Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Peter 2:23

"who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously:" — 1 Peter 2:23 (ASV)

Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. He did not use harsh and abusive words in return for those which he received.

1. He was reviled: he was accused of being a seditious man; spoken of as a deceiver; charged with being in league with Beelzebub, the "prince of the devils;" and condemned as a blasphemer against God. This was done:

   • By the great and the influential of the land;

   • In the most public manner;

   • With a design to alienate his friends from him;

   • With most cutting and severe sarcasm and irony; and

   • In reference to everything that would most affect a man of delicate and tender sensibility.

2. He did not revile those who had reproached him. He asked that justice might be done. He demanded that if he had spoken evil, they should bear witness of the evil; but beyond that he did not go.

   He used no harsh language. He showed no anger. He called for no revenge. He prayed that they might be forgiven. He calmly stood and bore it all, for he came to endure all kinds of suffering so that he might set us an example and make an atonement for our sins.

When he suffered, he threatened not. That is, when he suffered injustice from others, in his trial and in his death, he did not threaten punishment. He did not call down the wrath of heaven. He did not even predict that they would be punished; he expressed no wish that they should be.

But committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. The marginal note says, 'his cause.' The sense is much the same. The meaning is that he committed his cause, his name, his interests, the whole case, to God.

The meaning of the phrase "who judges righteously" here is that God would do him exact justice. Though wronged by men, he felt assured that he would do right. He would rescue his name from these reproaches; he would give him the honor in the world which he deserved. He would also bring upon those who had wronged him all that was necessary to show his disapproval of what they had done, and all that would be necessary to give the highest support to the cause of virtue .

This is the example that is set before us when we are wronged. The whole example embraces these points:

1. We should see to it that we ourselves are guiltless in the matter for which we are reproached or accused. Before we imagine that we are suffering as Christ did, we should be sure that our lives are such as not to deserve reproach. We cannot indeed hope to be as pure in all things as he was; but we may so live that if we are reproached and reviled, we may be certain that it is not for any wrong that we have done to others, or that we do not deserve it from our fellow people.

2. When we are reproached and reviled, we should feel that we were called to this by our profession; that it was one of the things which we were taught to expect when we became Christians; that it is what the prophets and apostles endured, and what the Master himself suffered to an eminent degree. If we meet with the scorn of the great, the gay, the rich, the powerful, it is no more than the Savior did, and no more than we have been taught to expect will be our portion.

   It may be well, too, to remember our unworthiness, and to reflect that though we have done no wrong to the individual who reviles us, we are still sinners, and that such reproaches may not be a useless reminder of our guilt before God. So David felt when reproached by Shimei: So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? (2 Samuel 16:10).

3. When this occurs, we should calmly and confidently commit our cause to God. Our name, our character, our influence, our reputation, while living and after we are dead, we should leave entirely with him. We should not seek or desire revenge. We should not call down the wrath of God on our persecutors and slanderers.

   We should calmly feel that God will give us the measure of reputation which we ought to have in the world, and that he will allow no ultimate injustice to be done to us. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass; and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon-day (Psalms 37:5–6).

The Latin Vulgate has here, "But he committed himself to him who judged him unjustly," judicanti se injuste; that is, to Pontius Pilate, meaning that he left himself in his hands, though he knew that the sentence was unjust. But there is no authority for this in the Greek, and this is one of the instances in which that version departs from the original.