1 Peter 3:1

King James Version (KJV)

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

Translations

1 Peter 3:1 - Amplified Bible

IN LIKE manner, you married women, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate yourselves as being secondary to and dependent on them, and adapt yourselves to them], so that even if any do not obey the Word [of God], they may be won over not by discussion but by the [godly] lives of their wives,

1 Peter 3:1 - American Standard Version

In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your won husbands; that, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives;

1 Peter 3:1 - Bible in Basic English

Wives, be ruled by your husbands; so that even if some of them give no attention to the word, their hearts may be changed by the behaviour of their wives,

1 Peter 3:1 - Darby Bible

Likewise, wives, [be] subject to your own husbands, that, even if any are disobedient to the word, they may be gained without [the] word by the conversation of the wives,

1 Peter 3:1 - English Standard Version

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

1 Peter 3:1 - King James Version

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

1 Peter 3:1 - La Biblia de las Americas

Asimismo vosotras, mujeres, estad sujetas a vuestros maridos, de modo que si algunos de ellos son desobedientes a la palabra, puedan ser ganados sin palabra alguna por la conducta de sus mujeres

1 Peter 3:1 - The Message

The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.

1 Peter 3:1 - New American Standard Bible

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any {of them} are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,

1 Peter 3:1 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy

Asimismo ustedes, mujeres, estén sujetas a sus maridos, de modo que si algunos de ellos son desobedientes a la palabra, puedan ser ganados sin palabra alguna por la conducta de sus mujeres

1 Peter 3:1 - World English Bible

In like manner, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don`t obey the Word, they may be gained by the behavior of their wives without a word;

1 Peter 3:1 - Young's Living Translation

In like manner, the wives, be ye subject to your own husbands, that even if certain are disobedient to the word, through the conversation of the wives, without the word, they may be won,

1 Peter 3:1 - Additional Comments

Note that this verse follows verses discussing how we are to submit to those in authority (vss 2:13-18).
See also Eph 5:21-33, Col 3:18. One thing is very clear and indisputable - God wants wives to be submissive to their husbands. Joshua 24:15 says to choose this day who you will serve. If you want to follow God's will, the question becomes not whether to submit, but to discover what submit means, and to try to do it. Otherwise, you are outside of God's will. This is no different than any other command of God. If a wife isn't submissive to her husband, she isn't submissive to God. Going against God is sin, and sin is evil, which has its consequences (see verse 12!).
" "submit" is translated from a Greek military term meaning "to fall in rank under the authority of another ... to subject oneself for the purpose of obeying or pleasing another."
" "Likewise" means submission here is in a similar fashion (although with differences) to submission to governments (2:13-17), slaves to masters (2:18-20), Jesus to God's will (2:21-25), and Christians in an unchristian society (3:13-17).
What submission isn't:
" Submission doesn't mean agreeing with everything your husband says
" Submission does not mean leaving your brain at the wedding altar.
" Submission doesn't mean avoiding all effort to change your husband
" Submission doesn't mean putting the will of your husband before the will of Christ
" Submission does not mean that a wife gets her personal and spiritual strength from her husband
" Submission doesn't have to do with the wife being inferior to her husband
What submission is:
" It is a voluntary unselfishness, a willing and cooperative spirit that seeks the highest good for one's husband.
*** Submission is not conditional on the behavior of the husband. A wife's godly behavior should not be dependent on how the husband acts.
A wife needs to remember, she can only change her behavior. It is God's job to change her husband. This takes a burden off the wife because, as most women can attest, the more a wife tries to change her husband by badgering or preaching at him, the worse he usually gets. Why? Because when a woman does that, she is messing with the one thing a man will not compromise on, which is his ego. A man will let his wife mess with a lot of stuff in his life, but not his ego. (That's not good, but true!)
The word hupotasso (submit to, be subject to), does not mean something like be thoughtful and considerate; act in love (toward another), without any sense of obedience to an authority. This is not a legitimate meaning for the term, which always implies a relationship of submission to an authority. It is used elsewhere in the New Testament of:
" the submission of Jesus to the authority of His parents (Luke 2:51)
" of demons being subject to the disciples (Luke 10:17-clearly the meaning act in love, be considerate cannot fit here)
" of citizens being subject to governing authorities (Romans 13:1, 5; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13)
" of the universe being subject to Christ (1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22)
" of unseen spiritual powers being subject to Christ (1 Peter 3:22)
" of Christ being subject to God the Father (1 Corinthians 15:28)
" of church members being subject to church leaders (1 Corinthians 16:15-16 [with 1 Clement 42:4]; 1 Peter 5:5)
" of wives being subject to their husbands (Colossians 3:18; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 3:5; cf. Ephesians 5:22-24)
" of the church being subject to Christ (Ephesians 5:24)
" of servants being subject to their masters (Titus 2:9; 1 Peter 2:18)
" of Christians being subject to God (Hebrews 12:9; James 4:7)
Note that none of these relationships is ever reverse. The husband is not to submit to the wife as an authority (yet he should as a believer -- Eph 5:21).
In fact, the term is used outside the New Testament to describe the submission and obedience of soldiers in an army to those of superior rank (Josephus).
Listen to Elizabeth Rice Handford's words from Me? Obey Him?
"When women ask me this question ("what if a husband tells his wife to do something that is wrong? Does the Bible demand her obedience in an instance like that?"), I counter with two of my own:
(1) Have you been living in daily obedience to your husband as part of your wholehearted, loving submission to God?
(2) Has your husband ever actually commanded you to do something wrong?
In the hundreds of times I have asked these questions, not once, if my memory is right, has a woman answered, "Yes, I am always obedient, and yet my husband has required me to break one of God's laws." When a woman takes God at His Word, submits to her husband without reservation, fears God and loves Him, then God takes upon Himself the responsibility to see that a woman does not have to sin! . . . How blessed is the woman who will take God at His Word, believe Him, obey Him, and leave the consequences to Him!"

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