Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Peter 3:13

"And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?" — 1 Peter 3:13 (ASV)

And who is he that shall harm you?—There is always a ring of scornful assurance in a question introduced by “and:” “And who, pray?”

If ye be followers.—Rather, if you make yourselves zealots. The phrase looks toward the future, not merely “if at present you are.” And the word that means “follower” (that is, imitator) is here a false reading for zelotes, the name by which St. Peter’s lesser namesake among the Apostles was known, probably because of his enthusiastic attachment to the old or to the new Law. The same zelotes is found in Titus 2:14 and elsewhere.

The translation, “of Him who is good,” is perfectly possible, but does not quite so well suit the context. Some writers (Leighton among them) take the verse to mean, or at least to include, that when men see the goodness and loving-kindness of our lives they will not be disposed to hurt us. This thought is, however, foreign to the passage. It means that men and devils may try their worst, as they did on Christ, and cannot harm us.