1st Peter Chapter 2 verse 20 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 20. - For what glory is it? The word translated "glory" (κλέος), common in Greek poetry, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, first, "rumor, report;" then "fame, renown." If, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently; literally, if sinning and being buffeted. The word translated "buffeted" (κολαφιζόμενοι), used by St. Matthew and St. Mark in describing our Savior's sufferings, has a figurative meaning in 1 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 12:7. It is probably used literally here; blows were a common occurrence in the life of slaves. To be patient when suffering deserved punishment is often difficult, but it is no more than a simple duty; it would not be for the glory of religion. Christian slaves ought to do their duty to their masters, and not deserve punishment. But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently; literally, but if doing well, and suffering. The words "for it" are not in the Greek. This is acceptable with God. If we read "for" (τοῦτο γὰρ), with some of the best manuscripts, we must supply "there is glory" after the last clause. "It, doing well and suffering, ye take it patiently, there is glory (κλέος), for this is thank-worthy (χάρις) with God." Such conduct will bring honor to Christianity, for it is thankworthy even in the sight of God. When Christian men and women took cruel sufferings patiently and joyfully, as the apostles did (Acts 5:41; Acts 16:25), that was more than a mere recognized duty - that showed the power of Christian motives, that brought glory to Christianity, and was held to be thankworthy (such is God's gracious condescension) even in the sight of God. The word for "acceptable" here is that translated "thankworthy" in ver. 19, where see note.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(20) For what glory is it.--A poetical and pagan-sounding word, not elsewhere found in the New Testament; in the Old Testament it corresponds to the word "fame," in Job 28:22. The sense may be said to be slightly humorous. "If you make a blunder" (such is the meaning of "fault" here--it might include such things as the breaking of dishes), "and receive a buffet for it" (or a box on the ear--a common punishment of slaves for trifling faults), "and bear it with fortitude" (the meekness of patience has no place in the word), "do you expect to be made the subject of an heroic or dithyrambic poem, to have your name resounded through the world and immortalised among posterity?" The "for" at the beginning of the clause explains why the writer added "suffering wrongfully" at the end of the last.When ye do well, and suffer for it.--It is a pity that the translators have limited St. Peter's meaning by the insertion of the last two words. It is unnecessary to understand the suffering to be directly provoked by the well-doing. It would have done just as well to say, "when ye do well, and yet are ill-treated." The "froward" master makes his servants suffer without thinking what he makes them suffer for.This is acceptable with God.--Timidity about St. Peter's theology has caused a difference between the rendering of the same word in two consecutive verses. It should be translated "thankworthy" here as well as above, and must be taken in precisely the same sense. Observe that the Apostle does not continue, "this is glory," as we might have expected; a Christian is not supposed to care for such trash as fame. But a Christian may well care to win the thanks of God! And such endurance of griefs for God's sake is now distinctly said to be "thankworthy with God"--i.e., from God's point of view. See 2Thessalonians 1:6, where, as here, it is assumed that the moral law is identical for God and for us, and that His principles and impulses of action are the same as those which He has implanted in us. "He will thank a man for it," says Archbishop Leighton, not a divine to favour the doctrine of human merit, but too honest a scholar to shrink from the meaning of words. Many things are strictly duty, and yet we do not expect to find them done, and are proportionably grateful when we see that they are done. And shall we, for the sake of a doctrinal thesis like that, "that man can deserve nothing at the hand of God," deny to God the possibility of enjoying one of the happiest exercises of love, the sense of gratitude?