1 Peter 2:18

18 Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, ^[a] not only to those who are good and gentle, but even to those who are unreasonable.

1 Peter 2:18 Meaning and Commentary

1 Peter 2:18

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 1 Corinthians 7:21 ) ( Ephesians 6:5 ) ( Colossians 3:22 ) ( 1 Timothy 6:1 ) ( 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, diligence in the discharge of their duty, and carefulness of offending them: and all this,

not only to the good and gentle;
those that are good natured, kind, beneficent, and merciful; that do not use them with rigour and severity; are moderate in their demands of service; require no more to be done than what is reasonable; allow them sufficient diet, give them good wages, and pay them duly:

but also to the froward;
the ill natured, morose, and rigorous; who exact more labour than is requisite; give hard words, and harder blows; withhold sufficiency of food from them, and keep back the hire of their labours.

1 Peter 2:18 In-Context

16 Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

17 Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

18 Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but even to those who are unreasonable.

19 For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.

20 How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or in all fear