As people who have been valued by the Creator as worth the death of His Son, women are due a certain amount of respect and care. The word Peter uses for honor here means "a valuing by which the price is fixed." This means that God has valued women, and that value is fixed: no man can change her worth. Peter here encourages husbands to love their wives by living with them with understanding and honor. Rather than portraying women as inferior to men, when put in context of the rest of the passage and the rest of Scripture, this verse does just the opposite. However, this idea is not only contrary to the meaning of this passage but also contrary to what the Bible teaches. And this verse has unfortunately been misused at times to do just that. Often our first reaction to hearing women called "weaker," especially in the context of marriage, is to believe that this verse encourages the continuation of a patriarchal system that restricts women because women are seen as less valuable. After addressing the wives, Peter tells the husbands to "live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). We find similar types of household instructions in Paul's letters to the Ephesians (Ephesians 5:22-6:4) and the Colossians (Colossians 3:18–21). In his letter to the church, Peter addresses husbands and wives to help create healthy, God-honoring relationships between them. What does 1 Peter 3:7 mean by referring to wives as the 'weaker vessel'?
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