1 Peter 2:17

Honour all men The universality of the precept is not to be narrowed by any arbitrary restriction of its range to those to whom honour was due. St Peter had been taught of God "not to call any man common or unclean" (Acts 10:28). The fact that there were in every man traces of the image of God after which he had been created, and infinite undeveloped capacities which might issue in the restoration of that image to its original brightness, was in itself a reason for treating all, even the vilest and most degraded, with some measure of respect. It is obvious that the command is perfectly consistent with shewing degrees of honour according to the variations in men's character and position. It would almost seem as if the Apostle chose the most terse and epigrammatic form for these great laws of conduct that their very brevity might impress them indelibly on the minds of his readers.

Love the brotherhood In the Greek, as in the English, the abstract noun is used to express the collective unity made up of many individuals. Within the Christian society in which all were brothers, as being children of the same Father, there might well be a warmer feeling of affection than that which was felt for those who were outside it. If St Peter's rule seems at first somewhat narrower than that of Matthew 5:44 ("Love your enemies"), it may be remembered that the special love of the brethren does not shut out other forms and degrees of love, and that our Lord's words are therefore left in all their full force of obligation.

Fear God. Honour the king The king, as before, is the Emperor. The two verbs seem deliberately chosen to express the feelings of man's conduct in regard to divine and human authority. They are to fear God with the holy reverential awe of sons, with that fear which is "the beginning of wisdom" (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7). They are not to fear man more than God, however great may be the authority with which he is invested. St Paul's conduct before the high-priest, Felix, Festus and Agrippa (Acts 23-26.) may be noted as a practical illustration of St Peter's precept. We may, perhaps, trace in the juxtaposition of the two precepts a reproduction of the teaching of Proverbs 24:21.