"good" (in any sense · adjective — dative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
gentle
ἐπιεικέσιν,epieikesin
G1933
appropriate · adjective — dative plural masculine
but
ἀλλὰalla
G235
properly · conjunction
also
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
froward
σκολιοῖς.skoliois
G4646
warped · adjective — dative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Titus 2:9-10 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
Ephesians 6:5-7 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Ch…
Colossians 3:22-25 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing G…
1 Timothy 6:1-3 Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasph…
Proverbs 3:32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
Psalms 101:4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Peter 2:13–end
The general rule of a Christian conversation is this, it must be honest, which it cannot be if there be not a conscientious discharge of all relative duties. The apostle here particularly treats of these distinctly.
I. The case of subjects. Christians were not only reputed innovators in religion, but disturbers of the state; it was highly necessary, therefore, that the apostle should settle the rules and measures of obedience to the civil magistrate, which he does here, where,
1. The duty required is submission, which comprises loyalty and reverence to their persons, obedience to their just laws and commands, and subjection to legal penalties.
2. The persons or objects to whom this submissio…
Servants--Greek, "household servants": not here the Greek for "slaves." Probably including freedmen still remaining in their master's house. Masters were not commonly Christians: he therefore mentions only the duties of the servants. These were then often persecuted by their unbelieving masters. Peter's special object seems to be to teach them submission, whatever the character of the masters might be. Paul not having this as his prominent design, includes masters in his monitions.
be subject--Greek, "being subject": the participle expresses a particular instance of the general exhortation to good conduct, Pe1 2:11-12, of which the first particular precept is given Pe1 2:13, "Submit yourse…
Servants, be subject - See the notes on Eph 6:5; Col 3:22 (note); and Tit 2:9 (note).
With all fear - With all submission and reverence.
The good and gentle - Those who are ever just in their commands, never requiring more work than is necessary or proper, and always allowing sufficient food and sufficient time.
The froward - Σκολιοις· The crooked, perverse, unreasonable morose, and austere. Your time belongs to your master; obey him in every thing that is not sinful; if he employs you about unreasonable or foolish things, let him answer for it. He may waste your time, and thus play the fool with his own property; you can only fill up your time: let him assign the work; it is your duty to ob…
The Church Fathers
For as it is enjoined on them, "to be subject to their masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward," as Peter says; so fairness, and forbearance, and kindness, are what well becomes the masters.
The person who says that servants ought to obey their masters out of abject fear is mad and ought to be regarded as a dumb animal, for the fear which they ought to have is based on knowledge and reason and is properly known as respect. For the servant who fears his master for Christ's sake and because of his teaching will submit to him out of respect.… And there is another aspect to this, for Peter is also telling women to respect their husbands in godly fear, for that is fully consonant with the Holy Scriptures.
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle but also to the crooked, etc. He calls the crooked undisciplined, using a term derived from Greek speech. For in Greek, schola is called the place where young men usually devote themselves to literary studies and to listening to teachers; thus, schola is interpreted as leisure. Finally, in the psalm where we sing, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46), for that which we say "be still," the Greek has σχολάζετε. The learned in Greek are called scholars, and the unlearned and rustic are called uncultured. But he wishes the subjects to obey both, explaining more clearly how he commanded us to be subject to every human creature. Another translation has "difficult" for "crooked." And the holy bishop Fulgentius in his treatises puts it this way: "Serving with fear not only the good and gentle but also the harsher."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Example · 2:7,8; — 2:7,8;
Masters · Authority of, established — Authority of, established
Servants · Duties of, to masters: To be subject to them — Duties of, to masters: To be subject to them
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Servants, be subject to your masters,.... This was another notion of the Jews, that because they were the seed of Abraham, they ought not to be the servants of any; and particularly such as were believers in Christ thought they ought not to serve unbelieving masters, nor indeed believing ones, because they were equally brethren in Christ with them; hence the Apostle Peter, here, as the Apostle Paul frequently elsewhere, inculcates this duty of servants to their masters; see 1 Corinthians 7:20 2 Timothy 2:9 the manner in which they are to be subject to them is,
with all fear; with reverence to their persons, strict regard to their commands, faithfulness in any trust reposed in them, diligenc…
1 Peter 2:18-20
18. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
18. Famuli, subjecti sint cum omni timore dominis suis, non solum bonis et humanis, sed etiam pravis.
19. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience towards God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
19. Haec enim est gratia, si propter conscientiam Dei quispiam molestias ferat patiens injust?.
20. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
20. Qualis enim gloria, si quum peccantes alapis caedemini, suffertis? sed…
The slave was legally bound and could not change his or her master, whereas the modern employee has the right to stop working for a cruel employer. Of course, some employees may not be able to change their situation, in which case Peter’s advice to slaves is very applicable to employees today.
2:18 Many slaves in the Roman Empire held responsible positions and had a decent income, but most were harshly treated and all were deprived of legal status and rights. • with all respect (literally with all fear): Peter might be calling on slaves to fear God (see 2:17; cp. 1:17) or the master’s punishment, but he often speaks this way about the respectful attitude Christians must have toward others (…
