Bible Strands
1 Peter 3:3
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The apostle Peter addresses Christian women, directing their conduct so that their demeanor may influence their husbands. He frames this instruction within a broader call to cultivate inner character rather than external appearance.
The words — ἔστω (estō) = should be; ἔξωθεν (exōthen) = outward. The text commands that beauty should not originate from external sources.
The thread — This prohibition against external adornment parallels 1 Timothy 2:9, which similarly restricts braided hair and gold. It also echoes Isaiah 3:18, where divine judgment removes worldly finery, and aligns with Romans 12:2, which warns against conformity to external cultural standards.
Why it lands — The verse explicitly states that beauty must not derive from braided hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes. It requires readers to evaluate their priorities against the text's direct claim before drawing any application.
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
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 2:9 Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
- Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
- Isaiah 3:18 In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents;
- Titus 2:3 Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good.
- Isaiah 61:10 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- Jeremiah 4:30 And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.
- Ezekiel 16:7 I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.
- Jeremiah 2:32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
- Exodus 33:4 When the people heard this bad news, they went into mourning, and no one put on any of his jewelry.
- Genesis 24:53 Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.