Bible Strands
1 Peter 2:15
For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Peter writes to believers scattered in Asia Minor who are being slandered by non-believers as evildoers (cf. 2:12). The verse sits between submission to governors (2:14) and the warning against using freedom as cover for evil (2:16).
The words — ἀγαθοποιοῦντας (agathopoiountas) is a present participle: "doing good" as ongoing, habitual practice rather than a single act. It binds God's will directly to the continuous quality of the reader's conduct.
The thread — 1 Peter 3:17 repeats the same logic: suffering for doing good is better, if God wills it. Titus 2:8 and 1 Peter 2:12 both frame good conduct as a response that leaves opponents without a legitimate charge.
Why it lands — The verse does not promise that good conduct will win people over; it says God wills it regardless of outcome. The reader is asked to act well in a hostile environment where they are being misread, and to do so because God desires it, not because it will be effective.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
- Titus 2:8 and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.
- 1 Peter 2:12 Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
- Matthew 7:26 But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
- Proverbs 9:6 Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
- Jeremiah 4:22 “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Job 2:10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
- Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.