1 Peter 2:16

1 Peter 2:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
• New International Version (NIV)Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

Context of 1 Peter 2:16

14Also obey the officers that serve the king. He has sent them to punish people who do bad things. And they praise people who do good things. 15God wants you to do only what is good. Then silly people will not be able to say bad things against you. Those people do not really know what is true. You are free people. But you are servants of God. So do not think, ‘Because I am free, I can do any bad thing that I want to do.’ 17Respect all people. Love the believers as you would love your family. Obey God as your master. Respect the king. 18You who are slaves must obey your masters. Always respect them. Do that to every kind of master. Obey those who are good and kind. But also obey masters who are not fair to you.

1 Peter 2:16 word by word

ὡς ἐλεύθεροι καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐπικάλυμμα ἔχοντες τῆς κακίας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς θεοῦ δοῦλοι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• freeἐλεύθεροςeleutheros · free/freedomG1658
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• notμήmē · notG3361
• usingἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• libertyὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• libertyἐλευθερίαeleutheria · freedomG1657
• a clokeἐπικάλυμμαepikaluma · coveringG1942
• of maliciousnessκακίαkakia · evilG2549
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• the servantsδοῦλοςdoulos · slaveG1401
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316

Cross-references for 1 Peter 2:16

• John 8:32Then you will know what is true. And that will make you free.’
• Romans 6:18As a result, God has made you free from the power of sin. You are now like slaves who serve everything that is right and good.
• 1 Corinthians 7:22The Lord may call a slave to come to him. Then, that slave has become free, because he belongs to the Lord. In the same way, when God calls a free person to belong to Christ, he becomes Christ's slave.
• Galatians 5:1Christ has made us free so that we can be really free! So be strong and do not turn back. Do not let yourselves become slaves to the Jewish rules again.
• James 1:25So do not just listen to God's message and then forget it. It is a completely good message that makes people free. Look at it carefully and keep it in your mind. Do what it tells you to do. God will bless anyone who lives in that way.
• James 2:12Remember that God will judge you one day. When he does that, he will use a law which makes us free. So remember this in everything that you say and in everything that you do.
• 2 Peter 2:19The false teachers tell these believers to do whatever they want to do. They promise that this will make them really free. But the false teachers themselves are not free. Instead, they are like slaves. They cannot stop doing the bad things that will destroy them. We know that if something has power over a person, then that person is its slave.
• Jude 1:4I say this because certain bad people have secretly come among you. They have turned away from God. They are trying to change God's true message. They teach that we can do any evil things that we want to do. They say that God will be kind and he will forgive us for all those things. They do not accept the authority of Jesus Christ, who is our only Master and our Lord. God will certainly punish those wicked people. A long time ago God said that he would punish people like them.
• Matthew 23:14[It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You take things away from women after their husbands have died. You pray for a long time so that other people will praise you. God will punish you much more than other people.]
• John 15:22I have come and I have spoken my message to them. If I had not done that, they would not have been guilty of their sin. But now they cannot say, “We have not done anything wrong.”
• 1 Thessalonians 2:5When we came to you, we spoke what was true. We did not just say nice things to make you feel good. You yourselves know that. We did not try to make you give things to us. We never had a secret purpose like that. God knows that this is true.
• Ephesians 6:6Do not do good work only when they can see you. Some people only work to make other people like them. Instead, work well all the time, as slaves who serve Christ. Work in the way that God wants you to work.
• Colossians 3:24You know that you will receive the good things that the Lord has promised to his people. He will give you what is right for you. The Lord Jesus Christ is the master that you serve.

Commentaries on 1 Peter 2:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16As free - The Jews pretended that they were a free people, and owed allegiance to God alone; hence they were continually rebelling against the Roman government, to which God had subjected them because of their rebellion against him: thus they used their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness - for a pretext of rebellion, and by it endeavored to vindicate their seditious and rebellious conduct. But as the servants of God - These were free from sin and Satan…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16As free - That is, they were to consider themselves as freemen, as having a right to liberty. The Jews boasted much of their freedom, and regarded it as a birthright privilege that they were free, John 8:33. They never willingly acknowledged their subjection to any other power, but claimed it as an elementary idea of their civil constitution that God only was their Sovereign. They were indeed conquered by the Romans, and paid tribute, but they did it…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-17Verses 13-17 A Christian conversation must be honest; which it cannot be, if there is not a just and careful discharge of all relative duties: the apostle here treats of these distinctly. Regard to those duties is the will of God, consequently, the Christian's duty, and the way to silence the base slanders of ignorant and foolish men. Christians must endeavour, in all relations, to behave aright, that they do not make their liberty a cloak or covering for…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-25This section focuses on the key instruction to submit to all human authority. Peter applies this instruction to several relationships: Christians should accept the authority of those in government (2:13–17). Christian slaves should accept the authority of their masters (2:18–25). Christian wives should accept the authority of their husbands (3:1–6). Peter appears to follow an early Christian use of the traditional household code. This code gave a series…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. As free--as "the Lord's freemen," connected with 1Pe 2:15, doing well as being free. "Well-doing" (1Pe 2:15) is the natural fruit of being freemen of Christ, made free by "the truth" from the bondage of sin. Duty is enforced on us to guard against licentiousness, but the way in which it is to be fulfilled, is by love and the holy instincts of Christian liberty. We are given principles, not details. not using--Greek, "not as having your liberty for a…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Peter 2:16

• Citizens
• Cloak
• Commandments
• Example
• Government
• Hypocrisy
• Self-Denial
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Bishop
• Chosen
• Cloke
• Disallow
• Fleshly
• Offer
• Sincere
• Spiritual

Commentaries on 1 Peter 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings