1 Peter 3:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Flattery, falsehood, deceit, slander, and accusation do not contain truth, but are pleasing to the enemy of truth, that is, Satan, the father of lies. "He is a liar," says the Savior, "and did not stand in the truth" (Jn 8:44). The saints must reject his possessions and instead hold to what belongs to God, who is Truth.

To show that the instruction he draws is not false, he confirms it by pointing to David's words. He says: whoever loves life, that is, whoever transforms himself for true life and wishes to show it lovable, should hold firmly to what the prophetic word also proposes with me. For the expression "loves" indicates that he wishes to show it desirable to men.

The disciple of Christ said somewhere: "Whoever does not sin in word is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body" (Jas 3:2). For mastery over the tongue is a great thing, so that inability to govern it is undoubtedly a very grave illness.

The days to come are good. The present days are evil.

“For he who loves life,” and so forth. Here the ground for the preceding instructions is set forth, together with an impulse toward the manner of action indicated in them. This ground and impulse are indicated by the words of Old Testament Scripture. This had to have special force in the eyes of readers from among the Jews.

The words are cited almost with literal exactness from Psalm 33 (Ps 33:13-17), in which David blesses and glorifies the Lord.

“He who loves life,” and so forth. The reference is not to that destructive love of life against which the Lord warned (Mt 10:39; Mt 16:25 and parallels; Jn 12:25). It refers to love for a quiet life (1 Tim 2:2), peaceful and virtuous, as the following words show: “to see good days.”

Then comes a deliberate and rather extensive instruction to the oppressed Christian sojourners of Asia Minor on how they should conduct themselves in cases of attack and general hostility from pagans (1 Pet 3:9-13).

When the hateful feelings of pagans are expressed outwardly, for example in words, then “do not render evil for evil, or insult for insult. On the contrary, bless, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For he who loves life and wishes to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. And who is he who will harm you if you become zealous for what is good?”

From positive counsels the Apostle turns to prohibitions and commands Christians not to revile, but to bless, that is, to speak only good about people. “Bless those who curse you” (Mt 5:44; Lk 6:28), says Jesus Christ.

But the Apostle also cites the word of the Psalmist, showing that evil words disorder all of life, destroying peace and sowing evil; see Ps 33:13-17. Therefore, in the words of the Psalmist, he commands them to flee from evil and strive for peace; cf. Eph 2:14-15.