Section 3:1–7

Husbands and wives should honor one another

In this section, Peter gave instructions about family life. The wife should accept her husband’s authority, even if he is not a Christian, and try to influence him to faith in Christ by her good behavior. Husbands also should show honor towards their wives. Peter also said that when both husband and wife are believers, they share equally in the blessings of their new life in Christ.

Some other headings for this section are:

Wives and Husbands (New International Version)
-or-
Instructions for wives and husbands

Paragraph 3:1–6

3:1a

Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands: Peter wanted each married woman to accept the authority of her husband. He expected that each wife would have one husband and that each husband would have one wife. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear by using the singular forms. For example:

Let each wife submit to her husband
-or-
Every married woman should be submissive to her husband

in the same way: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in the same way here introduces a new subject on the same general theme. Peter gave another example of how Christians should behave respectfully towards those who are in authority over them. Some other ways to translate this are:

in a similar way (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Likewise (Revised Standard Version)

submit yourselves to your husbands: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as submit yourselves is the same as in 2:18a. Peter wanted women who were believers to choose to respect their husbands, even if their husbands were not believers. Some other ways to translate this phrase include:

accept the authority of your husbands (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
place yourselves under your husbands’ authority (God’s Word)

3:1b

so that: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that introduces a purpose or goal. This purpose is stated in 3:1c. Here is another way to translate this:

then (NET Bible)

even if they refuse to believe the word: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as even if they refuse to believe the word assumes that some husbands refused to believe the word. Peter had no doubt that there were many such men. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear. For example, it may be possible to say:

as many as do not obey the word
-or-
those who do not believe the word

refuse to believe the word: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as refuse to believe the word is literally “disobey the word.” Here it means “disobey the message from God by not believing in Jesus.” Peter was referring to men who were not Christians. The verb refuse to believe is the same as in 2:8c (note on “disobey the word”).

the word: The phrase the word refers to the word of God and means “the word that comes from God.” If people in your area would not understand that, you may want to include the implied words.

Some other ways the word has been translated include:

God’s word (God’s Word)
-or-
God’s teaching (New Century Version)
-or-
the Good News (New Living Translation (2004))

3:1c

they will be won over…by the behavior of their wives: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they will be won over…by the behavior of their wives is in the passive. In some languages it may be necessary to use an active verb:

the behavior of their wives might win them over
-or-
the way their wives behave will win them

won over: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as won over here is a figure of speech. It means “gained for the Lord,” that is, convinced or persuaded to become a Christian. Some other ways to translate this expression are:

• Keep the figure. For example:

win these men for Christ (God’s Word)
-or-
win them over to believe (Good News Translation)

• Translate the meaning. For example:

persuaded to believe (New Century Version)
-or-
convinced to believe in Christ

of their wives: If you translated 3:1a as a direct command to wives, it may be natural to translate of their wives as:

of you, their wives
-or-
your(fem/plur)

without words: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as without words here means “without the wife talking to her husband about Jesus.” It does not mean that the wife refuses to talk to her husband, or that she never even tells him that she is a Christian. It means that the way she acts should be so attractive to her husband that she will not need to keep on speaking to him about Jesus. Some other ways to translate this phrase include:

without saying anything (God’s Word)
-or-
It will not be necessary for you to say a word (Good News Translation)

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