What Does 1 Peter 3:10 Mean?

(10) **For.**—St. Peter will show that he is not going beyond his book when he says that the blessing is only to be obtained by those who bless. **He that will love life.**—The “will” here is not merely the future tense, but “he that hath a mind to love life.” St. Peter’s quotation, from Psalm 34:12-16, is not exact, according to either Septuagint or Hebrew, but the divergence is probably not due to a confusion of memory, but (as often) designed to bring out an additional significance. The Psalmist had asked merely, “What man is he that lusteth to *live*?” and he promises merely long life to self-restraint. The Apostle asks, Who cares to have a life *worth having, *a life which makes a man *glad to live?* This is the “blessing” spoken of in 1Peter 3:9—not simply everlasting life, but a life of unruffled happiness. (Comp. Psalm 133:3.) This healthy enjoyment of life, the opposite of a morbid craving for death (see Ecclesiastes 2:17), is implied to be competent for any person to attain who “wills.” “Serene will be our days, and bright, And happy will our nature be, When love is an unerring light, And joy its own security.” **See good days.**—“See” in the same sense as—*e.g., *Psalm 27:13; John 3:3; Hebrews 11:5—for to “experience”—consciously to enjoy or to suffer, as the case may be. **Let him refrain.**—Literally, *let him stop.* The evil word is on the very tip of his tongue. **No guile.**—“Guile” is often used, in a very wide sense, of almost anything wrong (see 1Peter 2:22); but here, probably, the distinction is that “evil” means open railing and bitter speech, while “guile” may mean the words which are “softer than butter, having war in his heart” (Psalm 55:21).