1 Peter 3:7 ⁷Likewise, husbands, live with your wives with understanding as the weaker vessel, showing honor as also fellow heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

After addressing wives, Peter next offers advice to husbands. Slaves, wives, and husbands were common in Greco-Roman households. Peter does not speak to masters or children directly in this letter, like Paul in Ephesians 6, but they could both be included in the following verses. Husbands (andres) can also be translated more broadly as “men,” and wives(gynaikeiō) could be translated as “women,” but the context indicates the focus is more on marriage, though both unmarried males and females can find some ideas that could help relationships with the opposite gender. Though short, this verse contains significant directions for the men of the typical household to help them strengthen their marriages.

Peter begins with likewise, indicating a mutuality in marriage where a husband and wife must respond in the same say as Jesus did in the time of his suffering, which is described at the end of chapter 2. Jesus set the example for everyone. The first thing husbands should do think about how they live with their wives. Live (synoikountes, another participle with imperatival force) has the sense of being in the same household together with others and learning to get along with them. Anyone who has been in a family knows the challenging dynamics of living in the same house. Husbands were to live in such a way that they think about their wives and not ignore them or live selfishly as “king of the house.” This will require a husband to attempt to understand, be aware of, and think about their wife’s situation, thoughts, perspectives, and wishes.

How should husbands do this? The description weaker vessel has often been interpreted to mean that women are weak and fragile, compared to men, who are strong and tough. Typically, women are physically weaker than men, but men can exploit that weakness in mental and spiritual ways and denigrate women. Rather, Peter’s point seems to be that husbands ought to treat their wives as if they were a precious treasure to be protected and cared for. The reason is that wives are a gift from God, and they share in the gift of eternal life with their husbands. There is nothing more special in life that to have a wife who is also your sister in Christ and who encourages you to grow in grace and to work out your salvation.

If husbands treat our wives in any less way than as co-heirs of salvation, their prayers will be hindered. How or why? Because they become self-focused, which is the opposite of love and the example of Jesus, who gave himself willingly for his sheep. If Christian husbands treat their wives like Jesus in self-giving love, it would create a revolutionary home with a powerful witness to the transforming grace of God.