What Does 1 Peter 3:14 Mean?
But even if you suffer for the sake of alignment, flourishing are you. Do not fear their fear, and do not be stirred.
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
But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;THE KEY
The Greek says, “do not fear their fear”: the terror around you can be real without becoming the authority that defines your life.
THE MEANING
Flourishing is still possible while you suffer for alignment with what is right; pain does not erase it. The threat may be real, but its fear does not have to become the measure within you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that suffering for doing what is right proves you have lost the good.
THE ROOT
φοβηθῆτε
phobēthēte
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
Fear, alarm, or apprehension.
“afraid / terror” in this verse is phobēthēte. The verse repeats the same root in “be afraid” and “their terror,” though the English uses different words. The echo shows that the fear surrounding you need not become your own.
ALSO GROWS
phobeomai: to fear or be afraid
φοβέομαι
This is the verb behind “be afraid,” linking the reader’s response to the terror named next.
phobos: fear or terror
φόβος
This is the noun behind “their terror”; it shares the root of “be afraid,” restoring the repetition English conceals.
μακάριοι
makarioi
GROWS FROM
μακαρ-
makar-
Flourishing, fortunate; a state of well-being.
This names flourishing, not a claim that suffering feels pleasant. The verse places flourishing beside suffering, so pain does not automatically cancel the good present in a life aligned with what is right.
ALSO GROWS
makarios: flourishing or fortunate
μακάριος
This is the singular form of the word translated “happy,” carrying the same declaration of flourishing.
makarizō: to call flourishing or fortunate
μακαρίζω
This related verb shows flourishing as something recognized and named, not merely a passing feeling.
δικαιοσύνης
dikaiosynēs
GROWS FROM
δικαι-
dikai-
Justice and right relation; alignment with what is right.
“Righteousness” carries the sense of alignment with what is right. The verse speaks of suffering because of that alignment, while still calling the sufferer flourishing.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: just or right
δίκαιος
This related word names the quality of being in right relation, which gives “righteousness” its sense of alignment.
dikaioō: to justify or vindicate
δικαιόω
This branch connects the root’s language of what is right with being recognized or shown to be in the right.
THE PATTERN
A threat can be real without being allowed to define flourishing or command fear.
Do not say, A binding, to all of them to whom this people shall say, A binding; do not fear their terror, nor be shaken.Flourishing are the pursued for the sake of alignment, for theirs is the governance of the heavens.So they went from the face of the council, rejoicing that they were weighed worthy to be dishonored for his nature.THE THREAD
Do not say, A binding, to all of them to whom this people shall say, A binding; do not fear their terror, nor be shaken.The KJV gives “fear” and “be afraid,” while the Greek repeats the same φοβ- (phob-, fear) root. That repeated wording makes the point plain: the threat’s fear does not have to become your fear.
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