Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Peter 2:18

"Servants, [be] in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." — 1 Peter 2:18 (ASV)

Servants—This is the second division of the second prudential rule: social subordination. This word is not the same as is used by St. Paul—for example, Ephesians 6:5 and Colossians 3:22—but is otherwise used only in Luke 16:13, Acts 10:7, and Romans 14:4. It highlights the family or household relation of servant or slave to master, and not (as does the common word used in 1 Peter 2:16) the mere fact of ownership. We need not be surprised at directions for household servants, or slaves, in a letter addressed to Jewish Christians, for there were large numbers of Hebrews in this position both then and later; St. Clement, for example, was probably both.

Be subject.—Rather, being subject, or submitting yourselves. The participle loosely connects this clause to the phrase “submit yourselves” from 1 Peter 2:13, where the word is the same. (Compare 1 Peter 3:1).

With all fear.—“All” implies everything that constitutes true fear, every kind of fear; and the “fear” (as when we speak of the fear of God) is not intended to mean any unmanly cowardice, dread of punishment, or such terror as is involved in having secrets that one dreads will be divulged. One commentator aptly defines it as “the shrinking from transgressing the master’s will, based on the consciousness of one’s own inferiority.”

Masters.—This is the word that properly corresponds to the word by which the “servants” are described, not merely “owners,” as in Ephesians 6:5 and Colossians 3:22.

The froward.—Literally, the crooked. Its meaning is made clear by the contrasted adjectives, “good,” that is, kindly, considerate; and “gentle,” or, rather, reasonable, not disposed to take too stern a view of matters. A “froward” master, then, is one with a warped nature, who is unreasonably exacting, capricious, and cross-grained; in fact, one who will deal with his servants in the manner spoken of in the following verses.