A.T. Robertson Commentary 1 Peter 2:13

"Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord`s sake: whether to the king, as supreme;" — 1 Peter 2:13 (ASV)

Be subject to (υποταγητε). Second aorist passive imperative second person plural of υποτασσω, to subject to, as in 3:22.

Every ordinance of man (παση ανθρωπινη κτισε). Dative case of old and common word κτισις (from κτιζω, to create, to found), act of creation (Romans 1:20), a creature or creation (Romans 1:25), all creation (Colossians 1:15), an institution as here (in Pindar so). For ανθρωπινος (human) see Jas 3:7. Peter here approves no special kind of government, but he supports law and order as Paul does (Romans 13:1–8) unless it steps in between God and man (Acts 4:20).

For the Lord's sake (δια τον κυριον). For Jesus' sake. That is reason enough for the Christian not to be an anarchist (Matthew 22:21). The heathen were keen to charge the Christians with any crime after Nero set the fashion. "It should not be forgotten that, in spite of the fine language of the philosophers, the really popular religions in Greece and Rome were forms of devil-worship, intimately blended with magic in all its grades" (Bigg).

As supreme (ως υπερεχοντ). Dative singular of present active participle of υπερεχω, old verb (intransitive), to stand out above (to have it over), as in Ro 13:1. It is not the divine right of kings, but the fact of the king as the outstanding ruler.