To reinforce his argument, Peter now appeals to the example of women from the Old Testament. The devout women is literally “the holy women.” These women are “holy” in the same sense that the church is “holy,” that is, they have a special kind of relationship to God characterized by consecration and dedication to him (compare 2.9). These women placed their hope in God (literally “hoped in God”), that is, trusted in God to fulfill his promises (compare Knox).

The phrase the devout women of the past may be rendered as “the religious women of former times” or “the God-worshiping women who lived long ago” or “the women who lived long ago and believed in God.”

It is very difficult indeed to render literally the clause who placed their hope in God, for hope which describes an attitude of the mind is not something which one can normally “place.” Accordingly, it may be both necessary and useful to translate who placed their hope in God as “who trusted that God would do what he had promised them” or “who were confident that God would fulfill what he had promised.”

The Greek construction allows for two possible ways of looking at used to make themselves beautiful. First, this may refer back to verse 4, that is, to the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Taken in this manner, what Peter is saying would be that these women made themselves beautiful by having a gentle and quiet spirit, and this is illustrated by their submission to their husbands (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “In the same manner holy women adorned themselves…”; Moffatt “It was in this way long ago that holy women … adorned themselves”). Secondly, however, this may refer forward to their “submission,” in which case what Peter is saying is that these women made themselves beautiful by submitting to their husbands. In view of verse 6, this second alternative may be closer to what Peter was trying to say.

There is another interpretation possible, and found in some translations, which takes both “hoped in God” and “were submissive to their husbands” as part of the “adornment” (for example, Jerusalem Bible “That was how the holy women of the past dressed themselves attractively—they hoped in God and were tender and obedient to their husbands”; also New American Bible “reliant on God and obedient to their husbands”). The Greek construction, however, argues against this interpretation.

Used to make themselves beautiful may be rendered as “used to cause themselves to become beautiful” or “made it a practice of being beautiful.”

The final phrase by submitting themselves to their husbands must be rendered in such a way as to reflect the rendering in verse 1. This may be done, for example, by some such rendering as “by obeying their husbands” or “by doing what their husbands have told them to do.”

The relationship between “causing themselves to become beautiful” and “submitting themselves to their husbands” must be inverted in some languages, for example, “they submitted themselves to their husbands, and in this way they used to make themselves beautiful” or “they obeyed their husbands and this caused them to become beautiful” or “… in this way they caused themselves to become beautiful.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .