
I wonder if we have it backwards. I wonder if we’ve made a mistake. By “we”, I mean the church. By “we” I mean church tradition. By “we” I mean the traditional way we’ve interpreted 1 Peter 3:7. By “we” I mean most commentators who’ve commented on 1 Peter 3:7. I mean “we” in a collective sense. By “we” I also mean me, as I’ve accepted the traditional view of this passage without questioning what I’ve heard. Peter writes:
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:7)
The traditional interpretation of this passage goes something like this: husbands need to remember that since their wives (and women in general) are weaker than they are, they need to be nice to them and show them honor. But I don’t think that’s what Peter means and in fact, I think that interpretation falls under its own weight in light of the context here. The context goes all the way back to chapter two:
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