Ver. 4. Yours be the secret man of the heart not the outward ornament. A better antithesis and a pretty paradox would be
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ἐν τῶ ἀφθάρτῶ τοῦ
5 ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θῦ πολυ γυναῖκες
6 σόµεναι τοῖς c A , > a Αβραὰμ κύριον αὐτὸν
7 θοποιοῦ
ἠσυχίου καὶ πραέως τελές. at ἐλπίζουσαι eis OF ἰδίοις ἀνδράσιν: ὡς καλοῦσα. σαι, καὶ μὴ φοβούμε
πνεύματος ὅ ἐστι» 4 ΔΝ c a
οὕτως ydp πο TE καὶ al ἅγιαι
ἐκόσμουν ἑαυτὰς ὁ ποτασ- Σάρρα ὑπήκουεν τῶ
Hs ἐγενήθη
ναι µηδεµίαν πτόησι.
τε τέκνα, dya-
1 ἄνδρες
1 πτῶσιν for πτόησιν illustrates the danger of cursive writing, in which the liga- ture of two letters is apt to alter the normal shape of one or both.
secured by supplying ἄνθρωπος with 6 ἔξωθεν and taking κ. as predicate: your ornament be cf. οὕτως ἐκόσμουν ἑαυτάς (ver. 5). But the order in ver. 3 is against this and a Greek reader would naturally think of the other sense of k. = world universe and remember that man is a microcosm and “the universe the greatest and most perfect man” (Philo, p- 471 M.).—6 κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος, the hidden man that is the heart (or which belongs to the heart) is the equivalent of the Pauline inner man (Rom. vii. 22), z.e., Mind as contrasted with the outward man, i.e., flesh (Rom. l.c., cf. 2 Cor. iv. 16). St. Peter employs the terms used in the Sermon on the Mount; cf. St. Paul’s 6 ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος απά περιτομὴ καρδίας, Rom. ii. 20.--ἐν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ, clothed in the incorruptible thing (or ornament, sc. κό- σμφ) contrasted with corruptible goldens ; cf. Jas. ii. 2, ἀνὴρ .. . ἐν ἐσθῆτι λαμπρά.- τοῦ . .. πνεύματος, namely, the meek and quiet spirit. The adjectives are perhaps derived from the version of Isa. Ixvi. 2, known to Clement of Rome (Ep. i. xiii. 4) ἐ ἐπὶ iva ἐπιβλέψω ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ἐπὶ τὸν πραὺν καὶ ἠσύχιον καὶ τρέµοντά μου τὰ λόγια. Jesus professed Himself, πραὺς καὶ ταπεινὸς Th καρδίᾳ. For πνεύματος compare πνεῦμα ἅγι- ωσύνης, Ῥοπῃ. Ἱ.4. In Rom. ii. 29, mv. is coupled with heart as contrasted with ες] and outwardness. 6 which spirit or the posssesion of which reference.— πολυτελές suggests use of conception of Wisdom which is precious above rubies (Prov. iii. 15, etc.); cf. Jas. i. 21, iii, 13, ἐν πρφύτητι σοφίας and description of the wisdom from above, ib. 17.
Ver. 5. ποτε refers vaguely to Ο.Τ. history as ρατί οἱ αἳ .. . θεόν. Refer- ences to the holy women of the Ο.Τ. are rare in N.T. and this appeal to their ex- ample illustrates the affinity of Peter to Heb. (xi. 11, 35). Hannah is the ob- viously appropriate type (cf. Luke i. with 2 Sam. 1 f.); but Peter is thinking of the traditional idealisation of Sarah.
Ver. 6. ὡς... καλουσα. | ‘The only evidence that can be adduced from the Ο.Τ. narrative is Savah laughed with- in herself and said... “ but my lord is old” (Gen. xviii. 12). The phrase, if pressed, implies a nominal subjection as of a slave to her lord, but the context at any rate excludes any hope in God. Philo, who starts with the assumption that Sarah is Virtue, evades the difficulty; her laughter was the expression of her joy, she denied it for fear of usurping God’s prerogative of laughter (de Abr., ii. Ῥ. 30 M). The Rabbinic commentaries dwell upon the title accorded to Abraham and draw the same inference as Peter ; but there are also traces of a tendency to exalt Sarah “the princess’ as superior to her husband in the gift of prophecy, which St. Peter may wish to correct (as St. James corrects the exaggerated re- spect paid to Elijah, ]α5.ν. τ7).--ἧἦς ... τέκνα. Christian women became chil- dren of Sarah who is Virtue or Wisdom (Philo) just as men became children of Abraham. But the fact that they were Christians is still in the background; the essential point is that they must do the works traditionally ascribed to Sarah (cf. Rom. iv.; John viii.) and so justify their technical parentage, whether natural or acquired. Oec. compares Isa. li. 2, Sarah your mother.—aya8Somorovaat, the present participle emphasises the need for continuance of the behaviour appro- priate to children of Sarah—pah... πτόησιν, from Prov. iii. 25, LXX. Peter regards Sarah’s falsehood (Gen. /.c.) as the yielding to a sudden terror for which she was rebuked by God. Fear- lessness then is part of the character which is set before them for imitation and it is the result of obedience to the voice of Wisdom. Rabbinic exegesis as sociates the ideas of ornament with the promised child and that of peace between husband and wife with the whole incident.