1 Pet. 3 1 Pet. 3:1–7 The apostle teacheth the duty of wives and husbands, 1 Pet. 3:8–13 exhorting all men to unity and love, and to return good for evil, 1 Pet.

To your own husbands; this he adds both to mitigate the difficulty of the duty, subjection, in that they were their own husbands to whom they were to be subject, and likewise to bound and circumscribe their obedience, that it was to be only to their own husbands, not to others; and so while he…

Chaste conversation; free from all manner of impurities, and any thing contrary to the marriage covenant. Coupled with fear; such a fear or reverence of your husbands, whereby out of the fear of God, and conscience of his command, you give them all due respect, and do not willingly displease them.

Let it not be; let it not be chiefly, or not so much the adorning of the outward man as the inward; the negative here is to be taken as a comparative, as Ex. 16:8, Luke 14:12.

The hidden man of the heart; the inward man, Rom. 7:22, 2 Cor. 4:16; either the soul in opposition to the body, or the image of God, and graces of his Spirit in the soul, called elsewhere the new man, and opposed to natural corruption, or the old man, Eph. 4:24, Col. 3:9–10.

Holy women; and therefore worthy of imitation. Who trusted in God; whose only hope was in God, and therefore their care to please him. Adorned themselves; viz. with a meek and quiet spirit, counting that the best ornament.

Even as Sara; after ger name was changed from Sarai, my lady, to Sarah, simply a lady or princess, because kings were to come of her, Gen. 17:15–16; yet even then she obeyed Abraham; and this is spoken in commendation of her obedience.

Dwell with them; perform all matrimonial duties to them; by a synecdoche, all the duties of that relation are contained under this one of cohabitation.

Be ye all of one mind; either, be of one mind in the things of faith, and then this implies the consent of the understanding, and the next, that of the affections; or, be united both in faith and affection: see Rom. 12:16, 2 Cor. 13:11, Phil. 4:2.

Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing; not recompensing evil either in words or deeds, Prov. 24:29; See Poole on “1 Pet. 2:3”, see Rom. 12:14, Rom. 12:17, Rom. 12:19, Rom. 12:21.

He that will love life; he that earnestly desires to lead a quiet and comfortable life here, and to enjoy eternal life hereafter. And see good days; peaceable and prosperous; as evil days are such as are grievous and calamitous, Gen. 47:9.

Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him not only in general avoid all sin, and exercise himself in all well-doing, (as the prophet’s meaning, cited in the margin, seems to be), but particularly, let him avoid all sin against his neighbour, not recompensing evil to him, and doing him all the good…

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers; God watcheth over them, looks favourably on them, and hears their prayers: see Ps. 34:15.

And who is he that will harm you? i.e. none or few will harm you, as being convinced and overcome by your good deeds, whereby even they are many times mollified and melted that are of themselves most wicked and hard-hearted, 1 Sam. 24:16–17.

But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake; if ye suffer unjustly, whether it be for the true profession of the gospel, or in the exercise of righteousness, being followers of that which is good, and walking in the practice of the duties before mentioned.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; exalt him in your hearts, and give him the honour of all his glorious perfections, power, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, &c., by believing them, and depending upon his promises for defence and assistance against all the evils your enemies may threaten you…

Having a good conscience; this may be read either: 1. Indicatively, and joined (as by some it is) to the former verse; and then the sense is: If ye be always ready to answer every one that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, ye shall have a good conscience: or rather: 2.

If the will of God be so; viz. that ye must suffer; intimating that this is an argument for their patience and submission in their sufferings, and a ground of comfort to them, that they are led into them by the providence of God, (not by their own folly or rashness), and have him for a witness and…

For Christ also hath once suffered; in opposition to the legal sacrifices which were offered from day to day, and from year to year, Heb. 7:27, Heb. 9:25, Heb.

By which also; by which Spirit, mentioned in the end of the former verse, i.e. by, or in, his Divine nature, the same by which he was quickened. He; Christ.

Which; which spirits in prison. Question. When were these spirits, to whom Christ preached by Noah, in prison? Answer. Then when Peter wrote this Epistle. The Greek participle of the present tense is here to be supplied, and the word thus read, preached to the spirits which are in prison, viz.

The like figure; Greek, the antitype. Twice this word occurs in Scripture; once Heb. 9:24, where it signifies simply a type, or exemplar, or representation; and here, where it implies either the likeness or correspondence of one type with another in signifying the same thing: so that here may be…

Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God: see Rom. 8:34, Heb. 1:3. This is added as another ground of faith and a good conscience. Angels and authorities and powers: see Rom. 8:38, Eph. 1:20–21, Col. 1:16, Col. 2:10. Being made subject unto him; viz.