The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 135

Bengel nnd others understand the fear of God; rather, who hoped in God (,ls 0,611); God. Ccrtnoinly the holy fear of God is the whose hope was set toward God and rested sphere in which trueCl.Jristio.ns must always !n God. ,?3engel says," Vera sanctitaa, apes live. But the close connection with the 1n Deum. St. Peter ia the apostle of hope. word" oho.ste" ( .,.1,., iv <t,o{J,p l..-yv¾w ilva.,,.,.po<f,'),v Adorned_ themselves, being in subjection oµ.wv), o.nd the parallel passage, Eph. v. 33 unto their own husbands. The apostle bids (in the Greek), make it probable tho.t the Christian women to consider the ,·xample of fear here inculcated is reverence for the the saintly women of the Old Tesfament. husband-an anxious avoidance of anything With their hope resting upon God, they that might even seem to interfere with his could not care tor finery and costly jewels. conjugal rights and authority. They adorned themselves with the mnre Ver. 3.-Whose adorning let it not be that costly ornament o_f a. meek and q niet spirit: outward adorning of plaiting the hair. A thef s~owed th~1r meekness by living in common Hebraism, like our Lord's injunc- subJect,on to their husbands. Submission to tion in John vi. 27, "Labour not for the authority is the key-note of this part of the JI\eat which perisheth, but for that meat Epistle. which endureth unto everlasting life." St. Y_er. 6,-;--Even e.s Sara obeyed Abraham, Peter does not forbid the moderate use of calling him lord. St. Peter singles ou~ ornaments, but asserts their utter wortl.Jless- Sarah, as the mother of the chosen people. ness compared with Christian graces. The She obayed her husband habitually (the ladies of the time seem often to have had imperfect orf,,cov,11 is the reading of some their hair dressed in a very fantastic and of the oldest manuscripts; the aorist, also extravagant manner. And of wearing of well supported, would represent her obedi- gold; rather, golden ornaments. Or of put- ence as a whole, the character of her life now ting on of apparel. This verse shows that, past); she called him lord (comp. Gen. although the mass of believers at this time xviii. 12, ,I al; ,c6p11,s µ.ov "'Pe<rf36.,..pos ). belonged to the poorer classes, yet there Whose daughters ye are; literally, 1chose must have been a proportion of persons of children ye became. This is another i ndica- rank and wealth among the Christians of tion th~t the J!]p!stle is addressed, not only Asia Minor (comp. l Tim. ii. 9: Rev. iii. to Jewish Christians, but also, and that in 17). large measure, to Gentile converts. Gentile Ver. 4.-But let it be the hidden man of women became by faith the dauo-hters of the heart. The "hidden " is here eq ui ve.- Sarah; just as we read in St. Paul'; Epktles lent to the "inward man" of Rom. vii. 22; that "they whioh a.re of faith, the same are 2 Cor. iv. 16: Eph. iii. 16. It is that life the children of Abraham" (Ge.I. iiL 7); and which is "hid with Christ in God" (Col. that Abraham is "the father of all them iii. 2), the life of Christ(" the Second Ma.n ") that believe, though they be not circum- in the heart, fashioning that heart after the cised" (Rom. iv. 11); comp. Ge.I. iv. 22-31, likeness of Christ, forming in it "the new where St. Pe.ul tells us that we, like Isaac, man which is renewed in knowledge after are the children of promise: children, "not the imo.ge of him that created him" (Col. of the bondwoman, but of the free." As long iii. 10). This is hidden: it does not display as ye do well This clanse represents one itself like those conspicuous ornaments men- Greek word m-ya9o,raoiiua, (" doing good"). tioned in the Inst verse. In that which is Some commentators regard the words from not oorruptible, e'\"en the ornament of e. meek "even as Sara" to "whose daughters ve and quiet spirit; literally, in the incorrup- e._r~" as a parenthesis, and refer the p,;r. ti"bility of the meel, and quiet spirit. This t1c1ple to "the holy women" mentioned in ornament is incorruptible; not like those ver. 5. This does not seem natural. It is corruptible things (comp. eh. i. 18). The better to regard the second half of this versa meek spirit does not flash in~o anger, docs as a continuous sentence, and to understand not answer age.in, takes harsh words gently the participle as meaning •• if ye do well." and humbly. 'l'he quiet spirit is calm and The doing well, eto., is a mark that Christian tranquil : peaceful in itself, it spreads peace women have become children of Sarah by a.round (comp. 1 Tim. ii. 2). Which is in faith. And are not afraid with any amaze- the eight of God of great price. The e.dj ec- ment. The Greek word for "amazement" ti ve 'froll.vnll.ls is used in Mark xiv. 3 of (-,,.,.&11u«) does not occur in any other place the ointment with which Mary anointed our of the New Testament, though we meet Lord, a.nd in 1 Tim. ii. 9 of the " array" with the corresponding verb in Luke xxi. 9; which St. Paul discourages for Christian xxiv. 37. There seems to be n. reference to women. Those adornments o.re costly in the Prov. iii. 25, •• Be not afraid of sudden fear" sight of the world: the meek nud quiet spirit (,ca.l ou q,ofJ119~<T"(I ir'l'OlJ<TIII ,-,,,Moiiua.v ). n.,.611- is precious in the sight of God. <T<S is "dismay, scared terrified excitement," Ver. 5.-For after this manner in the old very different from the calm tl1oughtful time the holy women also, who trusted in ,p6{Jos, the feltr lest they should fail in proper I. PETEU. K  130 THE l<'IRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PE'l'Elt [oH, m. 1-22.