin, too, rightly observes: Non quemvis cultum reprehendere voluit Petrus, sed morbum vanitatis, quo mulieres laborant.