1 Petrus 1:6

1:6 This brings you great joy, ¹  although you may have to suffer ²  for a short time in various trials.

1 Petrus 2:12

2:12 and maintain good conduct ³  among the non-Christians, ⁴  so that though ⁵  they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears. ⁶ 

1 Petrus 3:16

3:16 Yet do it with courtesy and respect, ⁷  keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. ⁸ 

1 Petrus 4:4

4:4 So ⁹  they are astonished ¹⁰  when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. ¹¹ 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Grk “in which you exult.”

[1:6]  ² tc ‡ The oldest and best witnesses lack the verb (א* B, along with 1505 pc), but most mss (Ì⁷² א² A C P Ψ 048 33 1739 Ï) have ἐστίν here (estin, “[if] it is [necessary]”). The verb looks to be an explanatory gloss. But if no verb is present, this opens up the time frame in the author’s mind even more, since the conditional particle for both the first class condition and the fourth class condition is εἰ (ei). That may well be what was on the author’s mind, as evidenced by some of his other allusions to suffering in this little letter (3:14, 17). NA²⁷ has the verb in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[1:6]  tn Grk “Though now, for a little while if necessary, you may have to suffer.”

[2:12]  ³ tn Grk “keeping your conduct good.”

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “in order that in what they malign you.”

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Or “when he visits.” Grk “in the day of visitation,” denoting a time when God intervenes directly in human affairs, either for blessing (Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16; 19:44) or for judgment (Isa 10:3; Jer 6:15). This phrase may be a quotation from Isa 10:3, in which case judgment is in view here. But blessing seems to be the point, since part of the motive for good behavior is winning the non-Christian over to the faith (as in 3:1; also apparently in 3:15; cf. Matt 5:16).

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “but with courtesy and respect,” continuing the command of v. 15. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “when you are spoken against.”

[4:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “in/by which,” referring to the change of behavior described in v. 3. The unbelievers are astonished by the readers’ moral transformation. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “are surprised, are taken aback.” The same verb occurs in 4:12.

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “blaspheming,” giving the result of their astonishment. Here the target of their “blasphemy/vilification” is not God but the Christian.