1 Peter 3:6

Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord . St. Peter singles out Sarah, as the mother of the chosen people. She obeyed her husband habitually (the imperfect ὑπήκουεν is the reading of some of the oldest manuscripts; the aorist, also well supported, would represent her obedience as a whole, the character of her life now past); she called him lord (comp. Genesis 18:12 , ὁ δὲ κύριος μου πρεσβύτερος . ) Whose daughters ye are ; literally, w hose children ye became. This is another indication that the Epistle is addressed, not only to Jewish Christians, but also, and that in large measure, to Gentile converts. Gentile women became by faith the daughters of Sarah; just as we read in St. Paul's Epistles that "they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" ( Galatians 3:7 ); anti that Abraham is "the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised" ( Romans 4:11 ); comp. Galatians 4:22-31 , where St. Paul tells us that we, like Isaac, are the children of promise; children, "not of the bondwoman, but of the free." As long as ye do well . This clause represents one Greek word ἀγαθοπιοῦσαι ("doing good"). Some commentators regard the words from "even as Sara" to "whose daughters ye are" as a parenthesis, and refer the participle to "the holy women" mentioned in Galatians 4:5 . This does not seem natural. It is better to regard the second half of this verse as a continuous sentence, and to understand the participle as meaning "if ye do well." The doing well, etc., is a mark that Christian women have become children of Sarah by faith. And are not afraid with any amazement . The Greek word for "amazement" ( πτόησις ) does not occur in any other place of the New Testament, though we meet with the corresponding verb in Luke 21:9 ; Luke 24:1-53 :87. There seems to be a reference to Proverbs 3:25 , "Be not afraid of sudden fear ' ( καὶ οὐ φοβηθήσῃ πτόησιν ἐπελθοῦσαν ), πτσήσις is "dismay, scared terrified excitement," very different from the calm thoughtful φόβος , the fear lest they should fail in proper respect for their husbands, and that out of the holy fear of God, which St. Peter inculcates upon wives ( Proverbs 3:2 ). The Christian wife might often experience cruel treatment from an unbelieving husband, but she was not to live in a flutter of excited terror; she was to be calm and quiet, trusting in God. As to the construction, the accusative may be cognate, as the Authorized Version takes it; or the accusative of the object, as in Proverbs 3:25 . The last view is, perhaps, the -most suitable: "And are not afraid of any sudden terror."