AS THEY OBSERVE: epopteusantes (AAPMPN): (1Pet 3:16; 1:15; 2:12; Php 1:27; 3:20; 1Ti 4:12; 2Pe 3:11) Observe (2029) (epoteuo from epoptes = an eyewitness, a supervisor, a beholder, an inspector, an onlooker. This means the husbands observe closely and intently (at least some do). Among the Greeks the word was used of those who had attained to the third grade, the highest, of the Eleusinian mysteries, a religious cult at Eleusis, with its worship, rites, festival and pilgrimages; this brotherhood was open to all Greeks) means to be a spectator, to be an overseer, to view carefully, to watch over a period of time. It means to to observe something, implying both continuity and intent. The unsaved watch the saved very carefully. Peter in the only other NT use of epoteuo exhorted his readers to Keep your behavior (one’s manner of life) excellent (Gk means lovely, winsome, gracious, noble) among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander (literally speak against, often involving speaking evil of or with a suggestion of being false and exaggerated) you as evildoers (early Christians were falsely accused of rebellion against the government with such false accusations as: terrorism - burning Rome, atheism - no idols or emperor worship, cannibalism - rumors about the Lord’s Supper, immorality - because of their love for one another, damaging trade and social progress, and leading slaves into insurrection), they may on account of your good deeds (click study on good deeds), as they observe (closely and intently - epoteuo) them (pagans are on the watch for slips in moral conduct by those Who Name Jesus as Lord and Savior), glorify (give a proper opinion of) God in the day of visitation (common phrase in OT warning of God’s “visitation” drawing near in either judgment or blessing and in NT speaks of redemption)." (see note 1 Peter 2:12). MacArthur explains that Peter was teaching that when the grace of God visits the heart of an unbeliever, he will respond with saving faith and glorify God because he remembers the testimony of believers he had observed. Those who don’t believe will experience the visitation of His wrath in the final judgment. (MacArthur, J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word or Logos) Almost inevitably we will be criticized and so we need to remember that unsaved husbands and others not saved are observing our conduct closely and intently. Application: Applying the truths just discussed, the question is "How would the unbelievers in your office, school, home, etc describe YOUR behavior?" YOUR CHASTE AND RESPECTFUL BEHAVIOR: ten en phobo hagnen anastrophen humon: (1Pet 3:5,6,15; Ep 5:33; 6:5; Col 3:22) Peter now describes a number of characteristics which describe this submission, descriptions of the behavior of the wife illustrating how she is to work out her submission. Chaste (53) (hagnos) means freedom from defilements or impurities. Hagnos describes what is morally undefiled and when used ceremonially describes that which has been so cleansed that it is fit to be brought into the presence of God and used in His service. Although hagnos refers primarily to that which is inwardly pure, this purity also affects a person’s conduct. Here it indicates the irreproachable conduct of the wife. Hagnos means free from admixture of evil, and is once applied to God, John writing that everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (hagnos) (1Jn 3:3) Hagnos is used 8 times in the NT in the NASB and is translated: chaste, 1; free from sin, 1; innocent, 1; pure, 5. 2 Corinthians 7:11 For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent (hagnos) in the matter. 2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure (chaste) virgin. Philippians 4:8 (note) Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. 1 Timothy 5:22 Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thus share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin (morally and ethically pure) Titus 2:5 (note) to be sensible, pure (chaste), workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored. James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 1 Peter 3:2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. 1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. In the Septuagint (LXX) hagnos is found 8 times (Lev. 23:40; Job 40:22; Ps. 12:6; 19:9; Prov. 15:26; 19:13; 20:9; 21:8) and often signifies ceremonial purification and/or moral and ethical purity. Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure (Hebrew = tahowr = pure, ceremonially clean as it referred to animals, ethically pure; Lxx = hagnos) words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. (See Spurgeon's Comment) Psalm 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean (pure) (Hebrew = tahowr = pure, ceremonially clean as it referred to animals, ethically pure; Lxx = hagnos), enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. (See Spurgeon's Comment) Proverbs 15:26 (KJV) The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure (Hebrew = tahowr = pure, ceremonially clean as it referred to animals, ethically pure; Lxx = hagnos) are pleasant words. Hagnos is always with a moral sense but is not limited to sins of the flesh, but covering purity in motives as well as in acts. In 2Co 11:2, of virgin purity. In James 3:17, as a characteristic of heavenly wisdom. Barclay (critique) emphasizing the secular origin and use writes that.... "hagnos and its root meaning is pure enough to approach the gods. At first it had only a ceremonial meaning and meant nothing more than that a man had gone through the right ritual cleansings. So, for instance, Euripides can make one of his characters say, “My hands are pure, but my heart is not.” At this stage hagnos describes ritual, but not necessarily moral, purity. But as time went on the word came to describe the moral purity which alone can approach the gods. On the Temple of Aesculapius at Epidaurus there was the inscription at the entrance: “He who would enter the divine temple must be pure (hagnos); and purity is to have a mind which thinks holy thoughts. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos) Chaste is defined by Webster as free from all taint of what is lewd or salacious and implies a refraining from acts or even thoughts or desires that are not virginal or not sanctioned by marriage vows. Hagnos refers to the irreproachable conduct of a godly wife. The believing wife must live with the conscious awareness and conviction that all life is lived in the presence of Christ. (Eph 5:21-note). Purity of life with reverence for God is what the unsaved husband should observe consistently. J H Jowett asks and then poetically answers... Where does the apostle begin in his portraiture of the ideal wife? “Chaste behaviour.” [1Pe 3:2] the first element in worthy womanhood is the wearing of the white robe. The spirit is perfectly clean. “The King’s daughter is all glorious within.” All her powers consort together like a white-robed angel-band. In every room of her life one can find the fair linen, “clean and white.” In the realm of the imagination her thoughts hover and brood like white doves. In the abode of motive her aspirations are as sweet and pure as the breathings of a little child. In the home of feeling, her affections are as incorruptible as rays of light. If you move among the powers of her speech, on the threshold of her lips you will find no stain, no footprint of “anything that defileth or worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.” In the inner life of the ideal woman, no unclean garment can be found, for everything wears the white robe. The spirit is “chaste.” But chasteness is more than cleanliness. The stone is not only white, it is chiseled into delicacy. Character is not left in the rough; it is refined into thoughtful finish. The substance is not only pure, it is worked into beauty. It is not only true in matter, it is consummated in exquisite manner. If the analogy of purified womanhood is to be found in the whiteness of the snow, its finish is to be found in the graceful curves and forms of the snowdrift. “Chaste behaviour” is just the refined purity of all the activities of the inner life. Refined purity is therefore the primary element in the ideal wife, and it is the first essential in human communion. There can be no vital communion where both the communicants are not clean. When dirt intrudes, fellowship is destroyed. Corruption is the antagonist of cohesion. “The wicked shall not stand.” (Ps 1:5) Their very uncleanness eats up the consistency and brings the structure to ruin. “When uncleanness breaks out in the family circle, the family cannot “stand.” If envy take up its abode, or jealousy, or any type of carnal desire, the fair and beautiful circle is broken. The great family of the redeemed, “the multitude whom no man can number,” are one in the wearing of the “white robe.” Their consistency and solidarity are found in their purity, and in the absence of all the alienating forces of uncleanness and defilement. It is not otherwise in the relationship of husband and wife. The wearing of the white robe is the primary essential to their communion. “Keep thy garments always white”! Does the ideal appear insuperable? Then let me proclaim another word: “They shall walk with Me in white!” That is not a command; the words enshrine a promise. “Walking with Me, they shall be white.” The whiteness is the result of the companionship. “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean.” (Ezek 36:25) The sprinkling is not a transitory act; it is a permanent shower (cp Ezek 36:26, 27). The forces of the cleansing Spirit are sprayed upon our powers just as the antiseptic is sprayed upon the exposed wound to ward off and destroy the subtle forces of contamination and defilement. To be a companion of the Lord is to have the assurance of purity. “The fear of the Lord is clean.” (Ps 19:9) (Epistles of St. Peter - J H Jowett) Respectful (5401) (phobos) literally means fear but in context conveys the meanings of honoring or reverencing her husband. Phobos reflects her attitude toward her husband that parallels her attitude toward God’s will. The Amplified Version describes the wife's reverence for her husband as follows... "...you are to feel for him all that reverence includes: to respect, defer to, revere him—to honor, esteem, appreciate, prize, and, in the human sense, to adore him, that is, to admire, praise, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy your husband." George Müller told of a wealthy German whose wife was a devout believer. This man was a heavy drinker, spending late nights in the tavern. She would send the servants to bed, stay up till he returned, receive him kindly, and never scold him or complain. At times she would even have to undress him and put him to bed. One night in the tavern he said to his cronies, “I bet if we go to my house, my wife will be sitting up, waiting for me. She’ll come to the door, give us a royal welcome, and even make supper for us, if I ask her.” They were skeptical at first, but decided to go along and see. Sure enough, she came to the door, received them courteously, and willingly agreed to make supper for them without the slightest trace of resentment. After serving them, she went off to her room. As soon as she had left, one of the men began to condemn the husband. “ What kind of a man are you to treat such a good woman so miserably?” The accuser got up without finishing his supper and left the house. Another did the same and another till they had all departed without eating the meal. Within a half hour, the husband became deeply convicted of his wickedness, and especially of his heartless treatment of his wife. He went to his wife’s room, asked her to pray for him, repented of his sins, and surrendered to Christ. From that time on, he became a devoted disciple of the Lord Jesus. Won without a word! George Müller advised: Dearly beloved, don’t be discouraged if you have to suffer from unconverted relatives. Perhaps very shortly the Lord may give you the desire of your heart, and answer your prayer for them. But in the meantime, seek to commend the truth, not by reproaching them on account of their behavior toward you, but by manifesting toward them the meekness, gentleness and kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:3 Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; (NASB: Lockman) Greek: on esto (3SPAM) ouch o exothen emplokes trichon kai peritheseos chrusion e enduseos himation kosmos, Amplified: Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] p interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; (Amplified Bible - Lockman) NLT: Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes (NLT - Tyndale House) Phillips: Your beauty should not be dependent on an elaborate coiffure, or on the wearing of jewellery or fine clothes, (Phillips: Touchstone) Wuest: let your adornment not be that adornment which is from without and merely external, namely, an elaborate gathering of the hair into knots, and a lavish display of gold ornaments, or the donning of apparel, (Eerdmans) Young's Literal: whose adorning -- let it not be that which is outward, of plaiting of hair, and of putting around of things of gold, or of putting on of garments, YOUR ADORNMENT MUST NOT BE MERELY EXTERNAL: on esto (3SPAM) ouch o exothen: (1Ti 2:9,10; Titus 2:3-15; Ro 12:2)