1Pe 3:13, 4:14 | JFB | STEP | 13. who . . . will harm you —This fearless confidence in God's protection from harm, Christ, the Head, in His sufferings realized; so His members. if ye be — Greek, "if ye have become. " followers —The oldest manuscripts read "emulous," "zealous of" ( ). good —The contrast in Greek is, "Who will do you evil, if ye be zealous of good? "

1 Peter 3:13

13. who . . . will harm you—This fearless confidence in God's protection from harm, Christ, the Head, in His sufferings realized; so His members.

if ye be—Greek, "if ye have become."

followers—The oldest manuscripts read "emulous," "zealous of" (Tit 2:14).

good—The contrast in Greek is, "Who will do you evil, if ye be zealous of good?"

1 Peter 4:14

14. for—Greek, "IN the name of Christ," namely, as Christians (1Pe 4:16; 3:14, above); "in My name, because ye belong to Christ." The emphasis lies on this: 1Pe 4:15, "as a murderer, thief," &c., stands in contrast. Let your suffering be on account of Christ, not on account of evil-doing (1Pe 2:20).

reproached—Reproach affects noble minds more than loss of goods, or even bodily sufferings.

the spirit . . . upon you—the same Spirit as rested on Christ (Lu 4:18). "The Spirit of glory" is His Spirit, for He is the "Lord of glory" (Jas 2:1). Believers may well overcome the "reproach" (compare Heb 11:26), seeing that "the Spirit of glory" rests upon them, as upon Him. It cannot prevent the happiness of the righteous, if they are reproached for Christ, because they retain before God their glory entire, as having the Spirit, with whom glory is inseparably joined [CALVIN].

and of God—Greek, "and the (Spirit) of God"; implying that the Spirit of glory (which is Christ's Spirit) is at the same time also the Spirit of God.

on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified—omitted in the two oldest Greek manuscripts and Syriac and Coptic versions, but supported by one very old manuscript, Vulgate, Sahidic, CYPRIAN, &c. "Evil spoken of," literally, "blasphemed"; not merely do they "speak against you," as in 1Pe 3:16, but blasphemously mock Christ and Christianity itself.