Passage

1 Peter 3.13

Book: 1 Peter · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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?

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: (1 Peter 3:11-15, 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?

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: (1 Peter 3:11-15, 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?

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} (1 Peter 3:11-15, 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?

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; (1 Peter 3:11-15, 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

"Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?"

A general truth, immediately qualified. The rhetorical question expects the answer "no one", and it states the ordinary case: good conduct usually disarms hostility. Verse 14 then concedes the exception in the same breath, "but even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed." Peter is not offering a promise of safety, and reading verse 13 without verse 14 turns his realism into a guarantee the letter spends five chapters denying.

The logic behind it. The letter repeatedly argues that Christian behavior should give slander nothing to work with (1 Peter 2:12; 2:15; 4:15-16). If suffering comes, it should come for the name and not for wrongdoing. That is a strategy for witness, not a formula for outcomes.

"Zealous for what is good." Zēlōtai tou agathou, an unusual phrase: zealots of the good. In a first-century Jewish context zēlōtēs had a political charge, and Peter redirects the energy the word implies toward benefit rather than resistance.

Wider background. Proverbs 16:7, when a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him, states the same general principle in wisdom form, with the same understanding that a general principle is not a universal law, as Job exists to say.

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.

G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096

Quoted in

Concepts:

People:

Simon the Zealot

Lexicon:

G2205 - zelos

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.