Summary

When Peter calls upon wives to submit to their husbands, he is not promoting patriarchal misogyny as modern readers might believe. Instead, he is actually elevating the the view of women contrary to the worldview of his time. No teacher or rabbi would even address women directly in a teaching. He is speaking to women with unbelieving husbands who, if the wives took full advantage of their new status, would needlessly alienate their husbands from the message of the Gospel. He is asking both husbands and wives to submit to the authority of God by serving each other sacrificially.