1 Peter 3:13

1 Peter 3:13. And who is he that will do you evil, if ye be zealous of that which is good? The counsels of 1 Peter 3:8-9 are yet again enforced by a still more pointed statement of the security of the righteous. This statement is attached to the immediately preceding thoughts, God's supervision of the evil as well as of the good being the guarantee that no real harm can be inflicted by the former on the latter. Its interrogative form adds also to its confidence. Compare not only the great succession of interrogatives in Romans 8:31-35, but such prophetic parallels as Isaiah 1:9, which latter may perhaps be in Peter's mind here. The verb rendered ‘harm' is interpreted by some (e.g. Schott) in the more specific sense of making one out to be an evil-doer. The point then would be that, however calumniated among men, they could not be made evil-doers in God's sight. The verb, however, usually means to do evil to one (Acts 7:6; Acts 7:19; Acts 12:1; Acts 18:10), and that with the strong sense of harsh, injurious treatment; and the idea, therefore, is that, however ungenerously dealt with, they shall yet sustain no real hurt; they shall still be in God's safe keeping, and the blessedness of the new life within them will make them superior to the malice and enmity of men. Instead of the ‘followers' (or, as it should rather be, ‘imitators') of the A. V., the best authorities read ‘zealots,' i.e ‘zealous,' or ‘emulous.' Some render it ‘followers of Him who is good,' but this is less likely.