That’s part of what feminine is in reality. God designed men to have stronger bodies, and God designed women to have weaker bodies. In other words, in Peter’s mind, this is the real, God-created world of male and female. Next comes the word feminine, and the phrase is literally “as with a weaker vessel, the feminine.” The point of that word is to draw attention to the fact that Peter really is making a general statement about maleness and femaleness, or men and women, not just about the particular wife that you happen to be married to. “Likewise, husbands, live together according to knowledge with your wives, as the weaker feminine vessel” means this: live with one who has a weaker body. So, I take the term vessel in 1 Peter 3:7 to refer mainly to the woman’s body. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, making the gospel powerful in our lives, and our bodies are fragile and prone to decay. It means we have the gospel in ourselves, in our bodies. The woman’s body is a vessel, and the man’s body is a vessel, in general.Īnd the reason I say that is because of 2 Corinthians 4:7, where Paul, after referring to the preciousness of the glory of the gospel, says, “We have this treasure in jars of clay.” So, all Christians have this treasure of the gospel in vessels of clay, “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” That doesn’t mean that we have the gospel in our sexual organs. I think rooted down there in that anatomical complementarity, there grows out of it a generalized use of the word vessel for the human body. What would that even mean, and what point would it have for their relationship? Rather, what we need to see is what the term vessel became. It doesn’t really make much sense to describe a woman’s sexual organ as weaker than a man’s. And you can see that meaning in 1 Thessalonians 4:4.īut the reason I say that’s the root idea is because I don’t think that’s the present prominent idea in Peter’s mind. So, in the very act of sexual relations, where the difference between male and female is anatomically clearest, both men and women are seen as different kinds of vessels.
The male vessel is a giving, dispensing vessel, and the female organ is a receiving, accepting vessel. Probably the root idea behind that is that the male sexual organ is a vessel and the female sexual organ is a kind of vessel. “Differences in men and women are rooted in God-designed nature, not sin.” She’s not just a vessel he’s a vessel too because she’s the weaker and he’s the stronger vessel.
You’ve got two vessels: a weaker and a stronger vessel. The first thing to notice is that she’s called the weaker vessel, meaning the husband is also a vessel. So, Patricia’s question relates specifically to the term “the weaker feminine vessel” or “the weaker vessel, the feminine one.” Three words need explanation, right? Vessel (what’s that?), feminine, and weaker. And those two ways of being drawn out to this woman interweave to create the unique Christian beauty of what Paul calls headship and submission. Her being weaker draws out of him one kind of honoring, and her being a fellow heir of glory draws out of him another kind of honoring.
I don’t think Peter made any mistake there or was writing carelessly. So, two things govern a Christian husband’s demeanor toward his wife in this verse: (1) the fact that she does not share his superior masculine strength, and (2) the fact that she does share the glory of being an heir of God. And the other fact that you should live in the light of is that she shares with you in glory of being an heir of God. So, Peter is saying to husbands, “As you live with your wives, consider two central realities that you should know”- in other words, live “according to knowledge.” Here’s what you should know: One is that you, husband, are the stronger and she is the weaker vessel. Likewise, husbands, live together according to knowledge with your wives, as with a weaker vessel, the feminine one, showing honor as also living together with fellow heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered. Let’s begin with a literal translation of the verse she’s asking about, 1 Peter 3:7. “Hello, Pastor John, and thank you for the podcast! What does Peter mean in 1 Peter 3:7 when he writes that husbands should live with their wives in an understanding way, ‘as the weaker vessel’? Specifically, what is the weaker vessel? Is she physically weaker, emotionally weaker, spiritually weaker, or something altogether different? Thank you for your help.” Today’s question comes to us from a listener named Patricia. Several times in this podcast we have looked at 1 Peter 3:7, but only briefly and never at length.
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