Servants, bein subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
Servants--Greek, "household servants": not here the Greek for "slaves." Probably including freedmen still remaining in their master's house. Masters were not commonly Christians: he therefore mentions only the duties of the servants. These were then often persecuted by their unbelieving masters. Peter's special object seems to be to teach them submission, whatever the character of the masters might be.
For this is thankworthy,.... Or "grace"; this is a fruit and effect of grace, an instance of it, in which it shows itself: the Syriac version adds, "with God"; and so it is read in one of Beza's copies, and in the Alexandrian copy, and some others; that is, this is grateful to God, and acceptable with him; as in Pe1 2:20, if a man...
Servants, [be] subject to [your] masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. (21) He goes to the duty of servants towards their masters, which he describes with these bounds, that servants submit themselves willingly and not by force, not only to the good and courteous, but also to the perverse and severe matters.