1. 1 Peter 3:2 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is the force of the word “respectful”?

1 Peter 3:2 (ESV)

2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

In English the words “respectful” and “pure” both function as adjectives modifying the noun “conduct.” In the Greek, however, the word “respectful” (literally, “with fear”) repeats the same words Peter had used in 1 Peter 2:18: “in all fear.” As in 1 Peter 2:18, where the fear was not directed to the master (afraid of him), so here the fear is not directed to the husband; it is directed instead to God, in the sense of awe, respect for him who brought the woman to rebirth and so made her an heir and now enroute to her inheritance gives her role as wife to an unborn/unbelieving husband. Such respect for God gives space to be less anxious about how the husband or the community might respond to her revised priorities.