1 Peter 2:15

1 Peter 2:15. for so is the will of God, i.e the will of God is to the following effect (cf. Matthew 1:18, where the same word is rendered ‘on this wise ‘), namely, that by well doing ye silence the ignorance of the foolish men. The ‘well-doing,' which might mean doing deeds of kindness or mercy (Mark 3:4; Acts 14:17), has here the more general sense of rectitude or dutifulness of conduct. The verb ‘silence' means literally to muzzle, and might be rendered ‘gag.' But it has the secondary sense in its other New Testament occurrences, with the single exception of the two passages (1 Corinthians 9:9; 1 Timothy 5:18) in which the Old Testament prohibition of the muzzling of ‘the ox that treadeth out the corn' is quoted; and, therefore, that sense should be retained here. Those other occurrences are all of picturesque interest viz., Matthew 22:12; Matthew 22:34, in reference to the speechlessness of the man without the wedding garment, and the silencing of the Sadducees; Mark 1:25; Luke 4:35, of Christ's word to the unclean spirit, ‘Hold thy peace;' Mark 4:39, of Christ's word to the raging sea, ‘Be still.' The noun used for ‘ignorance here conveys the idea (which it also has in its only other New Testament occurrence, 1 Corinthians 15:34, and not unfrequently in the Classics) of wilful, habitual ignorance. There is a similar ethical sense in the ‘foolish,' which here (as in Luke 11:40; Luke 12:20) has the idea of culpable senselessness, which appears in such Old Testament passages as Psalms 14:1-2, and which is expressed by a different adjective in Romans 1:21. Peter's phrase, too, may mean not merely ‘of foolish men' generally (as the A. V. and R. V. both put it), but of ‘ the foolish men, with particular reference to those already mentioned as ‘speaking against them as evil-doers.' The fact, therefore, that it was God's purpose to make the good lives of His servants a means of silencing the oppositions of their enemies, was a further reason for proving themselves loyal citizens and submissive subjects.