1 Peter 3:1-2 1Likewise, wives, submitg yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they might be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity with fear of your behavior.
Peter moves to another group within the typical household of that time. Verses 1-7 focus upon Christian families, with wives addressed first and with the most detail. Peter’s instructions to wives must be read in the shadow of Christ’s own example give at the end of chapter 2. The key focus is on not retaliating or disrespecting others (masters, husbands, wives), even when the other person is not a believer or does not treat us well. The overarching theme is submission (the participle hypotassomenai used as an imperative) as a way of testimony. The reason various groups can submit is because of the example of Jesus. He submitted to death, but this brought salvation. Likewise, our submission may lead to the salvation of others through our example. Just as slaves could be a witness by their behavior, so could wives.
Marriage obligated wives to follow the religious practices of their husbands. If a wife became a believer and the husband did not, it could create potential conflict, leading to abuse or worse. A believing wife’s testimony of her faith could be ruined by how she treated her husband. Although these wives faced a missionary situation of being a minority in a pagan environment and were also socially ostracized in many ways, their purity done out of respect (fear, phobō) could become their words. The gospel could be preached by their conduct and way of living.