Sarah's submissiveness to Abraham: A socio-historic interpretation of the exhortation to wives in 1 Peter 3:5-6 to take Sarah as example of submissiveness

Abstract

In 1 Peter 3:5-6 the author of First Peter refers to the holy women of the past who were submissive to their own husbands, and then refers to Sarah who obeyed Abraham and called him master. A socio-historic interpretation of this exhortation to wives in 1 Peter 3:5-6, using Sarah's submissiveness to Abraham as example of submissiveness, is given. This is done in order to approximate the reception of this tradition in First Peter, and the way the letter’s first hearers/readers’ (specifically the women) understood the author’s exhortation, and to establish what the implications of this exhortation are for the role of women in churches today.