1 Peter 3:12

“Finally” translates télos de. Télos is the word for an end, a result or a purpose, and the small particle de, often left untranslated, marks a step to something new. Together they mark the closing summary of the practical teaching that began with servants in 1 Peter 2:18–25 and went on to wives and husbands in 1 Peter 3:1–7. Those instructions were for people in particular places in a household. This verse is for “all”, whatever their standing or their place in a family, and it gathers the earlier calls to humility and love into one appeal to the whole church. From the next verse the letter turns toward suffering for doing right, a theme that runs through 1 Peter 3:9–17.

Peter wrote to believers scattered through the Roman provinces of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey: Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1). Many of them were Gentiles who had recently come to Christ. They were slandered, pushed to the edges of their towns and misunderstood, and some may already have faced persecution from the authorities. The empire allowed many religions, but it looked on Christians with suspicion because they confessed Christ alone and would take no part in the worship of the emperor. Peter has reminded them who they are, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9), and a people like that, under pressure from outside, holds together by the way its members treat one another. The five things Peter names here also ran against a society that prized status, honour and power.

Peter names two kinds of wrong. “Evil”, kakos, is anything bad or evil, and the word also covers what is harsh or harmful, so “evil for evil” means paying back harm with harm. “Railing”, loidoria, is abusive language: reviling, insults and slander meant to demean or provoke. By naming both, Peter shows that the believer’s refusal to retaliate covers words as well as deeds. Among the Greeks and Romans, honour and shame counted for a great deal, and paying back an insult was expected as a way to protect one’s name. Peter asks his readers to break that cycle in both its forms.

“Contrariwise” is tounantíon, a contraction meaning “on the contrary”. Peter points his readers in the opposite direction from the wrong done to them. The word for “blessing”, eulogía, comes from a compound meaning “to speak well of”, and it can mean fine speaking, praise or commendation. The related verb means to praise, to speak well of and to bless, and when it means asking God’s favour on someone the words themselves are a benefit to that person. So to bless those who wrong us is to speak well of them, to pray for them, to ask God’s favour on them and to seek their good.

This is the teaching of Jesus, who said, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), and “Bless them that curse you” (Luke 6:28). It is the way of God himself, “for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Paul writes the same command in Romans 12:17–21, and Proverbs already taught it: “Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee” (Proverbs 20:22). Choosing blessing is an act of faith that leaves justice to God.

This is hard, because every instinct of our fallen nature runs toward self-defence and getting even, and many cultures praise standing up for oneself with force. Blessing an enemy takes humility, self-control and a love that only the Holy Spirit gives. It means giving up the right to retaliate and trusting God to judge, which humbles our pride. It is the way Christ walked, “who, when he was reviled, reviled not again” (1 Peter 2:23).

Verses 10 to 12 quote David’s words in Psalm 34:12–16: verse 10 gives Psalm 34:12–13, verse 11 gives Psalm 34:14, and verse 12 gives Psalm 34:15–16. The word “For” at the start of verse 10 shows that the psalm is Peter’s reason for everything he has just asked. Psalm 34 is a psalm of deliverance that speaks of the blessings that come to those who fear the LORD, and Peter uses it to show that God’s way to a blessed life has always been the same. His readers were suffering, and the psalm assured them that living rightly, even at a cost, is the path to a good life under God’s favour, rooted in his eternal wisdom.

“He that will love life” joins two verbs, thélō, “to will” or wish, and agapáō, “to love”. A person who wants life in this way chooses it and goes after it, seeking a life that is truly good and blessed. The word for life, zōḗ, is used for ordinary natural life and also for the life of God’s kingdom and eternal life, and both are close at hand here, the present life and the life to come.

Verse 11 gives four commands in two pairs. “Eschew evil” is ekklínō, to turn aside, to deviate, to shun. It is a deliberate turning of one’s back on wrongdoing. “Do good” (poiéō with agathós) is its partner: deeds of kindness, justice, compassion and service. The godly life has both sides, turning from sin and putting on Christ-like character and action, and Peter has already told his readers why: “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15–16).

The second pair is about peace. “Seek” is zētéō, to search for something in earnest. “Peace” is eirḗnē, a word traced to a root meaning “to join”, and it covers harmony, well-being and wholeness, a right relationship with God and with others, like the Hebrew shalom. “Ensue” is diṓkō, to pursue, chase or follow after, the same word that can mean “to persecute”. Here it is used for good, and it makes “seek” stronger. Peace often runs away from us, so we are to chase it down, again and again, and keep at it when it is hard. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9), and Paul wrote, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18).

In a society full of factions, believers who did good and pursued peace could quiet their critics and answer false charges, and some who watched their good works might come to glorify God (1 Peter 2:12).

Verse 12 closes the quotation with the reason it all holds. “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous” means that God sees his people and watches over them with care. Their struggles and their faithfulness are known to him, which is why Peter can later tell them to cast all their care on him (1 Peter 5:7). “His ears are open unto their prayers” means that he listens and is ready to act. The word for prayers, déēsis, comes from deomai, to beg or ask, and it means a petition, an earnest request. Scripture shows God hearing his people from the earliest days, as when Abraham pleaded for Sodom (Genesis 18:22–33). “The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29), and “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

“The face of the Lord is against them that do evil” is an Old Testament way of speaking, taken straight from the psalm, for God setting himself in opposition. Those who keep on doing evil (kakós) lose his favour and face his judgment, whether through his discipline in this life or in the final judgment (Romans 2:5–9). Eyes, ears and face are human terms, and God uses them so that we can understand his care and his justice.

The verse is both comfort and warning. To believers suffering for what is right, it says that God sees them, hears them and will vindicate them, and that they can leave vengeance to him: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). It also warns anyone tempted to abandon the faith or do wrong to escape persecution. This is why the way of blessing in verse 9 is safe. The one who refuses to pay back evil has God watching over him and God’s justice on his side.

Every part of these verses is seen perfectly in Jesus. He was one with the Father (John 10:30) and humbled himself to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5–8). He felt the sorrows of others and wept with those who mourned (John 11:35), and he was moved with compassion for the crowds (Matthew 9:36). He called his disciples friends and family (John 15:15, Matthew 12:50) and told them, “love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). He was tender-hearted to the end, praying for those who crucified him, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

He is the great example of blessing for railing. “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). His lips were free of guile, and he spoke what the Father gave him to speak (John 12:49). He lived without sin (Hebrews 4:15) and “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). He is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), and he pursued peace to the uttermost, making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20). He is the Righteous One over whom the Father’s eyes rested and whose prayers were always heard (John 11:41–42), and he still lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). At the cross he was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and bore God’s judgment against sin, and there he triumphed over the powers of evil (Colossians 2:15).

So these commands are a call to be made like Christ (Romans 8:29). Believers are in Christ and are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17), and his Spirit grows in them the fruit these verses describe (Galatians 5:22–23). We look to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2), whose words “are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

These verses reach every place where we are wronged: at home, at work, in church and online. When someone insults us, the call is to break the cycle, to speak with grace, to pray for that person and to look for ways to do them good. That is an active choice made in the Spirit’s strength, and we make it trusting that God sees and will judge rightly.

The verses also ask us to watch our own words: to pause before speaking, to weigh our motives, to drop the cutting remark and the half-truth, and to choose words that build up. Pursuing peace may mean being the first to reach out to someone we are at odds with, even when it costs us something.

And they give us a reason to pray with confidence. The Lord’s eyes are on his people and his ears are open to their prayers, so we can bring every injustice and every need to him, and we can bless those who curse us knowing that the blessing we will inherit is far greater than any satisfaction revenge could bring.