Godly Treatment of Wives - 1 Peter 3:7
Introduction:
Proposition: Husbands must treat their wives in a godly manner.
Interrogative: What is a does godly treatment look like?
I. Husbands engage their wives according to knowledge
A. Contextual considerations: Likewise
B. The general term, “knowledge”
The participle synoikountes should be understood as an imperative.171 Most English versions translate the verse so that husbands are exhorted to be considerate and kind in their relationship with their wives.172 Such a reading is not incorrect, but it shifts the focus slightly away from the meaning of the text. I understand the phrase “according to knowledge” (kata gnōsin), like “in fear” (literal translation) in 3:2 and “conscious of God” in 2:19, to refer to the relationship of husbands to God.173 Husbands, then, should live together with wives informed by the knowledge of God’s will, of what he demands them to do.174 The wife is described here as the “weaker vessel” (NASB; asthenesterō skeuei).175 The word “vessel” can also refer to men (Acts 9:15; cf. Rom 9:21–23),176 and the comparative form suggests that women are weaker than men.177 In what sense are women “weaker”? Nothing else in the New Testament suggests that women are intellectually inferior,178 nor is it clear that women are weaker emotionally, for in many ways the vulnerability of women in sharing their emotions and feelings demonstrates that they are more courageous and stronger than men emotionally. Nor did Peter suggest that women are weaker morally or spiritually than men.179 Such a view would suggest that men are actually better Christians than women, which is not taught elsewhere in the Scriptures, nor is it evident in history. The most obvious meaning, therefore, is that women are weaker than men in terms of sheer strength.180 Peter used the word for “female” or “woman” (gynaikeios) rather than “wife.”181 He directed attention to what is uniquely feminine about women, pointing husbands to the knowledge that God would require them to have of the female sex.
II. Husbands should honor their wives
A. The Concept of Honor
B. The Considerations (2)
that God is often pleased to give honour to those who are weaker or less honoured in the eyes of the world (cf. Matt. 5:3–12; 1 Cor. 1:26–30; 12:22–25; Jas 2:5; 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5). In
A husband who lives according to God’s requirement shows “respect” (timēn) for his wife (and by extension to all women).182 The reason he does so is that women are “heirs with you of the gracious gift of life,” showing that women are fundamentally equal with men.183 Bechtler says that the admonition to husbands to honor their wives is unique in Greco-Roman literature.184 The language of heirs points toward the eschatological gift (cf. 1:4; 3:9) that both men and women who believe will receive on the last day.185 Men should honor women because they share the same destiny—an eternal inheritance in God’s kingdom.186 Any suggestion that women will receive a lesser reward is repudiated. The “life” in the phrase “gift of life” should be understood eschatologically (cf. 3:10), referring to the life that will be ours in the coming age.187
III. Husbands should realize the connection between God and their wives.
Husbands who ignore such a command will find that their prayers are hindered, which means that God will refuse to answer their prayers. God does not bless with his favor those who are in positions of authority and abuse those who are under them by mistreating them.188 Perhaps this verse anticipates v. 12, where the Lord attends to the prayers of the righteous but turns away from those who practice evil.