Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Peter 3:9

"not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing." — 1 Peter 3:9 (ASV)

Not rendering.—So far St. Peter has been speaking of internal conduct. The two last adjectives, however, lead gradually into the wider field of conduct, and probably now he is thinking solely of relation to the adverse world. Among the Christians surely there would be no “evil” or “railing” to provoke a retort! “Evil,” in act; “railing,” in word. (See 1 Peter 2:23 and Romans 12:17.)

But contrariwise blessing.—No doubt a reminiscence of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:44). The word “blessing” here is not a substantive, but a participle, opposed to “rendering:” “not rendering them evil or railing, but on the contrary blessing them.” Though the word is chosen as the exact opposite of the bad language used against the Christians, “blessing” may perhaps involve the opposite of unkind action as well. It is used for the conferring of benefits:

1. Spiritual, in Acts 3:26; Galatians 3:8;
2. Material, in 2 Corinthians 9:5, (Compare to 2 Kings 5:15; Joel 2:14; Haggai 2:19).

Knowing that you are called to this.—Compare to 1 Peter 2:21. It should be, were called, namely, when St. Paul and others first preached to you. What, then, does he mean that they were called to? To the foregoing, or to the following? To blessing instead of rendering evil and railing? Or to receive a blessing? The comparison of 1 Peter 2:21 seems to support the former, for there the “hereunto” points to what preceded. The argument will then be precisely the same as in that passage: “You ought not now to shrink from so hard a duty, for you were given clearly to understand, when you were admitted into Christianity, that you would have to act in this way.”

That you should inherit a blessing.—Rather, in order that you may inherit a blessing. God had a purpose in calling them to so hard a task, and in now requiring of them the fulfillment of it; and that purpose is that they may receive a blessing. They must not think it an arbitrary hardship, or a restriction which will not in the end be found gainful to themselves. God’s full and eternal blessing is only to be obtained through such a course of self-suppression and of love even to those who hate us. The argument thus becomes more forceful, and the question which follows more appropriate, than if we adopt the other view, namely, “Bless, instead of retorting, for it is more suitable for men who are expecting to be blessed.”