So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.
Parallel Translations
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So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.
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even as Sara obeyed Abraham and called him Lorde: whose doughters ye are as longe as ye do well and be not afrayde of every shadowe.
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As Sara obeyed Abraham, and called him Sir: whose daughters ye are, whiles yee doe well, not being afraide of any terrour.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to 1 Peter 3:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 18:12 Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
- Romans 9:7-9 Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs. For this is a word of promise, “At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”
- Isaiah 57:11 “Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace for a long time, and you don’t fear me?
- Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
- Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,
- Matthew 26:69-75 Now Peter was sitting outside in the court, and a maid came to him, saying, “You were also with Jesus, the Galilean!” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” When he had gone out onto the porch, someone else saw him, and said to those who were there, “This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Again he denied it with an oath, “I don’t know the man.” After a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter, “Surely you are also one of them, for your speech makes you known.” Then he began to curse and to swear, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately the rooster crowed. Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Then he went out and wept bitterly.
- Genesis 18:15 Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
- Acts 4:8-13 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, may it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands here before you whole in him. He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved!” Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.
- 1 Peter 3:14-15 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear,
- Galatians 4:22-26 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
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Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6 And are not afraid The weakness of the…
6 And are not afraid The weakness of the sex causes women to be suspicious and timid, and therefore morose; for they fear lest by their subjection, they should be more reproachfully treated. It was this that Peter seems to have had in view in forbidding them to be disturbed by any fear, as though he had said, “Willingly submit to the authority of your husbands, nor let fear prevent your obedience, as though your condition would be worse, were you to obey.” The words may be more general, “Let them not raise up commotions at home.” For as they are liable to be frightened, they often make much of a little thing, and thus disturb themselves and the family. Others think that the timidity of women, which is contrary to faith, is generally reproved, as though Peter exhorted them to perform the duties of their calling with a courageous and intrepid spirit. However, the first explanation is what I prefer, though the last does not differ much from it.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Because women are of nature fearful, he giveth them…
Because women are of nature fearful, he giveth them to understand, that he requireth of them that subjection, which is not wrung out of them either by force or fear.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord:…
6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Ver. 6. Calling him lord] See here, how in a great heap of sin, God can find out his own, and accept of it. There was no good word in all the whole sentence, but this, that she called her husband lord. God is pleased to single out this, and set it as a precious diamond in a gold ring to Sarah’s eternal commendation. So, Heb 11:31, mention is made of Rahab’s entertaining the spies, and not of the lie she told: God lays the finger of mercy on the scars of our sins, as that limner {a} in the story.
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And are not afraid, &c.] Fear they must, 1Pe 3:2, and yet they must not. Fear God, but not their husband’s undeserved checks or threats for obeying God. One fear must expel another, as one fire drives out another.
{a} A painter, esp. a portrait painter. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Even as Sara; after ger name was changed from…
Even as Sara; after ger name was changed from Sarai, my lady, to Sarah, simply a lady or princess, because kings were to come of her, Gen 17:15,16; yet even then she obeyed Abraham; and this is spoken in commendation of her obedience.
Calling him lord; not merely in compliment, but in reality, hereby acknowledging his authority and her own subjection.
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Whose daughters ye are; not only according to the flesh, but spiritually, according to the promise.
Ye are; either ye are made or become, viz. by imitation of her faith and holiness, as well as ye are by kindred and succession; or, ye are declared and known to be, as the phrase is elsewhere used, Joh 15:8.
As long as ye do well; follow her in good works, 1Ti 2:10.
And are not afraid with any amazement; or, afraid of any amazement, any thing frightful, or which might terrify you, taking amazement for the object or cause or fear, as 1Pe 3:14; Psa 53:5; Pro 3:25; and the sense may be, either, so long as ye perform your duty with a resolute mind, and keep from that which is contrary to your faith; or, as long as you subject yourselves to your husbands willingly, cheerfuly, and without slavish fear of being losers by your obedience, and faring the worse for your patience and submission.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham,.... Going along with him…
Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham,.... Going along with him wherever he went, as from Chaldea to Canaan, and into Egypt, and the land of the Philistines, saying the words he put into her mouth, Gen 12:5 and doing the things he bid her do, Gen 18:6 "calling him lord"; or "my lord", as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions render it, and as it appears she did from Gen 18:12. The Jews use this instance to the same purpose the apostle does, saying (p),
"the wife ought to take care of the family, to educate her children, to serve and minister to her husband in all things, "calling him her own lord"; which is what we learn from the example of Sarah, who called Abraham her lord, saying, "my lord is old".
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Whose daughters ye are; meaning not by natural descent, though they were, these being Jews the apostle writes to, but by grace, and in a spiritual sense; just as those are the children of Abraham, who walk in the steps of his faith, whether they be Jews or Gentiles; so such are the daughters of Sarah, the children of the free woman, who imitate her in faith and obedience; that is, they appear, and are declared to be so:
as long as ye do well: do acts of beneficence and hospitality to strangers, and proper objects, as Sarah did, and all and every good work, according to the will of God, from love, and in faith, and with a view to his glory; and particularly obey and live in subjection to their husbands, as she did: and are not afraid with any amazement; are not deterred from doing well, nor scared by the terrors and menaces of wicked men, either their own husbands, or others; or who with fortitude and intrepidity of mind continue in the discharge of their duty to God and men, and particularly to their husbands, following them, and obeying their lawful commands, as Sarah did in Egypt, and in Gerar, though she exposed herself to great danger: this is said, because women are timorous, and apt to be frightened at everything, from the performance of their duty,
(p) Sepher Musar apud Drus. de Quaesitis, Ep. 54. & in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Whose children ye are - In a spiritual as…
Whose children ye are - In a spiritual as well as natural sense, and entitled to the same inheritance, while ye discharge your conjugal duties, not out of fear, but for conscience' sake. Gen. xviii, 12.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Even as Sara obeyed] Almost the same…
Verse 6. Even as Sara obeyed] Almost the same words are in Rab. Tanchum, fol. 9, 3: "The wife of Abraham reverenced him, and called him lord, as it is written, Ge 18:12: And my lord is old." The words of the apostle imply that she acknowledged his superiority, and her own subjection to him, in the order of God.
Whose daughters ye are] As Abraham is represented the father of all his male believing descendants, so Sara is represented as the mother of all her believing female posterity. A son of Abraham is a true believer; a daughter of Sarah is the same.
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As long as ye do well] For you cannot maintain your relationship to her longer than ye believe; and ye cannot believe longer than ye continue to obey.
And are not afraid with any amazement.] It is difficult to extract any sense out of this clause. The original is not very easy; μηφοβουμεναιμηδεμιανπτοησις may be rendered, And not fearing with any terror. If ye do well, and act conscientiously your part as faithful wives, ye will at no time live under the distressing apprehension of being found out, or terrified at every appearance of the discovery of infidelities, or improper conduct. Being not guilty of these, you will not have occasion to fear detection. On this subject a learned man has quoted these words, which I have produced elsewhere, Eph 6:14: -
--------------- hic murus aheneus esto,
Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.
"Let this be my brazen wall, to be self-convicted of no
private delinquency, nor to change colour at being
charged with a fault."
Happy is the wife, and happy is the husband, who can conscientiously adopt the saying.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Even as Sara obeyed Abraham - Sarah was one…
Even as Sara obeyed Abraham - Sarah was one of the most distinguished of the wives of the patriarchs, and her case is referred to as furnishing one of the best illustrations of the duty to which the apostle refers. Nothing is said, in the brief records of her life, of any passion for outward adorning; much is said of her kindness to her husband, and her respect for him. Compare Gen 12:5; Gen 18:6.
Calling him Lord - See Gen 18:12. It was probably inferred from this instance, by the apostle, and not without reason, that Sarah habitually used this respectful appellation, acknowledging by it that he was her superior, and that he had a right to rule in his own house. The word lord has the elementary idea of ruling, and this is the sense here - that she acknowledged that he had a right to direct the affairs of his household, and that it was her duty to be in subjection to him as the head of the family. In what respects this is a duty, may be seen by consulting the notes at Eph 5:22. Among the Romans, it was quite common for wives to use the appellation lord, (dominus), when speaking of their husbands. The same custom also prevailed among the Greeks. See Grotius, in loc. This passage does not prove that the term lord should be the particular appellation by which Christian wives should address their husbands now, but it proves that there should be the same respect and deference which was implied by its use in patriarchal times. The welfare of society, and the happiness of individuals, are not diminished by showing proper respect for all classes of persons in the various relations of life.
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Whose daughters ye are - That is, you will be worthy to be regarded as her daughters, if you manifest the same spirit that she did. The margin here, as the Greek, is children. The sense is that if they demeaned themselves correctly in the relation of wives, it would be proper to look upon her as their mother, and to feel that they were not unworthy to be regarded as her daughters.
As long as ye do well - In respect to the particular matter under consideration.
And are not afraid with any amazement - This passage has been variously understood, Some have supposed that this is suggested as an argument to persuade them to do well, from the consideration that by so doing they would be preserved from those alarms and terrors which a contest with superior power might bring with it, and which would prove as injurious to their peace as to their character. Rosenmuller explains it, “If ye do well, terrified by no threats of unbelieving husbands, if they should undertake to compel you to deny the Christian faith.” Doddridge supposes that it means that they were to preserve their peace and fortitude in any time of danger, so as not to act out of character, through amazement or danger. Calvin, Benson, and Bloomfield understand it of that firmness and intrepidity of character which would be necessary to support their religious independence, when united with pagan husbands; meaning that they were not to be deterred from doing their duty by any threats or terrors, either of their unbelieving husbands, or of their enemies and persecutors. Dr. Clarke supposes that it means that if they did well, they would live under no dread of being detected in improprieties of life, or being found out in their infidelities to their husbands, as those must always be who are unfaithful to their marriage vows. The word rendered “amazement” ptonsis - does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It means terror, trepidation, fear; and the literal translation of the Greek is, “not fearing any fear.” It seems to me that the following may express the sense of the passage:
(1) There is undoubtedly an allusion to the character of Sarah, and the object of the apostle is to induce them to follow her example.
(2) The thing in Sarah which he would exhort them to imitate, was her pure and upright life, her faithful discharge of her duties as a woman fearing God. This she did constantly wherever she was, regardless of consequences. Among friends and strangers, at home and abroad, she was distinguished for doing well. Such was her character, such her fidelity to her husband and her God, such her firm integrity and benevolence, that she at all times lived to do good, and would have done it, unawed by terror, undeterred by threats, To whatever trial her piety was exposed, it bore the trial; and such was her strength of virtue, that it was certain her integrity would be firm by whatever consequences she might have been threatened for her adherence to her principles.
(3) They were to imitate her in this, and were thus to show that they were worthy to be regarded as her daughters. They were to do well; to be faithful to their husbands; to be firm in their principles; to adhere steadfastly to what was true and good, whatever trials they might pass through, however much they might be threatened with persecution, or however any might attempt to deter them from the performance of their duty. Thus, by a life of Christian fidelity, unawed by fear from any quarter, they would show that they were imbued with the same principles of unbending virtue which characterised the wife of the father of the faithful, and that they were not unworthy to be regarded as her daughters.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Sara--an example of faith.
Sara--an example of faith.
calling him lord-- (Gen 18:12).
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ye are--Greek, "ye have become": "children" of Abraham and Sara by faith, whereas ye were Gentile aliens from the covenant.
afraid with any amazement--Greek, "fluttering alarm," "consternation." Act well, and be not thrown into sudden panic, as weak females are apt to be, by any opposition from without. BENGEL translates, "Not afraid OF any fluttering terror coming from without" (Pe1 3:13-16). So the Septuagint, Pro 3:25 uses the same Greek word, which Peter probably refers to. Anger assails men; fear, women. You need fear no man in doing what is right: not thrown into fluttering agitation by any sudden outbreak of temper on the part of your unbelieving husbands, while you do well.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. even as Sara obeyed Abraham] The tense which…
6. even as Sara obeyed Abraham] The tense which St Peter uses would seem to imply a reference to some special instance of obedience, but, as the history of Genesis supplies no such instance in act, we are left to infer that he saw in her use of “my lord,” in speaking of her husband (Gen_18:12), a representative utterance that implied a sense of habitual subordination. It seems strange to refer to literature like that of the sixth satire of Juvenal in illustration of an Epistle of St Peter, but there can be no clearer evidence that the general corruption of the Empire had extended itself to the life of home, and that over and above the prevalence of adultery and divorce, the wives of Rome, and we may believe also, of the cities that followed in the wake of Rome, had well-nigh thrown aside all sense of the reverence which the Apostle looked on as essential to the holiness, and therefore the happiness, of married life.
whose daughters ye are] whose daughters ye became. If the words were addressed to women who were converts from heathenism, we might see in the words a suggestive parallel to those of St Paul, that Abraham was the father of “all them that believe though they be not circumcised” (Rom_4:11), that “they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal_3:7). Taking this view there would be a special interest in the fact that St Peter, the married Apostle, told the female converts from among the Gentiles that they were as truly daughters of Sarah as their husbands, if believing, were sons of Abraham. On the assumption which has been adopted throughout these notes, as on the whole the most probable, that the Epistle was really addressed, as it purports to be, to the Jews of the dispersion, the words have another significance. The daughters of Sarah according to the flesh are told that they only became truly her children when they reproduced her character. The words, on this view, present a striking parallelism to those in which St Paul speaks of Abraham as being “the father not of the circumcision only, as such, but of those who walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith” (Rom_4:12).
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as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement] The construction of the Greek sentence is not quite clear, and admits of being taken either (1) as in the English version, or (2) treating the words “as Sara obeyed.… whose daughters ye became” as a parenthesis, we may refer the words “doing well” to the “holy women” of 1Pe_3:5. On the whole (1) seems preferable. It may be questioned whether the words “so long as” rightly represent the force of the participle. If we adopt the rendering given above (“ye became”) that meaning is clearly inadmissible, and we have to see in the two participles the process by which Christian women became daughters by doing good and not being afraid. The word for “amazement” does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, but the cognate verb is found in Luk_21:9; Luk_24:37. The noun itself meets us in the LXX. of Pro_3:25. It implies the crouching, shuddering fear of one who is overwhelmed with terror. In warning the women to whom he writes against such a fear, St Peter seems to be guarding them against the unwisdom of rushing from one extreme to the other. The Christian wives of unbelieving husbands, whether Jews or heathens, might often have much to bear from them, but if they were always shewing their terror, cowering as if they expected the curse or the blow, that very demeanour was certain to make matters worse. It was a tacit reproach, and therefore would but irritate and annoy. Wisely therefore does the Apostle urge on them a different line of action. “Be certain,” he seems to say, “that you are doing what is right and good, and then go about the daily tasks of your household life with a cheerful intrepidity.” Two interpretations may be noticed only to be rejected, (1) that which takes the second clause as meaning “be not afraid of anything that causes terror,” and (2) that which renders it “doing good, even though you are not afraid,” as though stress were laid on their good conduct being spontaneous and not originating in fear.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Even as Sara.—A definite example of the general…
(6) Even as Sara.—A definite example of the general fact just alleged. St. Peter seems rather to have argued from what every one would feel must have been the case than from explicit records. Sara’s usual subjection is clearly seen in the one instance to which St. Peter refers (Gen_18:12), where Sara, though not addressing Abraham, but speaking to herself, calls him “my lord.” People show their usual habits of mind more freely in speaking to themselves.
Whose daughters ye are.—A very misleading version, following the Vulgate. What St. Peter says is, whose children ye became, or were made. There was a definite period in their past lives at which they came to be—what they were not before—children of Sara. Have we not here, therefore, a distinct proof that these readers of the Epistle were Gentiles and not Jewesses? Not so. The phrase, “which hoped in God,” pointing as it does to the coming of the Messiah, prepares us to understand how these Hebrew women became Sara’s children. It was only by entering into her hope and attaching themselves to Jesus Christ, for whose coming she had looked. St. Peter has already been insisting on the nothingness of the fleshly descent, the “corruptible seed.” As has been pointed out on 1Pe_1:24, this doctrine was not first taught by St. Paul, for St. Peter had heard it from the Baptist (Mat_3:9) and from our Lord Himself (Joh_8:39). Whether persons were naturally Jews or Gentiles, they could not be children of Abraham without voluntarily becoming so by embracing his principles—i.e., by becoming Christians. The participial clauses which follow will need no change of translation, for they express not the act or process by which these ladies became children of Sara, but the condition on which they would remain her children. A very similar passage occurs in Heb_3:14 : “We have become partakers of the Christ, if (for the future) we hold,” &c. (Comp. also 1Th_3:8; Heb_3:6.)
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Do well.—See 1Pe_2:12; 1Pe_2:15; 1Pe_2:20. The word means, of course, general good behaviour, especially in all wifely duties. As this is a condition of remaining Sara’s children, it is implied that it was a characteristic of Sara. Some critics would even put in a parenthesis all the words from “even as” to “ye are,” and attach these participles (as they are in the Greek) to the last clause in 1Pe_3:5, thus: “adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands (as Sara, for instance . . . whose daughters ye were made), doing well, and not being afraid,” &c. This is, however, somewhat cumbrous, and leaves the clause “whose daughters ye became” a little too bald.
Are not afraid with any amazement.—Though this translation is grammatically possible, it does not make such good sense as to translate, are not afraid of any alarm. It is, in fact, a quotation from or allusion to Pro_3:25, as Bengel points out, where “Be not afraid of sudden fear” is rendered in the LXX. by these same peculiar words. The “Wisdom” in that passage, which brings the calmness with it, is Christ, and it is Christ who must be understood in Pro_3:26 : “the Lord shall be thy confidence.” To be afraid of sudden alarms and panics argues a lack of trust in God’s providence and power, and would, therefore, be unbecoming the daughters of Sara, who “hoped in God.” The “alarms” which they naturally might fear are, of course, quite general, but especially here, we may suppose, dread of what their unbelieving husbands might do to them. (Comp. 1Pe_3:13 et seq.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. St.…
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 uJphkouen 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. terov.) Gen_18:12, oJ deriov mou presbu. Whose daughters ye are; literally, whose 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"; (Gal_3:7) anti that Abraham is "the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised"; (Rom_4:11) comp. Gal_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 ajgaqopiousai ("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 ver. 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" (ptohsiv) does not occur in any other place of the New Testament, though we meet with the corresponding verb in Luk_21:9 Luk_24:7. There seems to be a reference tohsin Pro_3:25, "Be not afraid of sudden fear" (kaish pto ejpelqousan), Ptshsiv is "dismay, scared terrified excitement," very different from the calm thoughtful fobov, 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 (ver. 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 Pro_3:25. The last view is, perhaps, the most suitable: "And are not afraid of any sudden terror."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 6. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. See…
6. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. See Gen. 18:12; also 1 Sam. 1:15. This designation showed respect and submission. Women should follow the example of Sarah, who might be designated as “the mother of those who are Abraham's children by faith.” Are not put in fear. The fear might result from not doing well. They were to be quiet, submissive, loving wives, but were not to be kept from Christian duty by “any fear” which might threaten because of their heathen surroundings.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:6 and called him her master: See Gen 18:12.…
3:6 and called him her master: See Gen 18:12. Peter views this address as indicative of Sarah’s overall attitude toward Abraham. • without fear of what your husbands might do: Christian wives married to unbelievers frequently found themselves pressured, both subtly and overtly, to abandon Christian principles and values. Peter urges them to continue to do what is right.
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