My Favorite Verses - Vol V (Feb 17 to Jun 17)

1 Peter 3:4 … The Spirit’s lasting Beauty
(06/11/2017)
“Let your adornment be the Inner Self;
the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet Spirit.”
~ unknown (1 Peter 3:4)
First & foremost, even though most scholars agree that this letter was
probably written by one of Peter‟s disciples well after his death (due to its
sophisticated use of the Greek language, due to it being addressed primarily to Gentile
Christians who would have been religiously established after Peter‟s life had passed,
and due to its lack of references to the life and teachings of Jesus), this remains a
verse that resonates well with The Way of Christ as shared in the Gospels – a
“Gospel” (see Matthew 24:12-14 et al) that did indeed call for us all to “adorn” our
bodies & minds with “the Inner Self” (what Jesus called “the Advocate Within”, and
what non-Christians might call “the Spirit” or “the conscience” – see John 3:3-8, John
14:20-26, John 16:13 et al) …
Secondly, it is intriguing to see how the following Greek words used in the
ancient texts support this contention:
*Especially of interest is the apparent fact that the word “adornment” is not
found in this verse at all – meaning that this particular translation is either
referring to the Greek word kosmos (of 1 Peter 3:3 -- a word which means
“adornment” or “of the entire world”, a la Strong‟s #2889) or the Greek word
ekosmoun (of 1 Peter 3:5 -- a word which means “outer appearance” or “to decorate”, a
la Strong‟s #2885) …
*In addition, “Inner Self” here is actually a Greek phrase that reads kryptos
tes kardias anthropos in the ancient manuscripts, a phrase which essentially
means “the hidden Heart of the Human” or “the True Self” (see Strong‟s #2927,
#3588, #2588 & #444) …
*Next, “lasting beauty” is represented by the Greek word aphtharto, a word
which means “imperishable” or “incorruptible” (and does not necessarily relate only
to beauty, which is not specifically mentioned in this verse at all – see Strong‟s #682) …
*“Gentle & quiet” come from the Greek words praeos & hesychiou
respectively, words which mean “mild” & “peaceful” respectively (see Strong‟s
#4239 & #2272) …
*And finally, “Spirit” is actually the Greek word pneumatos, a word which
means “breath” or “life essence” (see Strong‟s #4151).
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