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1Pe_3:8. Exhortations of a general character follow, without regard to the various conditions of men, yet in connection with chap. 1Pe_2:11 ff. They deal with the relations of the Christians towards each other, and towards those who are inimically disposed to them.
τὸ δὲ τέλος ] here adverbially: “finally, lastly;” in the classics τέλος δέ occurs frequently. Pott explains erroneously, by appeal to 1Ti_1:5 : pro κατὰ δὲ τὸ τέλος summa cohortationum mearum jam eo redit (in like manner Erasmus, Grotius, Wolf, Steiger, etc.). Oecumenius marks the transition very well thus: τὶ χρὴ ἰδιολογεῖσθαι ; ἁπλῶς πᾶσι φημί · τοῦτο γὰρ τέλος καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ὁ σκόπος ἐφορᾷ τῆς σωτηρίας .
πάντες ] emphatically, in contrast to what preceded: slaves and masters, husbands and wives.
ἔστε or some such word is usually supplied here; it is more correct, however, to consider the following adjectives, etc., as standing in a dependence similar to that of the participles formerly; only that the apostle has in his mind, instead of the particular ὑποτάγητε κ . τ . λ . in 1Pe_2:13, the more general exhortation to obedience toward God.
ὁμόφρονες ] in the N. T. ἅπ . λεγ . (Theognis, 81, ὁμόφρονα θυμὸν ἔχοντες ); frequently τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν , Rom_12:16; Rom_15:5; 2Co_13:11; Php_2:2; similar expressions, 1Co_1:10; Eph_4:3; Php_3:16; Luther: “like-minded.”
συμπαθεῖς ] “sympathizing,” in N. T. ἅπ . λεγ .; the verb, Heb_4:15; Heb_10:34; for the explanation, comp. Rom_12:15. Oecumenius explains: συμπάθεια · ὁ πρὸς τοὺς κακῶς πάσχοντας ὡς καὶ ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς ἔλεος ; where, however, it is incorrect to limit the application to suffering only. Bengel: ὁμόφρ .: mente, συμπαθεῖς : affectu in rebus secundis et adversis.
φιλάδελφοι ] “brotherly,” Luther; also ἅπ . λεγ .; the substantive occurs in chap. 1Pe_1:22.
εὔσπλαγχνοι ] to be found, besides here, in Eph_4:32, “compassionate;” in classical Greek: qui robustis est visceribus, as in Hippocr. p. 89 C; and figuratively equal to εὐκάρδιος , ἀνδρεῖος ; in the sense of compassionate it does not occur in the classics.
ταπεινόφρονες ] ἅπ . λεγ .; the ταπεινοφροσύνη (humility) as well before God (Act_20:19) as towards our neighbour (chap. 1Pe_5:5, Php_2:3, where it is joined with σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ ); here, with the latter reference.
Calvin: humilitas praecipuum conservandae amicitiae vinculum. Hofmann justly questions whether “ ὑποτάσσομαι , the leading idea of the series of exhortations which here comes to a close, is, as it were, echoed in ταπεινόφρ .” (Wiesinger). For a panegyric on humility, see Lorinus in loc. In the classics ταπεινόφρων means “mean-spirited and faint-hearted.” The word φιλόφρονες (spurious here) is explained by Gerhard: qui student facere ea quae alteri amica sunt et grata. The first three expressions show the loving relation in which Christians stand to each other; the last two (or three), the conduct of Christians towards all without distinction (Hofmann).