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testify by good behaviour without word. St. Paul heard of some at Thessalonica, μηδὲν ἐργαζομένους ἀλλὰ περιεργαζο- µένους (2 Thess. iii, 11). Women gener- ally if unattached were prone to be not merely idle but meddlers speaking what they should not (1 Tim. v.13). SoSt. Peter (cf. Cor. x. 27) has emphasised the duty of all Christians—even of the wives of heathen husbands—to preach Christianity only by example and now deprecates their acquieScence in what some might reckon a title of honour. The fate of Socrates is the classical example of the suffering of such; and later one phil- osopher was scourged and another be- headed for denunciation of the alliance of Titus with Berenice (Dio Cassius, Ixvi. 15). Punishment of this offence would depend on the power of the other man concerned who, if not in authority, would naturally utilise mob-law like De- metrius (Acts xix.).
Ver. 16. εἰ δὲ Os χριστιαγὸς, if one suffers as a follower of Christ, in the name of Christ (14). See on Acts ix. 26 and Introduction.—p 7 αἰσχυνέ- σθω echoes the saying, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words of him also the Son of Man shall be ashamed when He cometh in the glory; so St. Paul says I suffer thus but am not ashamed (2 Tim. i. 12; cf. 8).--δοξα- Γέτω τὸν θεόν, by martyrdom if necessary, for this sense the phrase has ’ acquired already in John xxi. 19.—év τῷ ὀνόματι τούτῳ = Mark ix. qr.
Ver. 17. That Judgment begins at the House of God is a deduction from the vision of Ezek. ix. (cf. vii. 4, the καιρός has come); the slaughter of Israelites who are not marked with Tau, is οἵ- dained by the Glory of the God of Israel ; the Lord said, ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων pov ἄρξασθε and the men began at (ἀπό) the elders who were within in the house. The new Israel has precedence like the old even in condemnation ; cf. Rom. ii.
8 f., τοῖς . . « ἀπειθοῦσι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ .. . ὀργὴ ἐπὶ. . . ψυχὴν . . «᾿Ιουδαίου τε πρῶτον.- τῷ... εὐαγγελίωῳ, cf. Mark 1. 14. The Gospel or Word, which God spake in a Son, succeeds to the law as the expression of the will against which all but the remnant (Ez. l.c.) rebel.
Ver. 18. To the summary excerpt from Ezekiel Peter appends the Septu- agint version of Prov. xi. 31, which is followed by the Syriac and partially by the Targum: The original—according to the Masoretic text—is Behold or if the righteous will be punished on the earth : how much more the wicked and the sinner. The Greek, which probably re- presents asdifferent Hebrew text, is more apt to his purpose and to the teaching of Jesus, whith provoked the question, Who then can be saved (Mark x. 24-26).
Ver. το. So let even those who suffer in accordance with the will of God with a faithful Creator deposit their souls in well-doing. The Christian must still fol- low the pattern. It is God’s will that he share Christ’s sufferings in whatever degree; let him in this also copy Christ, who said, Father into thy hands I com- mit my spirit (Luke xxiii. 46 = Ps. xxxi. 6) and bade His disciples lose their souls that they might find them unto life eternal. With this teachiny Peter com- bines that of the Psalmist which is as- sumed by Jesus (Matt. vi. 25 ff.), fehovah knows His creature. He the God of