TOM · The Owner's Manual · New Testament

1 Peter 3

Chapter 3 in 30 seconds

Wives, husbands, everybody: be kind, be humble, and do not trade insult for insult. Always be ready to explain your hope, but nicely. Christ died once for all. Then comes a famous head scratcher about spirits in prison, Noah's ark and baptism, and Jesus goes up to the right hand of God.

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In this chapterThe Big QuestionWhat Tacitus Wrote · after verse 7 The Big Question · Christians disagreeSpirits in Prison · after verse 22

Wives and Husbands// Song of Solomon 1:1–17; Ephesians 5:22–33

¹Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives ²when they see your pure and reverent demeanor.

1PE 3:1[NOTE]WIVES AND HUSBANDS. Wives submit, husbands honor their wives as fellow heirs, 3:7, the same pair as Ephesians 5:21 to 33. Many believe it means the husband leads. Others say it was a way for wives of unbelievers to win them in a Roman world. See the 1 Timothy Women in the Church pages.

³Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, ⁴but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. ⁵For this is how the holy women of the past adorned themselves. They put their hope in God and were submissive to their husbands, ⁶just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.

1PE 3:4[HEART]True beauty is the hidden person of the heart.
1PE 3:6[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← GEN 18:12

⁷Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

1PE 3:7[NOTE]WEAKER VESSEL. The Greek and the KJV say weaker vessel. Many believe Peter means physically weaker; others say weaker in Roman law and power. Either way, honor her, she is a fellow heir, or your prayers get blocked.

The Big Question

What Tacitus Wrote

Nero Blames the Christians, AD 64

Tacitus, Annals 15.44 · 1 Peter 2:13 to 17 · 4:12 to 16

WHO TACITUS WAS: Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman senator and governor, born about AD 56. About AD 116 he wrote the Annals, a history of the emperors. He was not a Christian, and he did not like Christians.
WHAT HE WROTE: Here is the whole passage, Annals book 15, chapter 44, in the English translation by Alfred Church and William Brodribb, 1876. It starts right after the great fire of Rome in July AD 64.
ANNALS 15.44: Such indeed were the precautions of human wisdom. The next thing was to seek means of propitiating the gods, and recourse was had to the Sibylline books, by the direction of which prayers were offered to Vulcanus, Ceres, and Proserpina. Juno, too, was entreated by the matrons, first, in the Capitol, then on the nearest part of the coast, whence water was procured to sprinkle the fane and image of the goddess. And there were sacred banquets and nightly vigils celebrated by married women. But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed.

What It Tells Us · Nero and the Christians

1 Peter 2:13 to 17 · 4:12 to 16 · Romans 13:1 · Acts 5:29

THE GREAT FIRE: On July 19, AD 64, a fire broke out near the Circus Maximus in Rome. It burned for six days. Tacitus says only 4 of the city's 14 districts were left whole, 15.40. A rumor said Nero sang about the fall of Troy while Rome burned, and many believed he started the fire, because he soon built a huge new palace on the burned land.
THE SCAPEGOATS: To stop the rumor, Nero blamed the Christians. Tacitus says a huge crowd was convicted, more for hatred of mankind than for the fire. They were torn apart by dogs, nailed to crosses, or burned as torches at night in Nero's gardens.
THE KING IN 2:13: The king Peter tells believers to honor, 2:17, was this same Nero. Peter wrote to people who would soon face him at his worst.
THE FIERY TRIAL: Do not be surprised at the fiery trial, 4:12. If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, 4:16. Many date the letter just before the fire. Others think Nero's attack had already begun.
PETER AND PAUL: Clement of Rome, about AD 96, names Peter and Paul together as faithful to death, 1 Clement 5. Right after, he mentions a great crowd of believers who were tortured, 1 Clement 6, and many link that to Nero.
WHAT IT CONFIRMS: A Roman historian who disliked Christians says Christus was executed by Pontius Pilate under Tiberius, that the movement began in Judaea, and that by AD 64 there were huge numbers of Christians in Rome. See Exhibit A.
IS IT REAL?: Almost all scholars accept it. It is in the oldest copy of this part of the Annals, the Second Medicean manuscript from the 1000s, kept in Florence. Under ultraviolet light the word for Christians shows it was first written Chrestians, a common Roman mix up of the name, and later corrected.

Turning from Evil

⁸Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰For,

1PE 3:9[NOTABLE]Jesus taught the same, Luke 6:28. Hurt people hurt people; blessed people bless.

“Whoever would love life

and see good days

must keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from deceitful speech.

1PE 3:10[QUOTES]Direct ← PS 34:12-16

¹¹He must turn from evil and do good;

he must seek peace and pursue it.

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and His ears are inclined to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against

those who do evil.”

¹³Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

Suffering for Righteousness

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.” ¹⁵But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ. ¹⁷For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

1PE 3:14[QUOTES]Direct ← IS 8:12
1PE 3:15[HEART]Set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts, then give your answer.
1PE 3:15[QUOTES]Quotes ← IS 8:13
1PE 3:15[NOTE]TEXT. The oldest copies say sanctify Christ as Lord; later copies and the KJV say the Lord God. Isaiah 8:13 says this about Yahweh of Hosts, so Peter gives Jesus Yahweh's honor. A DEFENSE. The Greek is apologia, a reasoned answer, where we get the word apologetics.

¹⁸For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit, ¹⁹in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison ²⁰who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.

1PE 3:18[FULFILLS]God's righteous Servant would justify many ← IS 53:11b
1PE 3:18[NOTE]TEXT. Some old copies say Christ died for sins, others say suffered for sins. The meaning is the same.
1PE 3:19[DEMONIC]Christ preached to the spirits in prison
1PE 3:19[NOTE]SPIRITS IN PRISON. One of the hardest verses in the Bible. Even Martin Luther said he did not know for sure what Peter meant. See the two Big Question pages.

In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

1PE 3:20[FULFILLS]Noah's family is saved by going into the ark. The ark pictures salvation through Christ ← GEN 7:1
1PE 3:21[NOTE]BAPTISM NOW SAVES YOU. Peter adds: not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God, through the resurrection. Catholics, Orthodox and Lutherans say baptism really washes away sin. Churches of Christ say it is the moment a believer is saved. Baptists and most evangelicals say the water is a picture and faith saves. See Does Baptism Save? in Titus.
1PE 3:22[MIRACLE]Angels, authorities and powers are subject to the risen Jesus
1PE 3:22[FULFILLS]David's Lord sits at God's right hand until His enemies are His footstool ← PS 110:1

The Big Question · Christians disagree

Spirits in Prison

What Did Peter Mean?

1 Peter 3:18 to 22 · 4:6 · Genesis 6:1 to 8 · 2 Peter 2:4 to 5 · Jude 6

WHAT PETER SAID: Christ was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit, in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago, in the days of Noah, 3:18 to 20. Later Peter adds that the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, 4:6.
WHY IT IS HARD: Who are the spirits? When did Jesus go? What did He preach? Martin Luther wrote in 1523 that this is a strange text, more obscure than any other passage in the New Testament, and that he did not know for sure what Peter meant.
THE BOOK OF ENOCH: Jews in Peter's day knew 1 Enoch, written about 300 to 200 BC. It says the angels who sinned in Genesis 6 were locked up until judgment, and that Enoch went to announce their doom, 1 Enoch 6 to 16. 2 Peter 2:4 to 5 and Jude 6 also speak of angels kept in chains, right next to Noah.
THE EARLY CHURCH: Many early Christians taught that Christ went down to the dead between the cross and Easter. Irenaeus, about AD 180, says He went to the regions under the earth preaching His coming. Clement of Alexandria, about AD 200, said He offered salvation to the dead there.
THE CREED: The words He descended into hell, or to the dead, show up in creeds in the 300s, and became part of the Apostles' Creed. Eastern churches paint it at Easter as Christ pulling Adam and Eve out of their graves, the harrowing of hell.
AUGUSTINE: About AD 414 Augustine wrote a long letter on this verse, Letter 164. He decided Christ preached in the Spirit through Noah to the people of Noah's day, whose spirits are now in prison. Thomas Aquinas and many later teachers followed him.
THE REFORMERS: Luther, after his doubts, taught that Christ went down to hell in victory, and the Lutheran Formula of Concord, 1577, says so. John Calvin read the creed's descent into hell as Christ suffering hell's agony for us on the cross.
TODAY: In 1965 William Dalton argued that the risen Christ announced His victory to the fallen angels of Genesis 6, and many scholars now agree. Others hold Augustine's view or the descent to the dead. The next page gives every view.

Every View · The Case Each Side Makes

1 Peter 1:11 · 3:18 to 22 · 4:6 · Ephesians 4:8 to 10 · 2 Peter 2:4 to 5

CHRIST PREACHING THROUGH NOAH: The Spirit of Christ, who spoke in the prophets, 1:11, spoke through Noah, a preacher of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:5, to the people of his day. They refused, died in the flood, and their spirits are now in prison. Held by Augustine and many Reformed teachers. Best case: it fits 1:11 and leaves no second chance after death, Hebrews 9:27.
VICTORY OVER FALLEN ANGELS: After rising, on His way to heaven, Christ announced His win to the angels who sinned in Noah's day, Genesis 6:1 to 4. In the New Testament spirits usually means angels or demons, and preached can mean announced. The same word went is used in 3:22, where angels and powers are made subject to Him. Best case: it matches 3:22, 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, and Jewish readers knew the Enoch story.
THE GOSPEL OFFERED TO THE DEAD: Between His death and resurrection Christ went to the dead and offered them the gospel, and 4:6 says the gospel was preached to those who are now dead. Clement of Alexandria and some modern teachers hold this. Best case: it reads 3:19 and 4:6 plainly and shows God's mercy to those who never heard.
THE HARROWING OF HELL: Christ went down to the place of the dead and freed the faithful who died before Him, from Adam to the prophets, and led them out, Ephesians 4:8 to 10 and Matthew 27:52 to 53. This is the Orthodox Easter teaching, and the Catholic Catechism, 632 to 635, says Christ went to free the just, not to rescue the damned. Best case: it is very old and fits the creed.
LUTHERAN: Christ, body and soul, went down to hell after His burial, defeated the devil and broke hell's power. It was a victory march, not more suffering, Formula of Concord, 1577. Best case: it takes went and preached as a real event and fits 3:22.
WHAT ABOUT 4:6?: Most read the dead in 4:6 as people who heard the gospel while alive and have since died. Others link it to 3:19. Your view of one usually shapes the other.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: Christ really died and rose. He now sits at the right hand of God with angels and powers under Him, 3:22. God was patient in Noah's day, 3:20, and is patient now. And Peter's point for suffering believers is clear: suffering for doing good is not defeat, because Christ suffered and won.

1 Peter 3

Wives and Husbands// Song of Solomon 1:1–17; Ephesians 5:22–33

Turning from Evil

Suffering for Righteousness

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