What Does 1 Peter 2:17 Mean?
Honor all people. Love the brothers. Stand in awe of God. Honor the king.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.THE KEY
The same command honors every person and the king, while fear is reserved for God.
THE MEANING
The same command to honor reaches every person and the king, so status does not set the boundary of dignity. Love marks the community of believers, while fear is directed to God; civic honor and divine reverence remain distinct.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that only people with rank deserve honor dissolves here: the verse extends the same honor to all people and to the king.
THE ROOT
τιμήσατε
timēsate
GROWS FROM
τιμή
timē
Value, worth, price; to esteem or honor
“Honour” in this verse is timēsate. The verse uses the same verb family for every person and for the king, so status does not change the kind of honor being commanded. The related noun carries the senses of value and price alongside honor, presenting honor as recognition of worth.
ALSO GROWS
timē: Value, honor, or price
τιμή
It reveals the sense of worth carried beneath the command to honor.
timios: Precious, valuable, or honored
τίμιος
It shows how the same word family describes something regarded as having worth.
timēma: Price or value
τίμημα
It keeps the connection between honor and the value assigned to someone or something.
φοβεῖσθε
phobeisthe
GROWS FROM
φόβος
phobos
Fear, dread, or reverential awe
“stand in awe of God” in this verse is phobeisthe. The fear verb is distinct from the commands to honor, and the verse directs it to God rather than the king. Its range includes both fear and reverential awe, preserving a response weightier than ordinary respect.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: Fear or dread
φόβος
It names the response the verse directs toward God.
phoberos: Fearful or awe-inspiring
φοβερός
It shows the family can describe what evokes fear, giving the command more weight than courtesy.
THE PATTERN
Honor extends to every person and to rulers, while fear and ultimate allegiance remain directed to God.
You shall stand in awe of the LORD your God, and serve him, and swear by his nature.They said to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give back therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.Therefore give back to all what is owed; the carried to whom the carrying is owed, the toll to whom the toll is owed, the trembling to whom trembling is owed, the weight to whom weight is owed.THE THREAD
So honor is yours, you who lean your full weight upon him; but for those who will not yield, the stone the builders tested and set aside has become the head of the corner,The Greek word family behind “honour” in this verse also appears in the language of the stone’s preciousness just a few lines earlier. That echo places the command to honor people beside the passage’s language for what is valued.
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