ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Peter 3.13-17

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

11. And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.

13. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good? 14. But even if ye should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; 15. but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear: 16. having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. 17. For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.

  1. Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19. in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, (1 Peter 3:11-19, ASV)
WEB

11. Let him turn away from evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

13. Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good? 14. But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.” 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear: 16. having a good conscience; that, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ. 17. For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil.

  1. Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19. in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, (1 Peter 3:11-19, WEB)
KJV

11. Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. against: Gr. upon

13. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14. But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: fear: or, reverence 16. Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 17. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

  1. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; (1 Peter 3:11-19, KJV)
YLT

11. let him turn aside from evil, and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it; 12. because the eyes of the Lord [are] upon the righteous, and His ears, to their supplication, and the face of the Lord [is] upon those doing evil;'

13. and who [is] he who will be doing you evil, if of Him who is good ye may become imitators? 14. but if ye also should suffer because of righteousness, happy [are ye]! and of their fear be not afraid, nor be troubled, 15. and the Lord God sanctify in your hearts. And [be] ready always for defence to every one who is asking of you an account concerning the hope that [is] in you, with meekness and fear; 16. having a good conscience, that in that in which they speak against you as evil-doers, they may be ashamed who are traducing your good behaviour in Christ; 17. for [it is] better doing good, if the will of God will it, to suffer, than doing evil;

  1. because also Christ once for sin did suffer, righteous for unrighteous, that he might lead us to God, having been put to death indeed, in the flesh, and having been made alive in the spirit, 19. in which also to the spirits in prison having gone he did preach, (1 Peter 3:11-19, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Peter the apostle, writing with the help of Silvanus (1 Pet 5:12).
  • Audience: Christians described as "those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (1 Pet 1:1), five Roman provinces in northern and central Asia Minor. The audience is largely Gentile (1 Pet 1:18, a futile way of life inherited from their forefathers; 4:3-4).
  • Location: Written from "Babylon" (1 Pet 5:13), which the great majority of interpreters read as a cipher for Rome, as in Revelation 17:5.
  • Time period: c. AD 62-64 on the traditional authorship, before or at the very beginning of the Neronian persecution. The hostility the letter addresses is social and local, slander, exclusion, and abuse, rather than empire-wide legal prosecution.

Theological reading

The passage containing the New Testament's clearest charge to apologetics, and it should be read with its frame rather than lifted out of it.

Verse 15 in full. "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."

"Make a defense." Apologia (G627 - apologia) is a legal-forensic term, the speech for the defense; the verb apologeomai (G0626 - apologeomai) is used of Paul before governors (Acts 26:1-2). The setting Peter envisages is being called to account by hostile neighbors and possibly magistrates, not a debate platform, and the thing to be explained is hope, not a system.

The Christological substitution in verse 15. The clause "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts" is drawn from Isaiah 8:12-13, where the one to be regarded as holy is YHWH of hosts. Peter takes an Old Testament command about the LORD and applies it to Jesus without explanation or apology. Substitutions of this kind, made in passing rather than argued, are among the strongest indications of how the earliest Christians classified Jesus. See Christs Deity.

"With gentleness and reverence." Prautēs and phobos. The manner is part of the command, not an appended courtesy, and the next clause explains why: "so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame." The argument only works if the conduct matches the answer.

Verses 13-14 and 16-17 supply the situation. Ordinarily doing good protects; where it does not, "you are blessed" (Matthew 5:10 stands behind this), and it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong. Peter is not promising that the defense will succeed.

See Apologist and Lesson 1.2, The Biblical Charge.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

Guides:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.