1st Peter Chapter 3 verse 13 Holy Bible
And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?
read chapter 3 in ASV
Who will do you any damage if you keep your minds fixed on what is good?
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And who shall injure you if ye have become imitators of that which [is] good?
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And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
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read chapter 3 in WBT
Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good?
read chapter 3 in WEB
and who `is' he who will be doing you evil, if of Him who is good ye may become imitators?
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - And who is he that will harm you? The apostle, as he began his quotation from Psalm 34, without marks of citation, so adds at once his inference from it in the form of a question. The conjunction "and" connects the question with the quotation. If God's eye is over the righteous, and his ear open to their prayers, who shall harm them? St. Peter does not mean - Who will have the heart to harm you? He knew the temper of Jews and heathens; he knew also the Savior's prophecies of coming persecution too well to say that. The words remind us of the Septuagint rendering of Isaiah 50:9, Κύριος βοηθήσει μοι τίς κακώσει με; None can do real harm to the Lord's people; they may persecute them, but he will make all things work together for their good. If ye be followers of that which is good; rather, if ye become zealous of that which is good, with the oldest manuscripts. The Authorized Version adopts the reading μιμηταί, followers or imitators, which is not so well supported. The genitive τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ admits the masculine translation, "of him that is good," but it is probably neuter in this place (comp. ver. 11). With the masculine rendering, comp. Acts 22:3, "and was zealous toward God (ζηλωτὴς ὑπάρχων τοῦ Θεοῦ)."
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) And who is he that shall harm you?--There is always a ring of scornful assurance in an interrogative introduced by "and:" "And who, pray?"If ye be followers.--Rather, if ye make yourselves zealots. The phrase looks on into the future; not merely "if at present ye be." And the word which means "follower" (i.e., imitator) is here a false reading for zelotes, the name by which St. Peter's lesser namesake among the Apostles was known, probably because of his enthusiastic attachment to the old or to the new Law. The same zelotes is found in Titus 2:14 and elsewhere. The translation, "of Him which is good," is perfectly possible, but does not quite so well suit the context. Some writers (Leighton among them) take the verse to mean, or at least to include, that when men see the goodness and loving-kindness of our lives they will not be disposed to hurt us. This thought is, however, foreign to the passage. It means that men and devils may try their worst, as they did on Christ, and cannot harm us.
