Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Peter 3:1-7

The apostle having treated of the duties of subjects to their sovereigns, and of servants to their masters, proceeds to explain the duty of husbands and wives. I. Lest the Christian matrons should imagine that their conversion to Christ, and their interest in all Christian privileges, exempted them from subjection to their pagan or Jewish husbands, the apostle here tells them, 1. In what the duty of wives consists. (1.) In subjection, or an affectionate submission to the will, and obedience to... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Peter 3:3-6

3:3-6 Let not your adornment be an outward thing of braided hair and ornaments of gold and wearing of robes, but let it be an adornment of the inward personality of the heart, wrought by the unfading loveliness of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For it was thus in days of old the holy women, who placed their hopes in God, adorned themselves in submission to their husbands. It was thus that Sara obeyed Abraham calling him, "Lord." And you have become her... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Peter 3:4

But let it be the hidden man of the heart ,.... By which is meant internal grace; which gives a beauty and ornament to the soul, far preferable to that which plaiting of the hair, wearing of gold, or any costly apparel, can give to the body: and this is called a man, as it is elsewhere the new man, Ephesians 4:24 because it has that which answers to what is in man, to his soul, and the powers and faculties of it: this man, or new creature, has a new heart and Spirit; it has a will to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 3:4

The hidden man of the heart - Ὁ κρυπτος της καρδιας ανθρωπος . This phrase is of the same import with that of St. Paul, Romans 7:22 , ὁ εσω ανθρωπος , the inner man; that is, the soul, with the whole system of affections and passions. Every part of the Scripture treats man as a compound being: the body is the outward or visible man; the soul, the inward, hidden, or invisible man. The term ανθρωπος , man, is derived, according to the best etymologists, from ανα τρεπων ωπα ,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 3:4

Verse 4 4But let it be the hidden, man of the heart The contrast here ought to be carefully observed. Cato said, that they who are anxiously engaged in adorning the body, neglect the adorning of the mind: so Peter, in order to restrain this desire in women, introduces a remedy, that they are to devote themselves to the cultivation of their minds. The word heart, no doubt means the whole soul. He at the same time shews in what consists the spiritual adorning of women, even in the incorruptness... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 3:1-7

I. DUTIES OF WIVES . 1. Obedience. Holy matrimony is a very sacred thing. It is not a mere human ordinance ( ἀνθρωπινὴ κτίσις , 1 Peter 2:13 ); it is not a creation of human law. Human law, indeed, surrounds it with its sanctions, regarding it as a civil contract; but it was instituted of God in the time of man's innocency; it is an image of the mystical union between Christ and his Church. It is a school of holy love, a discipline of sweet self-denials for the loved one's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 3:1-7

I. SUBJECTION OF WIVES TO THEIR HUSBANDS . 1. Duty stated. "In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands." The space which is here given to wives, especially in comparison with what is given to husbands, points to the great influence of women in the early Christian Church. The injunction to wives comes under the being subject to every ordinance of man ( 1 Peter 2:13 ). Christianity was to be advanced by the subjection of Christians to magistrates placed... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 3:1-22

The subject of this section is the necessity for a life becoming the Christian name; this is applied to Christian citizens and to Christian servants, and, here, to Christian wives. The reason for the conspicuous place here assigned to wives is obvious. The writer is addressing Churches in pagan countries, many of whose members were wives of heathen husbands. What were these to do? were they to continue in that relationship, or did their Christianity sever the marriage bond? That question... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 3:3-4

That attention to dress and personal decoration is natural to woman, is obvious from an observation of the customs of every nation in every age. The Apostle Peter must not be understood as in this place censuring such attention, but as pointing out that there is apparel, that there is ornament, far preferable to any bodily costume and jewelry that taste can devise and wealth can purchase. Christian women of every position in life are exhorted to provide themselves with these precious and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 3:4

But let it be the hidden man of the heart . The "hidden" is here equivalent to the "inward man" of Romans 7:22 ; 2 Corinthians 4:16 ; Ephesians 3:16 . It is that life which is "hid with Christ in God" ( Colossians 3:2 ), the life of Christ ("the Second Man") in the heart, fashioning that heart after the likeness of Christ, forming in it "the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" ( Colossians 3:10 ). This is hidden; it does not display itself... read more

Group of Brands