Why Does Peter Call Women Weaker?
BY BRAD VAUGH Few verses are as controversial as 1 Peter 3:7. Some people flatly ignore it, regarding it as plainly ridiculous. Here is what Peter writes: “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honuor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.” (1 Peter 3:7, NASB) What exactly does he mean by calling women “weaker” compared to men? Countless people argue that Peter refers to women’s physical strength. Perhaps, some seemingly suggest they are not as tough as men (i.e., they are more “delicate” to use an old English expression). Whatever the case, this verse has often been used as yet another reason to subtly affirm the inferiority of women to men. Peter Achtemeier offers a more nuanced view (though it needs improvement). He writes, “While in Hellenistic culture such weakness was taken as a description of a woman’s nature, moral and intellectual as well