The term the apostle uses here appears frequently in the Bible to describe the action of placing (oneself) under = submit. The point of the phrase is not in first instance to obey (though that may be the consequence of submission) but is to surrender one’s rights, liberties, and preferences. This instruction is striking in the present context because of the tension that clearly exists between defying an unbelieving husband’s religious choices and the wife’s own determination to serve the Lord. It is striking that Peter does not repeat the qualifications he mentioned in 1 Peter 2:18 concerning masters: “not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.” Yet the fact of the matter is that some of the husbands Peter has in view were undoubtedly “good and gentle” while others were “unjust.” Yet in each marriage Peter wants the wife to “be subject.” It is striking that Peter does not mention the phrase he’d used in 1 Peter 2:19, “mindful of God” (keeping your conscience pure before God). But the concept is clearly implied.
1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,